Geoffrey Chaucer, considered one of the greatest English poets in the Middle Ages, composed The Canterbury Tales in the late fourteenth century. In the novel twenty-nine men and women representing all aspects of Medieval society embark on a religious pilgrimage to the cathedral at Canterbury in southeast England. On their journey their host engages them in a storytelling contest with a free meal as the prize upon their return. Chaucer wrote the tales in Middle English, the vernacular of the Medieval period, making his work accessible to all classes of people.
Chaucer has written his tales to explain real life situations that happens daily and his tales also teaches his readers that the same situation could happen to them and what he or she should be aware of when it comes to those types of scenarios. Geoffrey Chaucer includes in his tales the importance of love, greed, and friendships and how those feelings should not come together for
Canterbury Tales is not only important in literature because of its’ size, but also because it is the first piece of work that Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in English. Chaucer usually wrote his work in French because it was the language of those in power, but instead he wrote the tales in Middle English. Though incomplete, the twenty-nine tales that were released, perfectly exemplify what life was like during the middle ages. Each pilgrim tells a tale as they head to Canterbury, England for a pilgrimage. They are all headed to Canterbury because they want to pay their respects to Saint Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
At Grinnell College, in the basement of the four-story Burling Library, lies the Special Collections and Archives. Within this cold room, many interesting books, pictures, and objects are found, but what makes them so ‘special’? There are requirements that the objects must meet in order to be considered part of the archives, but sometimes there is much more to them than just a checklist. A particularly special book to many is the 1896 collection of Geoffrey Chaucer’s poems called, The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, which was donated to Grinnell College during the Cold War by a doctor who enjoyed collecting books. The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer is particularly special both for the unique way it was crafted, and its history.
Chaucer rights many stories with in his Canterbury tales. Each one of these stories will lead to messages that he wants to send to the community. He claims that he is traveling from London to Canterbury for enlightenment. He claims that on this journey many of the people or characters had a different story. Of course, each story leads to a different moral or lesson he wants to give to the public.
Although living in different time eras, Shakespeare, Browning, and Barrett Browning are all classified as British poets. Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England around April 23, 1564. Because of his father holding the position of “justice of the peace of Stratford”, he was able to attend the finest grammar school in his area, where he would receive outstanding classical education from highly regarded masters. He made his debut in the world of liberal arts as an actor, later becoming a playwright and author in early seventeenth century. After his death, he was already “considered by his peers one of the greatest writers in England” (Boucquey 13).
Shakespeare's. In his later life, he eventually rose to Lord Chancellor of England and was a part of the British nobility, which shows his connection with the Elizabethan court. Bacon was also the nephew of Lord Burghley. He began writing after he was found guilty of taking bribes and was banished to his estate.
Geoffrey Chaucer was considered a cornerstone of English literature. Born and raised in London, Chaucer started writing 1370 and continued tell his death. Chaucer’s last writing was the Canterbury Tales. He never did fully finish this writing but he got far enough to show us the characters of this work. Characters that he developed in such a way that people still continue to look back and read his work.
The Merchant (who Chaucer does not name) is a fur trader described as being tall, proud, and dressing in lavish clothing. He is viewed as being quite wealthy due to his dress although in reality it is stated he is secretly in debt. However despite his debt (which is implied to be due to borrowing), he has great business sense as seen by his knowledge regarding trade and currency. In many ways his characteristics in “real” life are the same with the charecters in his tale that he tells the pilgrims.
William Shakespeare was a playwright and an actor that lived in the 16th and 17th centuries. There are countless sights and information about who William Shakespeare was. However, no one knows for sure what the actual information of William Shakespeare’s life. The information provided in the following paper is what is said to be known of William Shakespeare.
William Shakespeare was a great English playwright, dramatist and poet during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He came from a middle-class family; his parents are John and Mary Shakespeare. “His mother was the daughter of a local farmer and his father came from a large family that made gloves and wool trader.” His life time wasn’t easy even though he was the third child out of eight, he became the oldest after his two older sisters died. His birth became unknown when he was born in 1564 in Stratford upon Avon, in a farming area of the Midlands.
After Arthur came Chaucer. I learned that Chaucer was the father of the English language; I experienced for the first time the writing of satire. Chaucer 's work addressed a lot of important issues, and I realized how a work can take a simple story and attack some many parts of a culture. I had my eyes opened to the power of literature. From Chaucer we went to Dante 's Inferno, the first text that really challenged my ideals and beliefs.
William Shakespeare He is considered the greatest playwrights in history of language. He has been dead for four hundred years, but his plays will live forever. His plays were written to be performed. William Shakespeare plays entertain the rich and the poor with his new genres of plays, such as tragicomedy and romance.
Chaucer writes a series of stories, named The Canterbury Tales, in which her gives his opinion on many people and situations. He uses the stories to mock others and display morals through his stories. The Prioress Tale is just one of the several stories that were written to express an opinion of the Catholic church on their beliefs and customs. The narrator of the tale gives her worldview of through a very religious tale that reflects the church’s judgments of Jews.
Another literary device that Chaucer employs in his tale is personification. A typical literary device used in fables, Chaucer personifies the chickens and fox in this tale by giving them the ability to speak and read, and describes the animal characters in a very anthropomorphic way, calling the hen Pertelote “the fair damsel”(50). The very fact that Chauntecleer and Pertelote are able to carry out a conversation shows that Chaucer treated personification in such a way that the “Nun’s Priest’s Tale” is considered to be a beast fable. One other literary device that Chaucer utilizes in the telling of the “Nun’s Priest’s Tale” is irony. Not only is irony an important part of the fable tradition, it is deeply integrated into Chaucer’s writing
