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Geoffrey Chaucer

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English and American Literature

Valentina Trinidad, Lara Fernández, Moisés De Los Santos,


Cecilia Bonatto, Micaela Espachuz, Raiza Maroseck, Iván
García, Gabriela Rodríguez.
Geoffrey Chaucer

Biography
❖ He was born in 1340 in London
❖ 17 years later he became a public servant to Countess Elizabeth of Ulster and continued in
that capacity with the British Court throughout his lifetime
❖ The Canterbury Tales became his most acclaimed work ,considered one of the greatest
poetic works in English
❖ He died in October 25, 1400 in London, England
Characteristics of his work:

❏ Variety in subject matter, genre, tone and style


❏ In the complexities presented concerning the human pursuit of a sensible
existence
❏ His work reflect an all-pervasive humour combined with serious and tolerant
consideration of important philosophical questions
Who was Geoffrey
Chaucer?

● One of the most learned men of his time.


● He made numerous translations of prose and verse
such as:

Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy


Chauce’s work

Chaucer has presented caricatures of


himself in poems like: The Book of the
Duchess, The Parliment of Fowles,
Troilus and Criseyde, The House of Fame,
and The Legend of Good Women, and
also in his masterpiece:
Troilus narrator is a special case, it is a very
complicated an special work.
CHAUCER’S NARRATORS ARE
● Bookish
● Fat
● Nearsighted
● Comically pretentious
● Slightly self - righteous
● Unsuccessful in the chief art of medieval
heroes: love.

The ultimate effect of Chaucer’s poetry is

MORAL
How can we describe him?

He is also a reformer,
He is a genial observer
but he is foremost a
of mankind, a
celebrator of life who
storyteller, as well as a
comments shrewdly on
satirist, one whose
human absurdities
satire is usually
while being, at the
without real bite
same time, a lover of
mankind.
Chaucer’s influence on English
Literature

He decided to write in English


and not French, which was the
ONE OF THE REASONS
language spoken by those in
power in the centuries following
the Norman Invasion.
ANOTHER REASON

He wrote in Middle English and his work has marked a major transition
between the scanty remnants of Anglo-Saxon epic and early religious
poetry and the development of a modern English poetic corpus.
He helped found the English vernacular tradition

During the fourteenth century, French and Latin were viewed as more
sophisticated and more permanent than English.
And Chaucer proved that
literature written in English could
be every bit as beautiful,
enjoyable, complex, and profound
as literature written in a
supposedly “better” language.
His work indirectly
contributed to the
creation of English
language dictionaries

As people realized that English was evolving


and thereby it became more and more difficult
to understand Chaucer’s Literature, it became
necessary to built a resource that would help
everyone understand his works and other
similar to them. One result of these efforts was
the creation of English-language dictionaries.
He introduced
rhyme royal into
English

Chaucer chose to focus on rhyme, which


was unusual for an English language poet
of his time, but not completely original.
● Probably, the first person to
include the rhyme royal in English
language Literature.

● Rhyme Royal: (7 lines) written in


iambic pentameter and rhyming
ababbcc.

● Geoffrey used the ‘Rhyme Royal’


for his stories. For instance, the
‘Canterbury Tales’.
He’s the source of the ‘The ´s Tales’ Trope.

● The title of ´handmaid's Tales' by Margaret was inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer’s


´The Canterbury Tales´ and Richard Darwirns´s ‘The Ancestor Tales, as well.
People still read & play with his work
Today
It’s relatively easy to learn enough Middle English to understand his work, and there are
plenty of translations to help you out if you struggle.

However, people today do more than just read Chaucer’s work – many deeply enjoy it. Full of emotion, wit,
social critiques, and a surprising number of fart jokes, works like The Canterbury Tales and Troilus and
Criseyde enchant audiences today.
Chaucer scholarship is a substantial academic field, but even
beyond that, fans of Chaucer have fun playing with his
identity, language, and writing.

Occasionally, a movie or mini-series is released that


explicitly pays homage to The Canterbury Tales.

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