Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales

St. Thomas a’ Becket Born - 1118 Died - Dec. 29th 1170 The Archbishop of Canterbury (England) Becket disagreed with King Henry II and was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral There have been several miracles in this cathedral

St. Thomas a’ Becket After all the miracles, a shrine was put up in the cathedral Becket was canonized a saint People set out on a pilgrimage, to Canterbury Cathedral to pay homage to the shire of St. Thomas a’ Becket. Some believed that shrine had healing powers

Geoffrey Chaucer Canterbury Tales 1387 Chaucer wrote a free-verse poem about the pilgrimage to St. Thomas a’ Becket’s shrine. Canterbury Tales

Canterbury Tales SETTING: April, The Tabard Inn, Southwerk “Prologue”- 29 pilgrims, the narrator, and the inn host are introduced.

The Prologue The 29 are spending the night at the Tabard Inn. The Narrator says he will describe and repeat everything he hears no matter how offensive. The Host proposes that each pilgrim tell 2 tales on the way there and back. The best tale will win dinner at the Inn

Prologue The pilgrims are made up of all 3 divisions of class in medieval society: Feudal class The Church Merchant class

The Prologue Chaucer’s characterization was unlike anything ever written before. He creates a human encyclopedia by describing physical, social, mannerisms,beliefs, and morals of each character. Utilizes direct AND indirect characterization, just like the authors of today

The Characters After the pilgrims are introduced in the prologue each character tells his or her own tale. The host of the Inn will judge the tales; whoever wins receives a free meal, paid for by everyone else, at the Inn

Story “types” The Romance (Knight’s Tale) Hagiography (the story of a Saint; Second Nun’s tale) Beast Tales (characters are animals with human qualities; convey a moral truth; Nun’s Priest Tale) Fabliau (bawdy, raunchy comedies; Miller/Reeve) The entire work is considered “estates satire”: a critical examination of the three social classes; Chaucer points out the hypocrisies within certain estates Nobility- Knight and Squire Clergy- Monk, Prioress, Friar, etc. “Working Class”-Wife of Bath, Haberdasher, etc.

The Humors/Physiognomy Physiognomy: interpretation of outward appearance to discover a person's predominant temper and character Humors: Four bodily fluids that made up the body. The balance or imbalance of these fluids influenced one’s temperament

Physiognomy Broad forehead Stupid White neck Licentious Lisp Depraved Trait Characteristic Broad forehead Stupid White neck Licentious Lisp Depraved Ruddy complexion Sanguine Gap-teeth lucky;well-traveled; gluttonous Stocky Loquacious (talkative) Red hair Quarrelsome (fiery temper) Warts Lecher Short Hair Servile Thin hair Feminine Broad hips Fecundity; fertility

The Four Humors Air Fire Water Earth Hot and moist Hot and dry Blood Yellow Bile Plegm Black Bile Air Fire Water Earth Hot and moist Hot and dry Cold and moist Cold and dry Sanguine Choleric Plegmatic Melancholic Amorous, happy, generous Violent, vengeful Dull, pale, cowardly Gluttonous, lazy, sentimental