Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400)

 

His Life and Work

 

The greatest writer of the 14^th century was Geoffrey [‘dzeri] Chaucer. He was born in London, soon after the Hundred Years War broke out. His father, John Chaucer was a London wine merchant. He had connections with the court and hoped for a courtier’s career for his son, and at seventeen Geoffrey became page to a lady at the court of Edward 3.

At twenty , Chaucer was in France serving as a squire (arm-bearer to a knight) and was then taken prisoner by the French. His friends helped to ransom1 him.

On his return to England, Chaucer passed into attendance on John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth son of the king.

During 1373 and the next few years, Chaucer travelled much and lived a busy life. He went to France on a mission connected with a peace-treaty. He made three journeys to Italy, which made a deep impression upon him. Italy was the first country where the bourgeoisie triumphed over feudalism, and it was there that Chaucer saw the first city-republics. Italian literature was at its height and opened to Chaucer a new world of art.

Chaucer’s earliest poems were written in imitation of the French romances. He translated from French a famous allegorical poem of the 13^th century, “The Romance of the Rose”. Though the poem is very long, its plot is simple: a young man falls asleep and dreams of a garden in which there is a Rose that he desired to own. He is helped by such virtues as Beauty, Wealth and Hospitality, and hampered by such vices as Pride, Poverty and Evil Report.2 After a long time he gets the Rose.

The second periodof Chaucer’s literary work was that of the Italian influence. To this period belong the following poems: “The Hose of Fame”, a didactic poem; “The Parliament of fouls”(birds), an allegorical poem satirizing Parliament; “Troilus and Cressida [‘trouilэs эnd ‘kresidэ]”, considered to be the predecessor of the psychological novel in England, and “The Legend of Good Women”, a dream-poem.

Chaucer was well read in ancient literature. Italian literature of the time taught him the importance of national literature in the life of a nation.

When Chaucer came back to England, he received the post of Controller of the Customs in the port of London. Chaucer held this position ten years. He devoted his free time to hard study and writing.

In 1377 King Edward 3 died. His ten-year-old grandson Richard succeeded him. A band of uncles who disagreed with each other acted as regents. At first all went well with Chaucer. He was appointed “Knight for the shire of Kent”, which meant that he sat in Parliament as a representative for Kent. He often had to go on business to Kent and there he observed the pilgrimages to Canterbury. Travelling in those days was very dangerous, and several times Chaucer was robbed of money which was in his charge.

The third periodof Chaucer’s creative work begins in the year 1384 when he started writing his masterpiece, “The Canterbury Tales”.

When the new king, Henry 4, came to the throne in 1399, the poet immediately addressed a poem to him, “The Complaints of Chaucer to his Empty purse”, with the result that his old pension was given back to him and a new one granted. Chaucer died in 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Chaucer was the last English writer of the Middle Ages and the first of the Renaissance.

 

“The Canterbury Tales”

“The Canterbury Tales” are a series of stories written in verse. The framework which serves to connect them is a pilgrimage to Canterbury. The distance from London to Canterbury is 60 miles, but in those days there was no straight road to go by.

Pilgrimages of every kind were extremely common in Chaucer’s time. Such journeys were no doubt very valuable as a means by which to break the monotony of life in days when there were no newspapers, no printed books, nor any theatres. Many people looked forward to them as to pleasant holidays excursions. The month for these pilgrimages were April and May, because spring is the best season in the British Isles.

The most popular English pilgrimage was to Canterbury. Second to Canterbury was the town of Chester where people could see plays based on Bible stories performed in the churches. Pilgrimage towns were crowded with inns and churches. Belles were constantly ringing. Some churches had relics of the saints, and people believed these had the miraculous power to cure diseases. Other people were attracted by the beautiful monuments. At Canterbury Cathedral there is the shrine of Thomas Becket, a bishop of the 12^th century, who struggled against the king for the independence of the Church. He was murdered by the order of King Henry 2, and later made a Catholic saint.

The pilgrimage was a “democratic institution”, which means that rich and poor, noble and peasant rode side by side and stopped at the same inns.

Chaucer opens his work with a prologue to the whole work.