Canterbury tales in middle english12/5/2023 ![]() Although this introduction, the General Prologue, mentions St Thomas, the 'hooly, blissful martyr', it makes few other allusions to the spiritual side of pilgrimage, though the narrator describes himself as setting out 'with ful devout corage' (I 21). Some stories are bawdy fabliaux, some saints' lives or serious treatises.Ĭhaucer introduces his pilgrimage by saying that people want to travel in spring on pilgrimages, especially to the shrine of St Thomas Becket in Canterbury - who has helped them when they were sick (I 18). Famously, too, in imitating the real-life fact that pilgrims amused themselves en route by songs, musical instruments and story-telling, Chaucer offers a variety of genres and levels of seriousness and elegance. The way he exploits this fact creates a text in which he not only represents the diversity of contemporary society but also has the opportunity to depict conflict and rivalry between different trades. He has many story-tellers of differing class and character, and diversity, in many different forms, is the keynote of his collection. But the most important aspect of real-life pilgrimage that Chaucer takes up for his great poem is the fact that a wide variety of people, of different classes and different places might be found together on a pilgrimage. Canterbury Cathedral, Trinity Chapel Ambulatory nII-57.Ĭhaucer was not the only medieval writer to use a pilgrimage as a frame story to introduce a collection of tales: the Italian Giovanni Sercambi (1347-1426) composed his Novelliere, a series of tales purporting to have been told to a group who escape the plague which raged in Lucca in 1374, by travelling to various towns and cities in Italy. Despite this, the poem was soon regarded asa masterpiece, and later medieval writers made attempts to continue the Tales with descriptions of the pilgrims' behaviour in Canterbury. Chaucer's poem thus takes the form of a series of these individual tales connected within a framing device of the pilgrimage and interludes descibing the pilgrims' behaviour. Chaucer never finished the Canterbury Tales, and the pilgrims only make it to the outskirts of Canterbury in the poem as it survives. To pass the time and entertain each other on their way the pilgrims take it in turns to tell stories, many of a humorous or bawdy nature. Geoffey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, written between 13, is a long poem concerning a group of thirty pilgrims on their way from Southwark, in south London, to the shrine of St Thomas Becket in Canterbury. Check out /r/AskLiteraryStudies if you have questions about literature and literary studies that you'd like answered by experts! All are welcome.One of the most famous works of medieval literature is based around a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral.Spoilers must be marked by an alert and obscured with Reddit editor's spoiler masking system. Please do not seek feedback or instruction on your writing.ĭo not submit videos vaguely related to literature. This includes written work, social media, medium, youtube, apps, or any other channel/material you are associated with. This includes posting surveys.ĭo not submit any form of advertising or self-promotion. Content: Do not submit posts that contain questions and no other content.ĭo not request help on homework assignments (students) or curriculum content (teachers). Analysis: Submissions must include poster's own analysis in either the body or the comments of a post. Relevance: Submissions must relate to literature, literary criticism, literary history, literary theory, or literary news. ![]() We are not /r/books: please do not use this sub to seek book recommendations or homework help. ![]() Discussions of literary criticism, literary history, literary theory, and critical theory are also welcome. Welcome to /r/literature, a community for deeper discussions of plays, poetry, short stories, and novels.
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