PART I

OVERVIEW GEOFFREY CHAUCER

TB p 105

The man who does not read books has no advantage over the man that cannot read them.
Mark Twain (1835-1910) U.S. humorist, writer, and lecturer.

Reading is a means of thinking with another persons mind; it forces you to stretch your own.
Charles Scribner, Jr. (19th c), member of famous New York publisher family

No two persons ever read the same book.

Edmund Wilson

Intentional fallacy = the meaning of a book is broader

than the meaning intended by the author

Opens horizons for literature! Different interpretations

Then: Why NOT bother about literature ?

To the time of Chaucer

1 2

A) B)

to the Norman Conquest from the Norman Conquest to Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer 3 The 15th Century 4 Renaissance and Reformation 5 The Elizabethan Era 6 The 17th Century 7 The 18th Century 8 The Romantic Revival 9 The Victorian Era 10 The Beginning of American Literature 11 Early Modern Writers
2

To the time of Chaucer

1 2

A) B)

to the Norman Conquest from the Norman Conquest to Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer 3 The 15th Century 4 Renaissance and Reformation 5 The Elizabethan Era 6 The 17th Century 7 The 18th Century 8 The Romantic Revival 9 The Victorian Era 10 The Beginning of American Literature 11 Early Modern Writers
2

 Britain in 1st C 4th C: Celts invaded by Romans 5th 6th C: invaded by Germanic tribes (Angles,

Saxons, Jutes, )

brought dialects ~~> Old English

 7th 8th C:

Tribes settled (farmers etc) + were christianized Language: Latin, English of the day (Anglo Saxon) strong stresses highly inflected (cfr Latin) no fixed word order (cfr Latin) compound nouns (cfr Dutch, German) Literature: The Venerable Bede Beowolf: most important work of the time

 1066: Battle of Hastings = Britain invaded by Normans

(< France): William the Conquerer

King Harold II

brought culture and language: Norman: elite English: illiterate people

Bayeux Tapestry

 14th C: English becomes literary language (French

influence) = Middle English: endings disappeared fixed word order vocabulary: French origin + Anglo Saxon Literature: William Langland Piers Plowman
Allegorical poem (3 versions): theological + social satire
theme: search for truth Piers (=Peter): ~ true Christian/Christ himself

To the time of Chaucer

1 2

A) B)

to the Norman Conquest from the Norman Conquest to Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer 3 The 15th Century 4 Renaissance and Reformation 5 The Elizabethan Era 6 The 17th Century 7 The 18th Century 8 The Romantic Revival 9 The Victorian Era 10 The Beginning of American Literature 11 Early Modern Writers
2

 1340 1400 (Middle Ages)

The Father of English Literature Diplomat foreign missions

gathers knowledge on people Trip to Italy: Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio

Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales influence: Boccaccios The Decameron genre: frame tale story telling verse (mostly) and prose different pronunciation goal: 120 stories left unfinished

 The Canterbury Tales

Group of pilgrims meet in London on their way to Canterbury Cathedral (Thomas Becket*)

innkeeper installs contest: tell two stories

Frame story (= intro + description of each pilgrim) + the stories GENERAL PROLOGUE

THE PARDONERS TALE

* Thomas Becket (p 143) : martyred because of rivalry

between King Henry II and the Catholic Church

(Becket refused to give in to the King killed by his knights)