История литературы / 11. Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales
.docThe 14th century was the century of shame and glory. The long reign of Edward III brought numerable victories and disasters to the country. Edward III wasn`t responsible for plague, small pocks (оспа), and other fatal pestilences (эпидемии), but these disasters took away half of the population and the rest of the population speculated over the idea of God`s punishment for sins. At the same time great tournaments (турниры) were held. Edward and his son were announced the best knights in Europe. It was the time of greatest contrasts. At that time 2 greatest writers glorified not only their country but the humanity as one whole. (Langland and Chaucer). Chaucer was brought up in an atmosphere of good cheer. His family was rich, granddad and dad were vintners. So he was optimistic.Chaucer was born in 1340 in London & died in 1400. They were really different. What caused indignation in L.,was regarded by Ch. As deserving searn and was treated with laughter. Ch`s writings fall into 3 periods:the 1st-French influence (1351-72), within it he mostly wrote in octosyllabic cuplet,he was in army in France,was taken into prison and saved by the king;the 2nd –Italian influence, he was sent to Italy to negotiate a treaty, he took much from Dante and Boccacio(1372-86),during it he used a heroic stanza of 7 lines; then-period of maturity,when he wrote his masterpiece The Canterburry tales. The plan of Cant Tales was suggested by Boccacio`s work Decameron. Ch. Wanted to imitate it at 1st, but finally produced an absolutely different work. It may be called Great Human Comedy, not only of the middle ages, but of all times. Ch`s work was different. Boc. gives the morals and style of upper class people,they represent humanity,have passion and emotions. Decameron is a witty and sarcastic book. Decameron determines 10 characters. The plot is within 10days. Each tells a story. Still Bocaccio gives the reader the characters of one social group, limited in space (they live in villa) & time. Chaucer’s characters are not limited. He shows us all sorts of people, off different social class, the morals and tragedies of all types , which for all times. So, Ch. Brings his ch-rs together in an inn.they are travelers. Each tells a story of his own manner. The mixture of high and low, humorous and pathetic is effective! They go on a pilgrimage to confess sins and to find salvation. Setting helps to make ch-rs equal. The central figure is the host (is the master of the ceremony). Ch. Gives us an idea of eternity, existence (u r alive and in a second u r not = short journey of a human-being.) In comparison with eternity,our desires and strivings seem petty. Ch. Let his ch-rs do a confession (to share things they would never dream of mentioning under any other circumstances). Structurally, every ch-r tell a story on his way to Canterbury and a story back home. Great design, but wasn’t fulfilled. Evrth starts with a PROLOGUE of an original design.Here we estimate the participants. In the prologue Ch. gives us a wonderful description of the spring. In those times spring was the time when people went on a pilgrimage. There are 29 main heroes,but only 23 r left (Squire Chaucer Friar Merchant Monk Prioress Knight). He describes every pilgrim in detail & he starts with the knight, the highest ranking pilgrim in their group. The host of the inn knows that the holy day of the pilgrimage means that people will laugh & joke along the way if it’ not organized. He has a plan & proposes to the pilgrims that each of them should tell 2 tales on the way to Canterbury & 2 more tales on the way back. He offers a special price for the most morally instructive & the most amusing story. Early next morning the host makes everyone draw a straw to see who will tell the first tale. The knight takes the shortest one & the prologue ends as the knight prepares to speak. He is worthy & distinguished, wise,experienced, loves truth & honor. He is of highest level of society! He represents Christianity. The narrator admires him. The knights’ story is devoid of irony, he was honored for his bravery, his tunic, and chain and armor are stained because he has come for the pilgrimage right from his latest battle & his actions are more important than those of his audience. Miller gets drunk and wants to tell the story earlier,he is allowed. Ch. Himself tells his story in prose.(the 1st time in eng literature WHEN PROSE APPEARED-predecessor of fiction!) Chaucer manages to unite different characters & stories together, which is rather surprising. It’s a kind of parody of knightly language. Chaucer opposes these two on purpose. He opposes them, their standings. The wife of Bath. The title of her tale is ironic, because it betrays her “hobby”. She wasn’t only a seamstress, but a professional wife-she was married 5 times. Her ch-r is prominent: 1stly she is deaf on one ear, she has a gap in front teeth (attractive those times), she was a proff pilgrim (3 times). Ch. Still likes her for being frank and outspoken. Summary^ In a land populated by fairies and elves, in the days of King Arthur, a young knight rapes a maiden he sees walking from the river one day. For his offense, Queen Guinevere and her ladies rule that his punishment is to find out within one year what women most desire, or else he'll be beheaded. The knight departs on his quest to find the answer to this question, but despite questioning women all over the land and receiving numerous answers, he cannot find two women who agree on what women most desire. After a year, the knight returns to King Arthur's court with a heavy heart. On the way, he comes across a ring of 24 fairy ladies dancing. The fairies quickly disappear, only to be replaced by an ugly old hag. The hag agrees to tell the knight what women most desire if he promises to grant her anything she desires. The knight agrees. The hag tells the knight what women most desire – to have sovereignty over their husbands and lovers. The queen and all the ladies assemble agree that he is correct. The hag petitions the queen to force the knight to fulfill his promise to her: she wants the knight to marry her. The queen insists that he must do so, and the knight and hag are married. The hag asks what ails him, and he tells her that she is so ugly, old, and low-class that he does not desire her. This prompts a long speech from the hag on the true origins of gentility, and the advantages of poverty and old age. The hag concludes her speech by offering the knight a choice: either he can have her old and ugly, but a good and faithful wife, or he can have her young and beautiful, but with no guarantee of these other good qualities. The knight asks her to make the choice. Once the hag has confirmed that her husband has yielded sovereignty to her, she tells him that she will be both: young and beautiful, and a faithful, good wife to him. The knight takes his young, beautiful wife in his arms and they live happily ever after. Because she has had five husbands, the Wife feels that she can speak with authority from this experience. In Chaucer's time, the antifeminism of the church was a strong controlling factor. Women were frequently characterized as almost monsters. In Chaucer's time, a second marriage was considered suspect, so the Wife of Bath carefully reviews the words of God as revealed in scripture. And her knowledge of scripture (although confused at times) reveals that she is not simply an empty-minded woman.
she maintains that the sex organs are to be used for pleasure as well as for procreation: She admits that she enjoys sex and is not ashamed of it — a violation of the medieval view that saw sex as justified only for procreation. The reader should remember that the Wife's arguments, in all cases, go against the authorities of the church and that she is a woman who prefers her own experiences to scholarly arguments. She is a woman of great vitality, a woman who is wonderfully alive and responsive. And after five husbands and hardships — she has lost her beauty and her youth — she has survived. She has the power to enjoy life. For Chaucer England was heterogeneous. Chaucer was a patriot. He showed how to unite different people into one nation. In this respect Chaucer was a forerunner of the Renaissance epoch (Civilization time without war, peaceful times). He gave us a national language & a nation. He’s considered to be the greatest medieval author, the center of the English Medieval literature. Chaucer was the most remarkable innovator. He summed up medieval poetry, adapted certain themes & conventions of French & Italian medieval poetry for English poetry. He developed the art of literature itself beyond everything that is found in all medieval literature. Chaucer is a dramatic poet; his characters do not only tell us stories, but the author also shows us reaction of other people to their stories.