Why is the Canterbury Tales an important piece of literature?
The Canterbury Tales are also important because Chaucer, who certainly knew Latin, the language of the Church, and French, the language of literature, chose to write them in the common man's ...
What was the motivation to write the Canterbury Tales?
The tales are presented as contributions to a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims travelling from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. Chaucer’s plan was to write two stories for each of the pilgrims, telling their tales both on the way there and on the return journey.
Who told the stories in the Canterbury Tales?
She has over 30 years of teaching experience. 'The Canterbury Tales' is a collection of twenty-four stories, about 17,000 lines, written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. Chaucer casts himself as the narrator, including himself as one of the story-telling characters.
What is so special about the Canterbury Tales?
What is so special about the Canterbury Tales? One of the reasons Chaucer is so important is that he made the decision to write in English and not French. In the centuries following the Norman invasion, French was the language spoken by those in power.
Who is the author of The Canterbury Tales?
Geoffrey ChaucerThe Canterbury Tales / AuthorThe Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1345–1400) was enormously popular in medieval England, with over 90 copies in existence from the 1400s.
Who wrote The Canterbury Tales Name two facts about him?
Written at the end of his life, The Canterbury Tales is Geoffrey Chaucer's best-known work. It is a collection of 24 stories told by a group of 30 pilgrims who travel from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Thomas Beckett. Chaucer did not complete the work before he died.
Who wrote The Canterbury Tales and why was he important?
The Canterbury Tales, frame story by Geoffrey Chaucer, written in Middle English in 1387–1400. The framing device for the collection of stories is a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury, Kent.
What are the main facts we know about Chaucer's life?
1) Chaucer had at least nine other major works besides the Canterbury Tales, and wrote a number of short poems as well. 2) There's a crater on the far side of the moon named for Chaucer. 3) Chaucer had a part-time government job collecting scrap metal for reuse and also worked as a diplomat.
Who wrote The Canterbury Tales quizlet?
Geoffrey Chaucer is both the author AND the narrator!
Why did Chaucer write The Canterbury Tales?
The tales are presented as contributions to a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims travelling from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. Chaucer's plan was to write two stories for each of the pilgrims, telling their tales both on the way there and on the return journey.
Who are the characters of The Canterbury Tales?
The HostThe PardonerThe Wife of BathThe MillerThe KnightThe NarratorThe Canterbury Tales/Characters
When was The Canterbury Tales written?
1392The Canterbury Tales / Date written
When did Chaucer write The Canterbury Tales?
1387The Canterbury Tales was one of the first major works in literature written in English. Chaucer began the tales in 1387 and continued until his death in 1400. No text in his own hand still exists, but a surprising number of copies survive from the 1500s - more than 80.
What did Chaucer write about?
Chaucer is believed to have written the poem Troilus and Criseyde sometime in the mid-1380s. Troilus and Criseyde is a narrative poem that retells the tragic love story of Troilus and Criseyde in the context of the Trojan War. Chaucer wrote the poem using rime royal, a technique he originated.
What is the book Canterbury Tales about?
In The Canterbury Tales, a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury Cathedral compete in a storytelling contest. This overarching plot, or frame, provides a reason for the pilgrims to tell their stories, which reflect the concerns sparked by the social upheavals of late medieval England.
How did Chaucer plan to write The Canterbury Tales?
Chaucer planned the stories before he wrote them but he did not finish his plan. He planned that each character would tell four stories: two while going to Canterbury and two while returning to London. If Chaucer had finished, he would have written 120 stories.
When was The Canterbury Tales written?
1392The Canterbury Tales / Date written
What is the book The Canterbury Tales about?
In The Canterbury Tales, a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury Cathedral compete in a storytelling contest. This overarching plot, or frame, provides a reason for the pilgrims to tell their stories, which reflect the concerns sparked by the social upheavals of late medieval England.
What are the main features of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales?
The tales are by turns satirical, elevated, pious, earthy, bawdy, and comical. The reader should not accept the naïve narrator's point of view as Chaucer's. Protagonists Each individual tale has protagonists, but Chaucer's plan is to make none of his storytellers superior to others; it is an equal company.
Who are the characters of The Canterbury Tales?
The HostThe PardonerThe Wife of BathThe MillerThe KnightThe NarratorThe Canterbury Tales/Characters
What is the tone of the Canterbury Tales?
Tone The Canterbury Tales incorporates an impressive range of attitudes toward life and literature. The tales are by turns satirical, elevated, pious, earthy, bawdy, and comical. The reader should not accept the naïve narrator’s point of view as Chaucer’s. Tense Past.
