14 th century england. chaucer: introduction. middle england values gentilesse/gentil: refinement...
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14th century England. Chaucer: introduction
Middle England Values Gentilesse/Gentil:
Refinement and courtesy resulting from good breeding A function of social class to a certain extent gentil is related to the modern term gentleman
Trouthe/Trewe: 1. fidelity, loyalty; 2. pledge, promise cf. modern English, to "pledge one's troth," meaning to
agree to marry It is more than simply the idea of truthfulness or trueness
to one's word. Courtly love and knightly behavior
Courtly Love (wrap up) Modeled on the feudal relationship between a knight
and his liege lord Idealized sort of relationship (could not exist within
the context of "real life" medieval marriages) The audience for romance was perfectly aware that
these romances were fictions Capellanus's "Art of Courtly Love“: a satire mocking
the conventions of courtly love
The Black Death: historical consequences People died without last rites and without having a
chance to confess their sins. There were not enough workers left to work the land It has been estimated that 40% of England's priests
died in the epidemic. The Church authority was questioned The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 was one result of the
social tension caused by the adjustments needed after the epidemic.
Chaucer (1343-1400): Social background Born in a well-to-do bourgeois family in London,
1343. Commoners who were advancing in wealth and
social prestige Excluded from the aristocracy by birth, and from the
country gentry by their city occupations They were somewhere in between: the beginning of
the English middle class.
Chaucer: Career Path Teenage: a page in the household of Prince Lionel
(son of King Edward III) His 1st great patron was John of Gaunt (5th son of
the king): the most powerful nobleman in England. Received offices, grants of money, and other
privileges for his services from successive kings, Edward III, Richard II and Henry IV.
Sent on diplomatic missions to Flanders, France and Italy
Became a public man but of modest importance
Formal and informal education His development: summed up as comprised in three
stages, French, Italian and English. Embedded the first translation of a Petrarch sonnet
into English. Other models were Boccaccio and Dante. The
influence was not directly exercised through Italy, but via the French.
His latest stories have no direct originals and in their humour and freedom anticipate the typically English temper.
Stages in Literary Development Translated incompletely the Roman de la Rose and
Wrote some short poems before 1360 The Book of the Duchess is a dream vision and an
elegy at once. Translated the Consolation of Philosophy of
Boethius, which influenced him profoundly The House of Fame: first typically Chaucerian work After 1370 the Italian influence on Chaucer’s work
became major in his poetry: The Parliament of Fowls, Troilus and Criseyde.
The Canterbury Tales: Background One of the landmarks of English literature. Had a continuous history of publication. Chaucer did not complete the entire Canterbury
Tales as designed. Tales structured so that each pilgrim would tell four
tales (only completed twenty-four tales). Dramatic illusion of the tellers within a framework
of tales: double fiction Include romantic adventures, fabliaux,
hagiographies, bestiaries, religious allegories, a sermon
Glossary 1: Fabliau
Short, humorous and typically bawdy poem. Abounded as elements of poetry in France of the 12th and
13th centuries. Appeared in English some 100 years later. Deals for the most part with domestic comedy full of sexual
innuendo of the merchant and middle classes. Some of the motifs are from oriental sources. Involve a lovers' triangle, trickery designed to gain favours
from a desired woman most likely married or otherwise unavailable (too young etc.).
Trickery designed to delude an ageing or otherwise undesirable husband to clear the way for a lover.
Glossary 2: Hagiography The study of saints. Refers literally to writings on the subject of holy persons:
biographies of ecclesiastical and secular leaders. Focus on the lives of men and women canonized by the Christian
Church Other religions such as Buddhism and Islam create and maintain
hagiographical texts concerning saints and other individuals believed to be imbued with the sacred.
The related term hagiology refers to the study of saints collectively, without focusing on the life of an individual saint.
The term "hagiography" has also come to be used as a pejorative reference to the works of contemporary biographers and historians whom critics perceive to be uncritical and even "reverential" in their writing.
Glossary 3: Bestiary A compendium of beasts Made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that
described various animals, birds and even rocks. The natural history and illustration of each beast were usually
accompanied by a moral lesson. This reflected the belief that the world itself was literally the
Word of God, and that every living thing had its own special meaning (the pelican, which was believed to tear open its breast to bring its young to life with its own blood, was a living representation of Jesus).
Also a reference to the symbolic language of animals in Western Christian art and literature.
Particularly popular in England and France around the 12th century and were mainly compilations of earlier texts.
Next Time Assignment The General Prologue
What was the purpose of a medieval pilgrimage? Who is the "holy blisful martyr" ? Why is he of interest to the pilgrims? How many pilgrims are there? How is this helpful to Chaucer in his ambition to show his art as a
poet? Which pilgrims represent new classes? Which figures are painted in a positive or in a negative light? What seems to be Chaucer's attitude toward the Church? What is the role of Chaucer the pilgrim within this group?
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