Geoffrey Chaucer

                    Thinking activity      

              This blog is in response to the thinking activity on the Age of Chaucer to Elizabeth, assigned by Baradsir. 

 Geoffrey Chaucer:-  

                 –The father of English poetry 

            Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet, author, and civil servant, best known for The Canterbury Tales. He belongs to the middle English period and also called as "The morning star of the Renaissance". Chaucer was the largest literary figure of that time and that's why The whole age from 1350-1450 is considered as The age of Chaucer.

★Life:-

            While looking towards the life of Geoffrey Chaucer, we come to know that his date of birth is uncertain, but it is now generally accepted as being 1340, in London, England. He was born in a wealthy family and son of a merchant Vintner - a wine merchant.

            Chaucer's boyhood was spent in London, on Thames street, near the river, where the world's commerce was continually coming and going. We know nothing about his education accept that he was a great reader. But we also get knowledge that he enjoyed the advantages of a liberal education. 

            He lived under three monarchs;

1. He was Born during the reign of Edward III
2. Succession of Richard II in 1377 and revolution of 1399, disposition of Richard II who was the founder of Lancastrian dynasty
3. He died in 1400- one year after the Ascension of Henry IV

                    Rule of these three monarch had lasting and important impact to build life and literature of Chaucer. His father was a wine merchant, purveyor to the royal household and, from this accidental relation between trade and royalty may becomes a cause  of the fact that at the age of 17, he got his first court appointment to made page to the princess Elizabeth, who was the wife of the Duck of Charence, who is Edward III's son. It can be considered as the beginning of his connection with the brilliant court, which in the next 40 years under 3 kings.

  

                  At the age of 19 he went with the king on one of the many expeditions of the Hundred years' war. During that time in 1359, with the English army in France, taken as prisoner but he was soon ransomed by the money, 16 pounds, out of the royal purse. After returning he became the personal attendant and confident of the king. Soon after he married a maid of honor to the queen, who was probably Philippa Roet, sister of the wife of John of Gaunt, the famous Duke of Lancaster. 

                     We can observe many Ups and Downs in the life of chaucer. He had two diplomatic visits to Italy and by that he got influenced by the Italian culture in early Renaissance. He may have a kind of influence of Patrick and Boccaccio in his literary works. In 1386, he was elected member of parliament from Kent and, the distinctly English period of his life and work begins. Though he was very busy in public affairs, his heart was always with books. He was also a recipient of many royal favours, even sat in the parliament as a Knight of the Shire of Kent. 

                   Chaucer naturally adhered to the party of John of Gaunt, and his fortunes rose or fell with leaders of that party. He had many ups and downs on the political ladder, today with money and good prospects, tomorrow in poverty and neglect. Chaucer's patron John of Gaunt banished from court and he almost fell into poverty. But after accession of Henry IV (John of Gaunt's son), he got grant of a royal pension. For that he wrote "Complaints to His Empty Purs", in which he called the king's attention to the poets' need and by that they increased his pension. But he was able to enjoy his pension and outcome of his unusual complaints only for few months as he died next year, in 1400. 

     

                  He died on 25th October, 1400, in London, United Kingdom. He was the first poet to be buried in Westminster Abbey, a very prestigious place, which is now known as poets' corner.

"The life so brief, the art so long in the learning, the attempt so hard, the conquest so sharp, the fearful joy that ever slips away so quickly - by all this I mean love, which so sorely astounds my feeling with its wondrous operation, that when I think upon it, I scarce know whether I wake or sleep."

              – Geoffrey Chaucer 

         

★ Works of Chaucer:-

             The works of Chaucer are divided into 3 classes, corresponding to the three periods of his life. But at the same time we would find that fix or exact dates of most of his works is impossible to find out. 

1. French period
2. Italian period
3. English period

1. First period:-

  

          At the time of Geoffrey Chaucer, French was the language of courtiers, and so that he was also influenced by French language and literature. The well known poem of the first period is the "Romaunt of the Rise", a translation from the French "Roman De La Rose", an allegory of the whole course of love. Chaucer translated this universal favourite putting in some original English touches but of the present Romaunt only the first seventeen hundred lines are believed to be Chaucer's own work. 

              

           The best poem of this period is the "Dethe Blanche the Duchesse", which was known as the "Boke of Duchhesse". This poem is of considerable dramatic and emotional power written after the death of Blanche, wife of Chaucer's patron, John of Gaunt.

              Other poems of this period are, "Compleynte to Pite, a grace ful love poem; the "A B C", a prayer to the Virgin which was translated from the French of a Cistercian monk. It's verses beginning with the successive letters of the alphabets. 

2. Second period:-

                  In the second period his works mainly influenced by Italy, as he had two visits to Italy.  The chief work of the second or Italian period is "Troilus and Criseyde", which contains 8000 lines. the poem was later adapted by William Shakespeare in his work "Troilus and Cressida". The source of this poem is Boccaccio's Il Filostrato, the love Smitten one. But in his poem, he uses his material freely, to reflect the ideals of his own age and society. At the same time he gives the whole story a dramatic force and beauty which it had never known before.

                   "The Hous of Fame" is one of his unfinished poem. It has the rare combination of lofty thoughts and simple, homely language, showing the influence of the great Italian master. For this, W. J. Longs states in his History of English literature,

"For many of his ideas Chaucer is indebted to Dante, Ovid and Virgil; but the unusual conception and the splendid workmanship are all his own."

