The Canterbury Tales - MLA

Surname 1

Student name:

Instructor’s name:

Course title:

Date:

The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales refer to a series of 24 stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer

between the years 1386 to 1389 (Chaucer 12). The stories present a story-telling contest

amongst pilgrims on their way from London to Canterbury to visit the Saint Thomas Shrine

at the Canterbury Cathedral. Chaucer uses the stories to present the ironical nature of English

Society back then especially when it came to dealing with church matters. Chaucer includes

characters from all social classes in the society then. The pilgrims were on a spiritual mission

but their conversations show that they were more concerned with worldly things. This is

made clear by type of award that they were contesting about which was a plate of free meal.

This paper analyses Chaucer's work in terms of its historical background, its content, its

importance to literature and its reception in the literature world.

HISTORY AND BACKGROUND OF THE LITERARY WORK

Chaucer started writing the stories when he became the Controller of Customs and

Justice of Peace in 1386 (Rigby and Minnis 26). Chaucer intended to pass the ironic message

of church-goers being possessed by material worldly things rather the spiritual goodness that

they claim to pursue. The tales are written mostly in verse format although some are written

in prose. The language used to write the poems was the Middle English. Many of the poems

have addressees but a number do not have specific audience causing varying beliefs among

the lovers of literature. Some believe that because Chaucer was a courtier, he largely wrote

Surname 2

for nobility and not necessarily for any particular audience. Nevertheless, it is difficult to

accurately determine the target audience for his poems.

The completeness of Chaucer's work is still uncertain. This is because in the prologue

some thirty pilgrims were introduced and Chaucer intended to write four poems for each

pilgrim to cover the journey to and from the shrine (Chaucer 105). Eighty-three manuscripts

were discovered as a whole while twenty-eight were highly fragmented further raising the

question of completeness of the tales (Rigby and Minnis 58). Some manuscripts vary from

each other which is attributed to either errors during copying or probable additions to the

work by Chaucer himself. The earliest print edition of Chaucer's work was by William

Caxton in 1478 (Rigby and Minnis 155).

CONTENT OF THE TALES

The tales comprise of 24 stories written in 17,000 lines most of which are verses

while some are in prose (Chaucer 13). The work is divided into ten fragments with each

fragment comprising closely related tales. The language used is the Middle English spellings

and pronunciation. There are no manuscripts available which are written in Chaucer's own

hand but there are those that are believed to have been copied before his death by his close

associate, Adam Pinehurst (Chaucer 162). Although Chaucer's work has been credited as

original, it is evident that he borrowed heavily from works of previous literal pieces and that

his work was greatly inspired by the happenings in the English society back then. For

example, having story-telling contests was a practice prevalent among the English people

during his time (Chaucer 88). He has focused more on the stories that the pilgrims were

sharing rather than the progress of the pilgrimage itself.

IMPORTANCE OF THE TALES

Surname 3

The tales helped to increase the use of English in the world of literature more than

other languages such as French, Italian, and Latin (Walts 17). The innovations by the Court

of Chancery when Chaucer was in charge greatly influenced the modern English spellings

and pronunciation.

Besides his writings being entertaining, they helped to inform the readers of the

happenings back then in the English society. Some of the themes addressed in his poems

helped to shape the behaviour in the society. For example, the way Chaucer addressed the

theme of religion made different people question the authority of the church (Walts 20) and

some started to form other orders opposed to the church. The monastic orders within the

church were meant to help their members to live free from the influence of the materialist

world but they failed to achieve this which made many people opt for other paths away from

the church. The tales, therefore, acted to broaden the people's perspective on the church and

its mission.

Chaucer also has informed and influenced the literary styles used over the centuries.

Chaucer was good in rhetoric and sentence structure (Fabiszak, Ewa and Wolski 123) which

made him great and one that later authors have wanted to follow. His use of fictional

characters to tell a story about his society was exceptional. Throughout the 17,000 lines in the

poems (Chaucer 13), there are many linguistic styles and devices to learn.

RECEPTION OF CHAUCER'S WORK

John Gower and Eustanche Deschamps both refer to Chaucer as an extraordinary

translator and poet (Fabiszak, Ewa and Wolski 137). His work as generally been treated with

high esteem and enough care has been taken during copying and in its distribution. This has

at one time given the works by Chaucer the best-seller status. His skills in sentence formation

and rhetoric have been praised by poet judges in the 15th century. The two literary devices

Surname 4

were major tools for judging poetic work back then. Due to the level of acceptance of his

work, many expansions have been done by early authors to complete his works such as The

Plownan's Tale and the Tale of Beryn (Fabiszak, Ewa and Wolski 152). Some of these

expansions were done by unknown authors. Chaucer's work was however not as decorated as

other works done by authors such as John Lydgates (Fabiszak, Ewa and Wolski 141). This

formed one of the negative criticisms though it did not prevent the wide distribution and

acceptance of Chaucer's work.

Many literary works have since been done in the style of Chaucer's tales to pay him

homage. Among the recent examples is the 2004 evolution book by Richard Dawkins titled:

The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution (Fabiszak, Ewa and Wolski

173). The continued reference and following of Chaucer's style of writing shows the impact

that this early author left to be followed by lovers of literature.

CONCLUSION

The Canterbury Tales form a useful piece of study for literature students. There are

numerous lessons that one can learn from the tales ranging from the literary styles used to the

inspiration that can be drawn from the author. The themes addressed help readers to form

mental images about the ancient English society and appreciate the changes that have taken

place through the centuries. The themes also help modern readers to compare their society

with that of Chaucer back in the 14th century. The Canterbury Tales contain numerous

literary styles that modern authors can use in their work. Lastly, the wide distribution,

acceptance, and influence created by Chaucer's work motivate upcoming authors towards the

desire to also have their literal master pieces that will impact on generations to come just like

Geoffrey Chaucer.

Surname 5

Works Cited

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Spark Publishing, 2014

Fabiszak, Jacek, Ewa Urbaniak-Rybicka, and Bartosz Wolski. Crossroads in Literature and

Culture. Springer, 2013

Rigby, S H, and A J. Minnis. Historians on Chaucer: The 'general Prologue' to the

Canterbury Tales. Oxford UP, 2014

Walts, Dawn, S. Time's reckoning: time, value and the mercantile class in late medieval

English literature. Ohio State University, 2007

Place new order. It's free, fast and safe

Paper type

Deadline

Page count

550 words

Total price: $ 15.00

Our customers say

Jeff Curtis

USA, Student

"I'm fully satisfied with the essay I've just received. When I read it, I felt like it was exactly what I wanted to say, but couldn’t find the necessary words. Thank you!"

Ian McGregor

UK, Student

"I don’t know what I would do without your assistance! With your help, I met my deadline just in time and the work was very professional. I will be back in several days with another assignment!"

Shannon Williams

Canada, Student

"It was the perfect experience! I enjoyed working with my writer, he delivered my work on time and followed all the guidelines about the referencing and contents."