Download CT_PPT_English_Replacement

Canterbury Tales, Middle English and Chaucer
Medieval Period
The Middle Ages
•Spans from 500 – around 1500 A.D.
•Begins with the collapse of the Roman Empire
•Also referred to as Dark Ages or Medieval Period
•Enormous variation in lifestyle, literacy, technology,
community organization and values between the early
and High Middle Ages
•We will be concentrating on the latter Medieval
Period 1066-1485
Life in the Middle Ages
Homes of the peasants
- very small, cold, damp and
dark
- Typically only 1 or 2
rooms the whole family
shared
- For protection from
weather /enemies windows
were very small openings
with wooden shutters
- Thatched roofs that were
easily destroyed
Homes of the Wealthy
• More elaborate
• Floors were paved or tiled
• Tapestries on walls for
decoration and warmth
• Could afford panes of
glass for windows
• Big fireplaces, kitchens
separate from house to
minimize fire hazards
Clothing
Peasants
• Poor and wealthy both
wore wool
• Peasant men wore tunics
• Women wore long gowns
and sleeveless tunics
• For outside: cloaks, hats,
mittens
• Outer clothes never
laundered
• Undergarments washed
regularly
Wealthy
• Brighter colors, better
materials, and a longer
jacket length were signs of
wealth
• Elaborate and always
changing to fit latest
fashion
• Women wore flowing
gowns and elaborate
headdresses
• Fur and jewelry
Noble clothing
Health
As the populations of cities and towns grew,
hygienic conditions worsened
• Medical knowledge limited (no health care
system)
• Many superstitions about health,
• Thought disease spread by bad odors
• Disease came from sins of the soul; many believed
the plague to be divine retribution for sins.
• Believed illness could be cured from prayer,
meditation and pilgrimages
Knights and Chivalry
• “Chivalry” comes from French word for horse (cheval)
and mounted warrior (chevalier)
• Medieval warrior-code: a good knight must be bold and
fearless on the battlefield, devout (Christian) and
tenderhearted off of it
• The Anglo-Normans favored
romance
• Chivarly+Love+Enchantment
= Romance
• Thomas a Becket
•An Anglo-Saxon who adopts
Norman ways and eventually
becomes Archbishop of
Canterbury
• Defends the ideals of the
church against King Henry
II
• Is murdered by the King’s
knights
• Becomes a saint of the
church and a hero of the
people
• 1340-1400
•Note how it is written in Middle English (MedRendirectory.com)
• Acclaimed as, “The
Father of English
literature”
– Founder and
embellisher of
ornate eloquence
– We are indebted to
him for the most
vivid contemporary
description of 14th
century England
• He served his country
loyally:
– courtier, diplomat,
civil administrator
and translator
• His mastery of Latin,
French and Italian
played an important
factor in his
development as a
writer.
• Chaucer spoke in late Middle English
– By using this instead of French in his writing he
added tremendously to its prestige
• The Canterbury Tales was Chaucer’s most
ambitious and masterful work, but he died
before he completed the tales
• Chaucer died in 1400 and was buried in
Westminster Abbey
– He was the first English poet to be buried in
what has come to be known as Poets Corner.
Middle English
Our Fadir that art in heuenes
Halewid be thi name
Thi Kingdom comme to
Bi Thi wille done as in heuen
so in erthe
Gyve to us this dai oure breed
ouer other substance
And forgyve to us oure dettis
As we forgyven to oure
dettouris
And leede us not in to
temptacioun
But delyvere us fro yvel
Early Modern English
Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our dayly
bread,
And forgyve us our trespasses,
Even as we forgyve those who
trespass against us.
And lead us not into
temptation
But delivere us from evil
Geoffrey Chaucer
 Referred to as the first collection of short stories
 Written in poetry rather than prose
 Uses rhymed pairs of five-beat iambic lines
 In it’s simplest form:
 De Dum De Dum De Dum De Dum De Dum
 Note how the emphasis is on the second beat
 A real-life example:
 For I’ll refer me to all things of sense
 Count the pair of beats, again the emphasis on the 2nd beat
 For I'll refer me to all things of sense
 Think you understand—you should be able to write your
own sentence using five-beat iambic lines
The Canterbury
Tales
•At actual page
from Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales.
•Written entirely
in Middle English
•Prologue is
considered the best
picture of life in
the 14th century
•A masterpiece of
vivid and realistic
writing
• About pilgrim’s going on a pilgrimage, long
journey, to Canterbury
• Each pilgrim was to tell two stories on the way to
Canterbury and two on the journey back to London
• Chaucer died before he completed the stories
• This leaves us with 24 stories, out of the 124 he
intended to write
• It survives in ten fragments; there are no explicit
connections between these or any real indication of
the order in which Chaucer intended that they should
be read
– Through the tales Chaucer represents all aspects of the
human condition through his pilgrims
– His tone goes from comic to ironic to satirical
» Throughout the tales he remains a genial and warmhearted person who has sympathy for his fellow human
beings.
– The basic premise for the tales was to demonstrate the
human condition of the 14th century through a myriad of
characters
Canterbury
Cathedral
A pilgrimage
scene from a
stained glass
window in
Canterbury
Cathedral.
The End
Best, Michael. Shakespeare's Life and Times. Internet Shakespeare Editions, University of Victoria: Victoria, BC, 2001-2005.
<http://ise.uvic.ca/Library/SLT/>. Visited October 25, 2008.
MedRendirectory.com, (http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/chaucer/works.html)