English poet, the most famous literary figure of the Middle English period; his work was influenced by Italian literature, in particular Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), French poetic forms, and courtly love ideas
Chaucer was the soon of a wine merchant; attached to royal court, performed various official duties (page, diplomat, customs officer, justice of the peace, clerk of buildings, forester) during the reigns of Edward III (r. 1327-1377) and Richard II (r. 1377-1399); he was the the protégé of John of Gaunt (1340-1399) throughout his life.
1359, participated in Edward III's invasion of France (part of the Hundred Years' War); captured at the siege of Reims and later ransomed
1366, married Philippa, daughter of a knight
1369, Book of the Duchess, an elegy commemorating the Duchess of Lancaster, first wife of John of Gaunt (1340-1399)
1372-1373 travels to Italy
1378-81, House of Fame (in octosyllabic verse, discussion of the nature of fame) and Parliament of Fowls (in rhyme royal, conference of birds choosing mates on Valentine's Day), both narrative poems involving dream visions
1385, Troilus and Criseyde, narrative poem in 8,239 lines of rhyme royal, based on Boccaccio's Il Filostrato; Trojan War setting and characters
1386, The Legend of Good Women, narrative poem (in heroic couplets), prologue and nine stories in praise of women, based on Boccaccio
1386, beginning of Canterbury Tales
1400, death of Chaucer; buried in Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey
The Canterbury Tales
Form: 24 tales in 17,000 lines of prose and verse, often rhyming couplets of iambic pentameter (heroic couplet); the work is incomplete, Chaucer had originally planned to write 120 tales (two for each pilgrim on each way during their journey to Canterbury)
Setting and Frame: pilgrimage from Tabard Inn in Southwark to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury; 29-31 pilgrims; Inn's host persuades pilgrims to agree to tell tales during the journey and offers a free dinner to the teller of the best tale
Medium: over 80 manuscripts, all after Chaucer's time; most influential on contemporary editions are the Ellesmere Manuscript (source of order of the stories and image of Chaucer) and the Hengwrt Manuscript (source of text).
Selected Tales:
Knight' Tale -- (based on Boccaccio's Teseida), story of Palamon and Arcite's love for Emelye (somewhat similar situation as Marie de France's Chaitivel)
Miller's Tale -- a fabliau (bawdy story); Alison and Nicholas become lovers and deceive the carpenter John, her husband, making him believe a great flood is coming; Alison's admirer Absalom is forced to kiss her "nether eye" and Nicholas is burned with a red-hot iron
Reeve's Tale -- a fabliau about two clerks who take revenge on a miller by sleeping with his wife and his daughter
Wife of Bath's Tale -- prologue condemning celibacy and describing the narrator's life with her five husbands; tale in which a knight seeks answer to question "what do women most desire?"; a very ugly old woman agrees to give him the answer if he marries her; he does and she tells him the answer is "sovereignty" and she turns into a beautiful young lady
Merchant's Tale -- story of blind, old January and his young wife May who makes love to her lover Damyan under a pear tree; January regains his sight and witnesses the affair but May persuades him of her devotion to him
Franklin's Tale -- Dorigen, wife of Arveragus, agrees to become the lover of Aurelius if ever the rocks of the coast of Brittany disappear; Aurelius accomplishes the feat with the help of a magician but releases Dorigen from her promise; influence of Breton lays
Nun's Priest's Tale -- mock-heroic story; the cock Chauntecleer has a nightmare about a fox and argues with his mate Pertelote about the significance of dreams; a fox actually appears and deceives Chauntecleer by praising his singing; the fox seizes Chauntecleer by the neck as he prepares to sing and carries him away; chased by farmers the fox is persuaded by Chauntecleer to stop and boast of his accomplishment; as the fox opens his mouth, Chauntecleer escapes
Parson's Tale -- last in the work; prose treatise on penitence and the seven deadly sins
Links:
Chaucer's texts online: http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/mideng.browse.html
The Miller's Tale: http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/miller.htm
Chaucer Overview: http://ccsun7.sogang.ac.kr/~anthony/Chaucer/index.htm
Chaucer Bibliography: http://www.ualberta.ca/~sreimer/engl324/324-bib.htm