GEOFFREY CHAUCER
LITERARY MOVEMENT
THE LITERARY MOVEMENT GEOFFREY CHAUCER IS ASSOCIATED
WITH IS KNOWN AS THE MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE PERIOD,
WHICH SPANNED FROM ABOUT 1100 TO ABOUT 1500. CHAUCER
PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN MOVING LITERATURE BEYOND
THE THEMES OF CHIVALROUS QUESTS AND COURTLY LOVE. THE
HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR WAS PROMINENT IN THE LITERARY
MOVEMENT AS FRENCH WORDS WERE ADOPTED INTO THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE. THE MOST IMPORTANT LITERATURE
DURING THIS PERIOD INCLUDED GENRES SUCH AS ROMANTIC,
RELIGIOUS, SATIRE, BALLADS, ETC.
CULTURAL ORIGINS
GEOFFREY CHAUCER WAS BORN AROUND THE 1340S
IN LONDON, ENGLAND. HE WAS BORN IN A
MERCHANT CLASS FAMILY, WHICH WAS A GROWING
CLASS THAT CONTRIBUTED TO THE WEALTH OF
LONDON. CHAUCER IS THE SON OF JOHN AND
AGNES CHAUCER WHO WERE WINEMAKERS OR
VINTNERS. CHAUCER HAD MANY OCCUPATIONS
THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, BUT STARTED AS A SERVANT
TO AN ARISTOCRATIC HOUSEHOLD IN HIS TEEN
YEARS, WHICH LED TO A CAREER AS AN
ADMINISTRATOR TO THE NOBILITY. THIS MADE HIM
FINANCIALLY SECURE. ENGLAND’S CONNECTION TO
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DURING THIS TIME
INFLUENCED CHAUCER’S WORK. HE WOULD EXPRESS
HIS STRONG PERSPECTIVE ON THE CHURCH AND ITS
MEMBERS IN HIS WORK BY OBSERVATION.
PERSONAL HISTORY
CHAUCER’S REVELATION TO DIFFERENT PEOPLE AND CULTURES,
INFLUENCED HIM TO OBSERVE PEOPLE IN DIFFERENT SOCIAL
CLASSES. FOR EXAMPLE IN, “THE CANTERBURY TALES,” THE
CHARACTERS USED ARE EXAMPLES OF PEOPLE CHAUCER HAS
OBSERVED IN HIS DAILY LIFE. IN AROUND 1366, CHAUCER MARRIED
PHILIPPA ROET, WHO WAS LADY-IN-WAITING TO QUEEN PHILIPPA OF
HAINAULT. THEY HAD TWO SONS AND TWO DAUGHTERS TOGETHER.
THIS MARRIAGE HELPED FURTHER CHAUCER’S CAREER AND SOCIAL
HIERARCHY IN THE ENGLISH COURT DUE TO THE ROYAL
CONNECTIONS MADE. CHAUCER DIED ON OCTOBER 25, 1400 BY
UNKNOWN CAUSES AND IS BURIED IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY. SINCE
HIS DEATH WAS SUDDEN, HE LEAVES HIS WORK UNFINISHED, BUT HIS
INFLUENCE ON THE LITERARY WORLD CARRIES ON TODAY.
TYPE OF LITERATURE
CHAUCER IS KNOWN TO BE ONE OF THE BEST POETS
OF ALL TIME AND IS KNOWN FOR HIS SATIRICAL
WORKS, ALLEGORIES, ROMANCE, ETC. HE IS MOSTLY
KNOWN FOR HIS MOST FAMOUS PIECE OF WORK,
“THE CANTERBURY TALES,” WHICH HIGHLIGHTS HIS
VERSATILE STYLE OF WRITING. CHAUCER’S FIRST
MAJOR WORK PUBLISHED WAS, “THE BOOK OF THE
DUCHESS,” WHICH IS AN ELEGY FOR BLANCHE OF
LANCASTER WHO DIED IN 1368.
STYLE OF WRITING
CHAUCER IS MOST NOTED FOR THEIR STYLE OF WRITING
BECAUSE HE EMBRACES VERSATILITY IN HIS WRITING. HE
WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TO USE IAMBIC PENTAMETER AND
INTRODUCED CONTINENTAL ACCENTUAL SYLLABIC METER.
HE ALSO USES TWO ELEMENTS OF CHARACTERIZATION IN
HIS WRITING, INDIRECT AND DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION.
THE STYLE OF HIS WRITING ALLOWED HIM TO EXPLORE AND
ADOPT DIFFERENT GENRES AND TONES.
FAMOUS WORK
CHAUCER’S MOST FAMOUS PIECE OF
WORK IS, “THE CANTERBURY TALES.” IT
IS A NARRATIVE COLLECTION OF
POEMS, COMPOSED OF A PROLOGUE
AND 24 TALES AND IS RELATED TO A
NUMBER OF LITERARY GENRES,
INCLUDING PARODY AND SATIRE. THE
POEM DISPLAYS CHAUCER’S
OBSERVATION ON MEDIEVAL SOCIETY
AND SOCIAL COMMENTARY.
CHAUCER’S WORK SHOWS A SHIFT IN
ENGLISH LITERATURE, ALLOWING IT TO
BE MORE MODERNIZED BECAUSE OF
THE SATIRICAL HUMOR
INCORPORATED.
IMPACT
CHAUCER IMPACTED THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE WHICH MADE IT
EASIER FOR OTHER AUTHORS TO DRAW INSPIRATION
FROM HIM. HIS WORK SHOWED HIS AIM TO CRITIQUE
SOCIETAL PROBLEMS AND THE CHURCH OF THE
MEDIEVAL PERIOD. CHAUCER INSPIRED MANY GREAT
AUTHORS, INCLUDING WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, WHO
FOLLOWED HIM AND BORROWED SOME OF HIS
STORIES. CHAUCER’S WRITING HELPS US UNDERSTAND
SOCIETY IN THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD BECAUSE OF HIS
INSIGHT. HE IS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL
AUTHORS FOR THE WORLD OF LITERATURE.
