Who told the first story in the Canterbury Tales?
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.
Who made the first story in the Canterbury Tales?
The Canterbury Tales is a book of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer.It was written in the 14th century.It was one of the first books to be written in Middle English. The book is about a group of pilgrims travelling from London to Canterbury.As they travel along, each person tells a story to pass the time. Chaucer planned to write 120 stories, with each person telling two stories on the way ...
Who is the first storyteller in Canterbury Tales?
The Knight draws the shortest straw so he has to be the first storyteller. His story consists of battles, knights, honor, and love. After the Knight completes his story, the Host asks the Monk to tell his tale. Before the Monk could proceed, the drunken Miller interrupts that he will go first. He tells the story of a carpenter and his stupidity.
Who was the Dyer in the Canterbury Tales?
Who was the Dyer. The Dyer was one of the five guildsmen and all of them made money in different ways.The narrator does no tell whether or not he likes them. Show full text.
How many lines are there in the Canterbury Tales?
The Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury Tales ( Middle English: Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. In 1386, Chaucer became Controller of Customs and Justice of the Peace and, in 1389, Clerk of the King's Works.
What is the oldest manuscript of the Canterbury Tales?
Even the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Tales are not Chaucer's originals. The very oldest is probably MS Peniarth 392 D (called " Hengwrt "), written by a scribe shortly after Chaucer's death. Another famous example is the Ellesmere Manuscript, a manuscript handwritten by one person with illustrations by several illustrators; the tales are put in an order that many later editors have followed for centuries. The first version of The Canterbury Tales to be published in print was William Caxton 's 1476 edition. Only 10 copies of this edition are known to exist, including one held by the British Library and one held by the Folger Shakespeare Library .
How many fragments are there in Chaucer's Tales?
The tales that make up a Fragment are closely related and contain internal indications of their order of presentation, usually with one character speaking to and then stepping aside for another character. However, between Fragments, the connection is less obvious. Consequently, there are several possible orders; the one most frequently seen in modern editions follows the numbering of the Fragments (ultimately based on the Ellesmere order). Victorians frequently used the nine "Groups", which was the order used by Walter William Skeat whose edition Chaucer: Complete Works was used by Oxford University Press for most of the twentieth century, but this order is now seldom followed.
What was the greatest contribution of The Canterbury Tales to English literature?
It has been suggested that the greatest contribution of The Canterbury Tales to English literature was the popularisation of the English vernacular in mainstream literature, as opposed to French, Italian or Latin. English had, however, been used as a literary language centuries before Chaucer's time, and several of Chaucer's contemporaries— John ...
What is Chaucer's magnum opus?
After a long list of works written earlier in his career, including Troilus and Criseyde, House of Fame, and Parliament of Fowls, The Canterbury Tales is near-unanimously seen as Chaucer's magnum opus.
Was Chaucer a courtier?
Chaucer was a courtier, leading some to believe that he was mainly a court poet who wrote exclusively for nobility. The Canterbury Tales is generally thought to have been incomplete at the end of Chaucer's life. In the General Prologue, some 30 pilgrims are introduced.
Where did the pilgrimage take place?
Pilgrimage was a very prominent feature of medieval society. The ultimate pilgrimage destination was Jerusalem, but within England Canterbury was a popular destination.
Who is the narrator of Canterbury Tales?
Geoffrey Chaucer's unfinished The Canterbury Tales follows a group of pilgrims on their journey from the Tabard Inn to Canterbury. This frame provides the opportunity for Chaucer, our narrator, to depict conversations between people from all walks of Medieval English life.
How many tales did Chaucer leave behind?
And like many proposed film adaptations that never came to fruition, Chaucer left his planned 120 tales unfinished by the time he died in the year 1400, though he did leave behind 24 fascinating tales. Chaucer's voice as narrator is easier to pin down than his role as author.
What is the significance of the pilgrims in Chaucer's tales?
