Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

Intro to Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

According to some critics, with the single exception of William Shakespeare, no English writer has surpassed Geoffrey Chaucer’s (1343[?]-1400) achievements. Though "unfinished," The Canterbury Tales rank as one of the world’s finest works of literature. Throughout his life, he served in key government positions as a controller of customs, a justice o the peace, and a one-term member of Parliament. Chaucer was the first person to be buried in what is now the Poet's corner of Westminster Abbey.

People in medieval England sometimes made pilgrimages to sacred shrines. One such shrine was the cathedral in Canterbury, where archbishop Thomas a Becket had been murdered in 1170. The Canterbury Tales introduces a group of "nine and twenty" pilgrims, one of whom is Chaucer himself.

The format is that of a frame story, that is a story that includes, or frames, another story or stories. By using the vehicle of the pilgrimage, Chaucer brings together people from the three main segments of medieval society—the church, the court, and the common people.

Many of the stories did not originate with Chaucer, but he perfected them, using sophisticated means of characterization. Chaucer projected 120 stories, two for each pilgrim, each way, and that is why these tales are considered incomplete.

Further notes on the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale

	The Wife of Bath’s aggressive feminism sets up resonances that are felt through all the succeeding tales.
	The question of marriage she introduces is treated from opposing points of view by the Clerk and the Merchant and it finally is settled by the common sense of Franklin.
	Unique in that the prologue is longer than the take, it functions to justify her 5 marriages and to suggest that women desire complete control over their husbands.
	She confesses her techniques and offers a plea for reforms for women.
	She uses 2 basic arguments:

If women remained virgins, there would be no women left to give birth to virgins (ll. 67-68; 77-78).
Sex organs are to be used for pleasure as well as function (ll. 120). These were radical opinions for a women to have then. (Remember, this voice is also through Chaucer.)

	She refutes popular theory that women should be submissive, especially in matters of sex.
	She says experience is better than authority (ll. 1-2).
	During Chaucer’s time, second marriages were seen as sinful and there was a praise for virginity. Women were still seen as property. Her tail is a plea for emancipation for women from these ideals.

She goes on to say:

	Se was able to control all her husbands by accusing them of being at fault.
	She derided the husband who considered her as property.
	She donounced the husband who hired spies to see if she was faithful.
	Her 4^th husband kept a mistress, so she pretended to be unfaithful to him.
	The 5^th time, she married for love, not riches, but he denounced women and ignored her.

The Tale:

	It’s one of Chaucer’s most original stories, but still, he relied on 2 older stories.
	It is a tale to prove a point—one the wife would naturally have made
	Chaucer doesn’t make it clear if he sympathizes with the ideas of marriage and celibacy.