What genre is Chaucer's work?
Author Geoffrey Chaucer. Type of work Poetry (two tales are in prose: the Tale of Melibee and the Parson’s Tale) Genres Narrative collection of poems; character portraits; parody; estates satire; romance; fabliau. Language Middle English.
Who is the primary narrator of the pilgrimage?
Narrator The primary narrator is an anonymous, naïve member of the pilgrimage, who is not described. The other pilgrims narrate most of the tales. Point of view In the General Prologue, the narrator speaks in the first person, describing each of the pilgrims as they appeared to him.
Who are the protagonists in Knight's Tale?
In the Knight’s Tale, the protagonists are Palamon and Arcite; in the Miller’s Tale, Nicholas and Alisoun; in the Wife of Bath’s Tale, the errant knight and the loathsome hag; in the Nun’s Priest’s Tale, the rooster Chanticleer.
What is the setting of Chaucer's "Tense Past"?
Tense Past. Setting (Time) The late fourteenth century, after 1381. Setting (Place) The Tabard Inn ; the road to Canterbury. Protagonists Each individual tale has protagonists, but Chaucer’s plan is to make none of his storytellers superior to others; it is an equal company.
The Canterbury Tales
1. Who is the author of The Canterbury Tales? List five facts about this author’s early life (biographical information). Geoffrey Chaucer is the author of The Canterbury Tales.
Author
Write something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview.
What is the Canterbury Tales about?
The Canterbury Tales is about a group of people who are pilgrims. They are travelling to an important sacred site. In the Middle Ages, many Christian people went on pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostela and Canterbury. Canterbury Cathedral was a famous pilgrimage site because it contained the shrine (a place for remembering) of Saint Thomas Becket .
What is the beginning of the Canterbury Tales?
The Canterbury Tales begins with a Prologue (which means "a few words to begin"). In the prologue Chaucer describes the time of year, which is April, when the weather begins to get warmer after winter. He says that it is at this time that people begin to go on pilgrimage. Chaucer tells the reader about the people who are gathered at the inn. He describes the people so clearly that many of them have become famous characters in English Literature, and have often been shown in paintings. Chaucer describes how each person tells a story to entertain the other as they travel along.
What type of language was the Canterbury Tales written in?
The Canterbury Tales is written in the type of English that most ordinary people used in Chaucer's day. Chaucer was one of the first authors (writers) who wrote stories in English. Before, stories were written in Latin or French. Some other writers of Chaucer's time also wrote in English. Some of these writers were John Gower, William Langland, and the Pearl Poet.
Who was the Archbishop of Canterbury?
Thomas Becket had been the Archbishop of Canterbury in the 1100s. He had an argument with his old friend, King Henry II, and in 1170 he was murdered by some of the King's knights on order from the King. The King felt very sad and guilty. He had a magnificent tomb built for his old friend.
What is the narrator's character in the book?
In the General Prologue, the narrator presents himself as a gregarious and naïve character . Later on, the Host accuses him of being silent and sullen. Because the narrator writes down his impressions of the pilgrims from memory, whom he does and does not like, and what he chooses and chooses not to remember about the characters, tells us as much about the narrator’s own prejudices as it does about the characters themselves.
Who was the first pilgrim Chaucer describes in the General Prologue?
The Knight. The first pilgrim Chaucer describes in the General Prologue, and the teller of the first tale. The Knight represents the ideal of a medieval Christian man-at-arms. He has participated in no less than fifteen of the great crusades of his era. Brave, experienced, and prudent, the narrator greatly admires him.
What does Absolon wear in the Miller's Tale?
The local parish clerk in the Miller’s Tale, Absolon is a little bit foolish and more than a little bit vain. He wears red stockings underneath his floor-length church gown, and his leather shoes are decorated like the fanciful stained-glass windows in a cathedral.
Who was the priest who administered the sacraments in Chaucer's time?
The Friar . Roaming priests with no ties to a monastery, friars were a great object of criticism in Chaucer’s time. Always ready to befriend young women or rich men who might need his services, the friar actively administers the sacraments in his town, especially those of marriage and confession.
Is the Physician the best?
The Physician is one of the best in his profession, for he knows the cause of every malady and can cure most of them. Though the Physician keeps himself in perfect physical health, the narrator calls into question the Physician’s spiritual health: he rarely consults the Bible and has an unhealthy love of financial gain.
Is the Nun's Priest in the Prologue?
The Nun’s Priest. Like the Second Nun, the Nun’s Priest is not described in the General Prologue. His story of Chanticleer, however, is well crafted and suggests that he is a witty, self-effacing preacher.