Basically, the pilgrims in Chaucer's tales provide insights into Chaucer as a forward-thinking author. Unlike other two-dimensional characters, like those in fairy tales, Chaucer tells his story with three-dimensional characters called social portraits. His insight into social realism, a literary style that aims to depict the intricate human world as it is, makes The Canterbury Tales a literary classic. It also makes this work of literature a vivid historical document that informs our modern understanding of life in the Middle Ages.
What does Chaucer's pilgrimage to Canterbury show?
The pilgrimage to Canterbury shows how people from all walks of life kept faith and the Church in a central place in their lives.
Why are Chaucer's tales important?
For both these reasons, it's fair to say that rather than providing a clear purpose for why they were written, Chaucer's tales are important for us today because they offer a window into Medieval English society. When Chaucer sat down to write out the tales in the 1380s, he had already encountered a broad swath of medieval society. Born in London around 1343, he gained experience in all sorts of settings: from his upbringing in a family of wine merchants to his first job working as a page in a noble household. He fought in the Hundred Years' War, was held captive and ransomed by the King, and served as a squire for a time in the royal court. He later became a diplomat and traveled widely through France, Spain, and Italy, learning about literature and politics along the way.
What is Chaucer's depiction of the pardoner?
Chaucer demonstrates this in his depiction of the Pardoner who doesn't practice what he preaches and the corruption evident in the tale of the Friar.
What does it mean to enroll in a course?
Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams.
What was Chaucer's job in 1367?
In 1367 Chaucer received an annuity for life as yeoman of the king, and in the next year he was listed among the king’s esquires. Such officers lived at court and performed staff duties of considerable importance. In 1368 Chaucer was abroad on a diplomatic mission, and in 1369 he was on military service in France. Also in 1369 he and his wife were official mourners for the death of Queen Philippa. Obviously, Chaucer’s career was prospering, and his first important poem— Book of the Duchess —seems further evidence of his connection with persons in high places.
What year was Chaucer born?
Although c. 1340 is customarily given as Chaucer’s birth date, 1342 or 1343 is probably a closer guess. No information exists concerning his early education, although doubtless he would have been as fluent in French as in the Middle English of his time. He also became competent in Latin and Italian.
How many stories are in the Canterbury Tales?
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.
What is Chaucer's birth date?
Although c. 1340 is customarily given as Chaucer’s birth date, 1342 or 1343 is probably a closer guess. No information exists concerning his early education, although doubtless he would have been as fluent in French as in the Middle English of his time. He also became competent in Latin and Italian. His writings show his close familiarity with many important books of his time and of earlier times.
Did Philippa Chaucer receive an annuity?
In 1366 Philippa Chaucer received an annuity, and later annuities were frequently paid to her through her husband. These and other facts indicate that Chaucer married well. In 1367 Chaucer received an annuity for life as yeoman of the king, and in the next year he was listed among the king’s esquires.
Where did Chaucer's family come from?
He died in 1366 or 1367 at age 53. The name Chaucer is derived from the French word chaussier, meaning a maker of footwear. The family’s financial success derived from wine and leather.
When did Chaucer appear in the Britannica?
Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now. Chaucer first appears in the records in 1357, as a member of the household of Elizabeth, countess of Ulster, wife of Lionel, third son of Edward III.
How did Chaucer die?
Chaucer died of unknown causes on 25 October 1400, although the only evidence for this date comes from the engraving on his tomb which was erected more than 100 years after his death. There is some speculation that he was murdered by enemies of Richard II or even on the orders of his successor Henry IV, but the case is entirely circumstantial. Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey in London, as was his right owing to his status as a tenant of the Abbey's close. In 1556, his remains were transferred to a more ornate tomb, making him the first writer interred in the area now known as Poets' Corner.
How many times does Fortune say "you still have your best friend alive"?
Most conspicuous in this short poem is the number of references to Chaucer's "beste frend". Fortune states three times in her response to the plaintiff, "And also, you still have your best friend alive" (32, 40, 48); she also refers to his "beste frend" in the envoy when appealing to his "noblesse" to help Chaucer to a higher estate. The narrator makes a fifth reference when he rails at Fortune that she shall not take his friend from him.
