Geoffrey Chaucer s The Canterbury Tales - 944 Words

Most notable of Geoffrey Chaucer’s writing style in The Canterbury Tales is how he uniquely characterizes each and every member of such a large ensemble cast. Following the General Prologue, the mindful observations of the narrator demonstrate that the pilgrims are intended to serve as a veritable cross-examination of medieval society at large. The peasants, the elite, and the clergy are all represented, serving as means of making greater statements concerning who they are and the world they share. These are further elaborated upon in the tales themselves; namely in those of the Knight, the Miller, and the Wife of Bath, each of which reflect the development and motivations of their respective characters, not to mention their relationships between one another as well. As befitting of the noblest member of the company, the Knight is presented as a good and honorable soul; one who holds himself in particularly high standing and dignity. His tale deals with love in its more refined sensibilities, coupled with the moral dilemmas of truth and justice that come about when leading a chivalrous lifestyle. In his storytelling, he relates grandiose philosophies and bombastic notions to the other pilgrims, seeming all the more long-winded through doing so. He eventually seems to reach a point of a feigned sort of eloquence; a sophistication which is far more style over substance for its own sake. As a result of this, whatever greater meaning he may have had in mind through craftingShow MoreRelatedGeoffrey Chaucer s The Canterbury Tales1781 Words   |  8 Pagesrelationship and were wholly looked down upon. During these women s lifetimes, sovereignty was sought after but never fully achieved. Women were looked at as a way to please the man and someone to car ry his child when time came. In modern time, the extremist who don t support equality among women and men are known as misogynists or anti-feminists. On the side of the spectrum, those who do support equality are known as feminists. Geoffrey Chaucer, who is by some considered a proto-feminist writer, is oneRead MoreThe Friar s Tale Of Geoffrey Chaucer s Canterbury Tales Essay1508 Words   |  7 PagesWalker Mr. Abel British Lit/comp. 7 November 2016 The Friar’s Tale Many pilgrims in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales held a religious position. Some of these people’s personal ideas have caused debates and criticism over Chaucer’s opinion of the Catholic Church. Critics have discussed the ideas that were presented both subtly and openly. Two of the pilgrims and their tales will be discussed: the Prioress and the Pardoner. Both of these tales offer points of criticism in the Catholic Church. The PrioressRead MoreAnalysis Of Geoffrey Chaucer s Canterbury Tales Essay1670 Words   |  7 Pagesto better themselves. This first exploit of trust can be found within Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. While the whole entire work exposes corruptions within the Catholic Church during Chaucer’s time, the breaking of trust is actually demonstrated within the Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale. At the end of the Pardoner’s tale, he offers the pilgrimage relics, for a fee of course. However, at the prologue of the Pardoner’s tale, the Pardoner himself has explained how the Catholic Church and other fellowRead MoreAnalysis Of Geoffrey Chaucer s The Canterbury Tales 1697 Words   |  7 Pages Geoffrey Chaucer Thinking of Geoffrey Chaucer one may only consider him as the author of The Canterbury Tales but like most authors they are not only their best works. Unfortunately for most late poets and authors their history isn’t much known, it is usually not documented in general. Yet fortunately for Chaucer he has worked for people who do get their history written about which makes his past a little more well known than other poets of his time. So of course with this there are biographiesRead MoreGeoffrey Chaucer s The Canterbury Tales1787 Words   |  8 PagesIn Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, the Franklin presents a tale which deftly examines the tension between ideal vs. reality. In a perfect world the marriage promise between Arveragus and Dorigen sets the tone for the rest of the tale by means of marital equality but in reality no good comes from it. Although â€Å"The Franklin’s Tale† is arguably the most equal out of all the Marriage Groups, its repetition of acts of magnanimity overpowers that equality and turns it into a kind of competitionRead MoreGeoffrey Chaucer s The Canterbury Tales867 Words   |  4 PagesAt the beginning of Geoffrey Chaucer’s â€Å"The Canterbury Tales,† he opens with a description of twenty-nine characters who are going on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Each character in the story represent a stereotype of a kind of person that would be seen in England during the Fourteenth Century. Every single character is unique, but also embodies physical and behavioral traits that would be common for someone in their profession. He writes each character so they have realistic qualities. However, whenRead MoreGeoffrey Chaucer s The Canterbury Tales868 Words   |  4 Pagesprotection of rights for its people, in an effort to restore the goals and actions of an exemplary governing body. Geoffrey Chaucer illustrates a similar call to action for pre-reformation Church authority to lead by example, ide ally abiding by the practices they teach in The Canterbury Tales. Through the use of bickering ironic characters such as the Friar and the Summoner, Chaucer juxtaposes these hypocritical examples with the loyal and archetypal Parson’s description in the General Prologue.Read MoreGeoffrey Chaucer s Impact On Literature1231 Words   |  5 PagesGeoffrey Chaucer’s Impact on Literature: English poet Geoffrey Chaucer is acclaimed to be one of the best and most influential poets in history. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote several famous literary works in what is called middle English. Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1340 in London, England. Over the course of Chaucer’s life, he entered and exited several different social classes. He began to write his most known pieces when he became a public servant to Countess Elizabeth of Ulster in 1357. He diedRead MoreThe Canterbury Tales By Geoffrey Chaucer1321 Words   |  6 Pagesread the Canterbury Tales? The story behind The Canterbury Tales is enhancing. Geoffrey Chaucer was a revolutionary writer whose life influenced his writing. Geoffrey Chaucer helped the king and stayed at his service for years. Chaucer quit the service to chase his ambitious dream of being a writer and a poet, and hoped to succeed. Chaucer wrote many stories and poems and his most successful and popular was The Canterbury Tales. His stories were rev olutionary and successful. Geoffrey Chaucer s lifeRead MoreWomen s Liberty Through Literature1105 Words   |  5 Pages Women’s Liberty Through Literature Kendall N. Player English 4 AP Literature Mrs. Johnson  The role of women in society has been well documented through world literature. Works such as The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, Hamlet by William Shakespeare,The Education of Women by Daniel Defoe, and A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. These works come from a wide variety of time periods, they range from the middle ages to the modern era, where the first was published around 900 years before the last