                    The third poem of this period is the "Legende of Goode Wimmen", third longest poem of him after Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde. In this work he wrote nine legends, among which "Thisbe" is the best.  As he was planning for Canterbury Tales, abandoned the task in the middle of his 9th legend. The prologue of this 9th legend is more interesting than any of the legends.

3. Third period:-

             Masterpiece of Chaucer is the Canterbury Tales, one the most famous work in all literature. It fills the third or English period of his life. This great work was never finished but he succeeded in his purpose so well that in Canterbury Tales, he has given us a picture of contemporary English life, it's work and play, it's deeds and dreams, it's fun and sympathy and hearty joy of living l, such as no other single work of literature has ever equaled.

★Canterbury Tales:–

 

              The Canterbury Tale is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer, between 1387 and 1400.It is widely regarded as Chaucer's Magnum opus.

 

              The framing device for the collection of stories is a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury, Kent. The 30 pilgrims who undertake the journey gather at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, across the Thames from London. At supper to jovial host of the Tabard In suggests that to enliven the journey, each of the company shall tell four tales, two going and two coming, on whatever subject shall suit him best. The host will travel with them as a master of ceremonies, and whoever tells the best story shall be given fine supper when they all come back again. They agree to engage in a storytelling contest as they travel, and Harry Bailly, host of the Tabard, serves as master of ceremonies for the contest. Most of the pilgrims are introduced by vivid brief sketches in the “General Prologue.”

              Tabard Inn of Southwark is not only famous by the Canterbury Tales, but also by the first playhouses were Shakespeare had his training.

               

The Canterbury Tales consists,

• The General Prologue, 
• The Knight’s Tale, 
• The Miller’s Tale,
• The Reeve’s Tale, 
• The Cook’s Tale,
• The Man of Law’s Tale, 
• The Wife of Bath’s Tale, 
• The Friar’s Tale, The Summoner’s Tale, 
• The Clerk’s Tale, 
• The Merchant’s Tale, 
• The Squire’s Tale, 
• The Franklin’s Tale, 
• The Second Nun’s Tale, 
• The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale, 
• The Physician’s Tale, 
• The Pardoner’s Tale, 
• The Shipman’s Tale, 
• The Prioress’s Tale, 
• The Tale of Sir Thopas, 
• The Tale of Melibeus (in prose), 
• The Monk’s Tale, 
• The Nun’s Priest’s Tale, 
• The Manciple’s Tale, and 
• The Parson’s Tale (in prose),
• It ends with “Chaucer’s Retraction.” 

                Not all the tales are complete; several contain their own prologues or epilogues.

   

               All these tales of the Canterbury Tales, includes stories of love and Chivalry, of saints and legends, travels, adventures, animal fables, allegory, satires, and the coarse humor of the common people. Two tales The Tale of Melibeus and The Parson’s Tale are written in verse. Chaucer is to be regarded as our first short story teller as well as our first modern poet.

                 

Features of Chaucer's poetry:-

1. The unique position :–

   

               He is the first, with no competitor for hundreds of years to challyhis position.

2. His observation :– 

               Among his literary virtues, his acute faculty of observation is very prominent. He was man of the world, mixing freely with all types of mankind, he used his opportunities to observe the Little peculiarities of human nature. He had the seeing eyes, the retentive memory.

3. His descriptions:– 

                 Success of descriptive passage depends on ivacity and skill in presentation, and also on judgement shown on the selection of details. Chaucer's best descriptions, of men, manners and places are of first rank in their beauty, impressiveness and humour. Even in common examples like, conventional spring mornings and dowery gardens, he presents unique descriptions. For example,

The bisy larke, messager of day , 

Salueth in her song the morwe gay, 

And firy Phoebus riseth up so brighte 

That all the orient laugheth with the lighte.

               – The Knight's Tale

      

4. His humour and pathos:–

                      In literature during that time few poets have perception of the fun or humour. The humour of Chaucer is very delightful and poetry has great variety. The prevailing feature of his humour is its urbanity: the man of the world's kindly tolerance of the weaknesses of his erring fellow mortals. 

                  He gave less emphasis to pathos but it is also not overlooked. In his poetry sentiment is humane and unforced. An excellent example of the use of pathos we can see in his works like, Prioress, in The Legend of the Good Women, and the House of Fame 

5. His Narrative power:–

                   As a story teller Chaucer had sometimes tortuous methods, but his narrative possesses a curious stealthy speech. His stories viewed strictly as stories, and have most of the weaknesses of his generation: fondness for long speeches on subjects like dreams and ethical problems, long explanation when none are necessary. For instance,

• Troilus and Criseyde, long speeches which is an example of his prolixity.
• The Knight's Tale , baffling complexity and over abundant narrative passages, which reveals his haphazard and dawdling methods 

6. His metrical Skill:–

                  In terms of poetical technique, English literature owes much to Chaucer.

• He imported decasyllabic lines from France, whic had been employed hardly in all England previously. He used it in both Stanzaic and couplet forms. 
• The seven lined stanza ababbcc has become known as the Chaucerian or rime royale. 

Chaucer is not great Lyrical poet but in some of his short poems - roundels and ballads, he shows a skill that is as good as the very best apparent in contemporary poems.

My video on Geoffrey Chaucer:-

Conclusion:-

                 To sum up, we can say that he is the earliest of the great moderns, and the great literary figure of that time, that the entire age is now known as the age of Chaucer, which shows his command of his works in hearts of people.

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