Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales & The Prioress

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are divided into 3 periods: the French, the Italian and the English. > The French period includes poems with a French romance style, such as "The Romaunt of the Rose" and "The Book of the Duchess". In the Italian period we have a different level of impression and writing skills; between the works of this period we remember "The House of Fame" and "The Legend of the Good Women". The English period is a period of realism which includes his greatest work: The Canterbury Tales. CULTURAL INSIGHT 4 CENTURY ENGLISH SOCIETY By the 14 century there was a strong new middle class. With the wars in Europe merchants became financiers for trade and mercenary armies. The freeman who owned land or yeomen, made money from wool. The wool industry provided employment and the wool trade was the country's chief industry. The cities developed skilled jobs such as butchers, bakers, smiths and so on. The artisans developed organisations called guilds that controlled the quality of goods, the regulation of prices and wages. Each guild would prepare a pageant on their patron saint's feast day. These pageants were performed in public places usually outside the churches. The Canterbury Tales ● PLOT The Canterbury Tales begins in April and tells the story of 30 pilgrims including monks, clergymen and merchants. They are going on a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury, to the shrine of Thomas Becket. They meet at the Tabard hostel in London where the host suggests that each pilgrim should tell two stories on the way to Canterbury and two on the way back. The best story will win a prize such as a meal and anyone who gives up will receive a penalty. STRUCTURE AND STYLE Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales as a long narrative poem in rhyming couplets made up of ten- syllable lines. There is a general prologue which portrays the pilgrims, followed by 24 tales each introduced by a prologue, used to introduce the theme of the tale and sometimes followed by an epilogue. Each pilgrim tells a story, but Chaucer the pilgrim is the narrator who sometimes talks with irony. The relationship between the narrator's comments and the stories lead the reader to decide whether the story is true or not. Each story has a strong ideal and a moral. SETTING AND CHARACTERS The pilgrimage gives a dynamic frame, but there is no logical order or a clear structure of the event. The pilgrims live in London which is associated with worldly pleasures, while Canterbury is the holy destination, the symbol of the celestial city and represents the end of life. The journey of the pilgrims is an allegory of the course of human life. The Canterbury Tales are an unfinished work. Chaucer drew a portrait of English society which included members of the clergy and middle classes. Nobles would not have travelled in a pilgrimage and poor people could not afford to. He mixed female and male characters to demonstrate that women were becoming stronger in middle classes. The Canterbury Tales describe an individualistic view of the conventional medieval character. Some descriptions of the pilgrims are more detailed than others. Chaucer described tools, clothes and personal qualities and he associated names with professions. ●THEMES The pilgrimage is the main theme of the tales and begins in springtime which is symbolically the rebirth of nature. Another theme is the spiritual journey to Canterbury. Saint Thomas Becket is considered a healer so Pilgrims visit the shrine in hopes of a supernatural restoration. The Prioress The Prioress is the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales; between the pilgrims there is also a nun. Madame Eglantyne, the Prioress, is a woman of noble bearing, whose features reflect the medieval concept of feminine and beauty, in fact she has a perfect nose, blue-green eyes and a small mouth. She only swears by "St. Loy" who was the protector of goldsmiths. She can sing the divine service very well and she can speak the local version of French. She tries to imitate courtly manners, in fact she is careful in her table manners. She is very sensitive and fond of animals. She feeds her dogs with roasted meat and nice bread. Chaucer has satirised her behaviour because he wanted to show the difference between the behaviour of a real nun and that of the Prioress. He notices that she is more devoted to her dogs than people. Instead of wearing simple clothes, she wears elegant jewellery, such as her gold brooch with the motto "Amor vincit omnia", which means "love conquers all", even though it should have been "Amor Dei", in relation of a divine love. She also wears her cloak as a noble woman. In this general prologue, Chaucer wants to point out the differences between the rich and worldly clergy and the Poor Parson of the lower clergy.