Middle English Literature: Chaucer and Canterbury Tales
Middle English: The Golden Age
Until 1385, the status of English as a literary language was uncertain, and writers were likely to write in Latin, French, or English. Even in the 14th century, writers still had a choice because English was not established as the language of instruction in schools until 1385. A prime example is John Gower (c. 1327-1408).
He wrote Mirour de l’Omme (c. 1376), Vox Clamantis (c. 1379), and The Lover’s Confession (1390).
The establishment of English as a literary language was significantly boosted by Geoffrey Chaucer.
He was the most influential writer of the English Middle Ages and chose to write exclusively in English. Simultaneously, he was very much European, and his reworking of Italian and French texts elevated both his texts and the English literary tradition to European status. His work is excellent and reflects both his learning and his social position.
Chaucer’s work can be divided into three periods, reflecting the degree to which he was dependent on external influences:
1. French Period (before 1372)
This period includes his translation of Le Roman de la Rose by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, and The Book of the Duchess.
From Le Roman de la Rose, Chaucer adopted the device of dream vision and seasonal setting.
2. Italian Period (1373 – 1384)
The major work of this period is the long philosophical romance Troilus and Criseyde, a twin piece of his literary career.
Before writing it, he wrote two dream vision poems: The House of Fame and The Parliament of Fowls, a lively debate piece written for Saint Valentine’s Day. It uses birds to contrast natural and courtly love.
Troilus and Criseyde is sometimes considered a precursor to the novel for its length, its depiction of characters, and its exploration of moral issues. He took his story from Boccaccio’s Il Filostrato and much of its thinking from Boethius’s The Consolation of Philosophy.
3. English Period (c. 1386 – 1400)
From this period are The Canterbury Tales.
The Canterbury Tales
This work belongs to the third period of Chaucer’s creative process, marked by greater originality.
The work is a compendium of tales told by pilgrims on their way to the shrine of Saint Thomas à Becket in Canterbury. They travel from London to Canterbury.
Chaucer’s initial intention was to give each pilgrim four tales: two on the way to Canterbury and two on the way back. Conversational links and prologues bridge the different tales and give unity to a very diverse work.
However, the work was never finished because he died in 1400. Only 22 pilgrims tell complete stories, and not all are linked.
The Canterbury Tales shows a significant advance in Chaucer’s writing because he had to create stories through a variety of voices.
The story starts with a prologue that sets the scene and introduces the pilgrims, including Chaucer himself (a pilgrim and the narrator) and the host of the Tabard Inn at Southwark.
The pilgrims belong to different classes, and through them, Chaucer creates an impression of a complete society.
The pilgrimage is one of the situations in which the classes can mix, providing an ideal framework, which is why it was so effective.
Chaucer’s attitude to the pilgrims varies. Some are considered with respect, others are satirized, and still others are shown through gentle irony. The result is a gallery of believable and vivid characters.
Style and topics in each tale are perfectly matched. Colloquial speech and realism contrast with formal speech and elevated language (for example, the Knight and the Miller).
The genres vary, including romance, fabliaux, beast fable, sermon, etc. Though there’s a general frame, there’s no single poetic structure.
Chaucer uses a variety of rhyme schemes and metrical patterns, and there are also two prose tales.