How many children did Chaucer have?
It is uncertain how many children Chaucer and Philippa had, but three or four are most commonly cited. His son, Thomas Chaucer, had an illustrious career, as chief butler to four kings, envoy to France, and Speaker of the House of Commons. Thomas's daughter, Alice, married the Duke of Suffolk.
Why was John Chaucer kidnapped?
In 1324, his father John Chaucer was kidnapped by an aunt in the hope of marrying the 12-year-old to her daughter in an attempt to keep property in Ipswich. The aunt was imprisoned and fined £250, now equivalent to about £200,000, which suggests that the family was financially secure.
What happened to Chaucer in 1380?
What was meant is unclear, but the incident seems to have been resolved quickly with an exchange of money in June 1380 and did not leave a stain on Chaucer's reputation.
What are the arms of Chaucer?
Origin. Left: Arms of Geoffrey Chaucer: Per pale argent and gules, a bend counterchanged. Right: Arms of Chaucer (modern), as adopted by his son Thomas Chaucer and as later quartered by his heirs de la Pole Dukes of Suffolk: Argent, a chief gules overall a lion rampant double queued or.
Why is Chaucer's English so different from his English?
Modern English is somewhat distanced from the language of Chaucer's poems owing to the effect of the Great Vowel Shift some time after his death. This change in the pronunciation of English, still not fully understood, makes the reading of Chaucer difficult for the modern audience.
Overview
Later adaptations and homages
• The most well-known work of the 18th century writer Harriet Lee was called The Canterbury Tales, and consists of twelve stories, related by travellers thrown together by untoward accident. In turn, Lee's version had a profound influence on Lord Byron.
• Henry Dudeney's 1907 book The Canterbury Puzzles contains a part reputedly lost from what modern readers know as Chaucer's tales.
Text
The question of whether The Canterbury Tales is a finished work has not been answered to date. There are 84 manuscripts and four incunabula (printed before 1500) editions of the work, more than for any other vernacular English literary text with the exception of The Prick of Conscience. This is taken as evidence of the Tales' popularity in the century after Chaucer's death. Fifty-five of these manuscripts are thought to have been originally complete, while 28 are so fragmentary th…
Language
Chaucer wrote in a London dialect of late Middle English, which has clear differences from Modern English. From philological research, some facts are known about the pronunciation of English during the time of Chaucer. Chaucer pronounced -e at the end of many words, so that care (except when followed by a vowel sound) was [ˈkaːrə], not /kɛər/ as in Modern English. Other nowadays silent letters were also pronounced, so that the word knight was [kniçt], with both the k and the g…
Sources
No other work prior to Chaucer's is known to have set a collection of tales within the framework of pilgrims on a pilgrimage. It is obvious, however, that Chaucer borrowed portions, sometimes very large portions, of his stories from earlier stories, and that his work was influenced by the general state of the literary world in which he lived. Storytelling was the main entertainment in England at t…
Genre and structure
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories built around a frame tale, a common and already long established genre in this period. Chaucer's Tales differs from most other story "collections" in this genre chiefly in its intense variation. Most story collections focused on a theme, usually a religious one. Even in the Decameron, storytellers are encouraged to stick to the theme decided on for the day. The idea of a pilgrimage to get such a diverse collection of people together for lite…
Style
The variety of Chaucer's tales shows the breadth of his skill and his familiarity with many literary forms, linguistic styles, and rhetorical devices. Medieval schools of rhetoric at the time encouraged such diversity, dividing literature (as Virgil suggests) into high, middle, and low styles as measured by the density of rhetorical forms and vocabulary. Another popular method of division came from St. …
Historical context and themes
In 1386, Chaucer became Controller of Customs and Justice of the Peace and, in 1389, Clerk of the King's Works. It was during these years that Chaucer began working on The Canterbury Tales.
The end of the fourteenth century was a turbulent time in English history. The Catholic Church was in the midst of the Western Schism and, although it was still the only Christian authority in Western Europe, it was the subject of heavy controversy. Lollardy, an early English religious mov…