Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales English Literature Essay

Geoffrey Chaucer created one of the universes ‘ greatest plants of literature when he wrote The Canterbury Tales. He stepped out of his epoch and created plants of poesy that withstood the trials of clip. His life has easy been pieced together over clip and we catch a glance of the people and topographic points to whom hold influenced his ideas and thoughts. Chaucer ‘s most prized work, The Canterbury Tales, brought modernism, wit and a fresh, pleasant sense of world to the English linguistic communication. These Narratives were able to unite Chaucer ‘s new thoughts with the manner of old literature. Geoffrey Chaucer and his work on The Canterbury Tales will ever hold an deathless influence on modern literature and the manner of authorship of today ‘s poets.

Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London, approximately between the clip of 1340-1344, to John and Agnes Chaucer. His parents were affluent wine merchandisers who were successful and had many connexions in society. London at this clip was a comfortable and booming metropolis which welcomed many chances to Chaucer. Unfortunately, around 1348 the ill-famed Black Plague started to flog out metropoliss and towns so the Chaucer household moved to Southampton. While in Southampton, Chaucer would hold been around the age to have schooling but there are no records that a formal instruction took topographic point. Since he came from a household of wealth it would be a possibility that Chaucer was homeschooled or had a private coach. His love of reading besides enhanced his reading and mind, so much so that he became about fluent in Italian, Latin, and French. Regardless, Geoffrey Chaucer received a leading instruction and was transformed into a gentleman that was received good by society.

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In 1357 Chaucer was foremost noted as being a member of the house of the Countess of Ulster, Elizabeth. He was right where he needed to be in footings of age and success. Chaucer held this place in order to have an instruction in the royal tribunal systems. After making this for a few old ages he served under Edward III in the ground forces and was captured but later returned for ransom. It was sometime around1360 when Chaucer, who was about 20 old ages old, began composing and interpreting poesy quit frequently. The royal tribunal was a large fan of the humanistic disciplines and encouraged Chaucer ‘s authorship in non merely English but other linguistic communications such as Gallic and Italian. Over the following few old ages at that place was much peace in Europe so Chaucer traveled abroad on occasion for concern pertaining to the royal tribunal. These trips heightened his imaginativeness and world of the universe.

A twelvemonth subsequently Chaucer met Philippa De Roat and they were married. He married into a higher category and because of this was subsequently named as one of the male monarch ‘s esquires. The undermentioned twelvemonth Philippa gave birth to their first boy named Thomas. Now in his mid-thirtiess, Chaucer started going once more, at first making concern for the male monarch and subsequently for two merchandisers merchandising Italian goods. While on one of his trips to Italy he got his custodies on the celebrated author Boccaccio ‘s work which was most likely his inspiration to compose The Canterbury Tales. Boccaccio ‘s work consisted of many little interconnected narratives focused around one important juncture, which was the subject in the Tales.

The beginning of the 1370 ‘s was a clip for alteration in Chaucer ‘s life. First off, the royal tribunal started to recognition and acknowledge his literature. Better yet, since his Hagiographas were so impressive, the male monarch awarded him a hurler of wine day-to-day and subsequently he was chosen to be Controller of Customs in the Port of London for teguments, fells, and wools. While Chaucer held that esteemed place, his poesy was going really good cognize and greatly bettering. Some of his work during this decennary included parts of The Canterbury Tales, such as The Second Nun ‘s Tale and The knight ‘s Tale.

The 1380 ‘s brought many highs and depressions in Chaucer ‘s life. First, in 1385 he became a justness of the peace for Kent and subsequently a knight for the shire of Kent. In 1387 Chaucer ‘s married woman passed off and he moved to Kent, changed his political stance which caused him to be removed from the royal tribunal for a short period. He wrote poesy to maintain busy and take himself from the public oculus. During his clip in isolation he wrote Parliament of Foules and Troilus and Criseyde.

It is non known the exact day of the month when Chaucer foremost started composing the celebrated Canterbury Tales, but one can presume it was decidedly around the 1390s. The Tales began from pieces he had antecedently written with new narratives he constructed, and so strewed them all together. This great piece of literature Chaucer created demonstrates how much he was respected in the royal tribunals, his fiscal success and his overall growing as a poet. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer introduces all 24 of the pilgrims in his narratives by depicting them briefly in the prologue and so intertwines each pilgrim ‘s narrative utilizing great play, graphic scenes and different genres. The Tales, nevertheless, were non completed so there is still some confusion and argument on their exact order. However, these narratives have helped determine modern literature.

One of the chief authorship techniques Chaucer used was intermixing old literature with his new modern thoughts. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer thought up characters that the mean individual could easy associate to. By making this he grabbed the attending of the huge bulk of the population and non merely the upper category. He besides created his narratives with pleasant, fresh and happy secret plans and ideas, unlike normal Middle Ages literature, ever being portrayed as dark and gloomy with changeless war. Chaucer was originative, and by doing his work wellbeing and merriment he enticed more audiences and poesy became an gratifying read. This stuck with literature through the centuries and to this twenty-four hours we find fun, and lively narratives full of life and play everyplace. Chaucer ‘s manner of authorship started a new tendency of storytelling, poesy and literature as a whole.

Chaucer non merely made literature gratifying, he helped develop the modern English linguistic communication of authorship and proved that sentence construction and the order of words makes all the difference between sloppy and beautiful. In the Tales Chaucer used largely modern English, with the aid of Middle English as a crutch. In the text it is easy to pick out words that are a mix of modern and Middle English. For the most portion this made his composing easier to understand in both modern yearss and in-between ages. The modern version of Chaucer ‘s work can miss rime, significance, and non flux really good when being read. Reading his work in Middle English shows the true beauty of his chef-d’oeuvre and enlightens the reader more on the rime and significance of the narrative being told. Chaucer ‘s plant has remained an evolutionary piece of work mostly due to the manner he introduced modern English. It has helped The Canterbury Tales endure through the ages.

There is really small known about the terminal of Chaucer ‘s life. At the terminal of 1399 he leased out a tenement in Westminster Abbey. October 25, 1400 is believed to be the day of the month of his decease and he was buried in Westminster Abbey with a little, really modest funeral. Since he was a adult male of much award and regard, in 1556 his organic structure was moved to a new topographic point, but his old burial topographic point in Westminster is now called, “ Poets ‘ Corner ” . While he was alive his plants were greatly appreciated and ne’er underestimated. Peoples of his clip knew that he was making great plants of literature and he was, in a manner, considered celebrated. Geoffrey Chaucer gave literature The Canterbury Tales, which will populate on in English literature and will ever hold a great influence on modern composing for the remainder of clip.

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