1. AGE OF CHAUCER THE DAWN OF NEW LEARNING AND THE PROLOGUE By Dr
AGE OF CHAUCER THE DAWN OF NEW LEARNING AND THE PROLOGUE By Dr. Irshad Ahmad Itoo Faculty Department of English GDC Bijbehara

2. CONTENTS Historical Background of the Age About Geoffrey Chaucer (c
CONTENTS Historical Background of the Age About Geoffrey Chaucer (c ) His Major Works His Contribution to the English Literature His Contemporaries The Prologue : An Overview Chaucer’s Art of Characterization Tribute to Chaucer Conclusion

3. Historical Background of the Age Age of Chaucer between is the first significant literary age. There was a strong dislike for Church’s interference in the age. There were strong nationalistic passions due to the 100 Years’ War between England and France. The middle class also emerged as a strong social stratum. There is a transition from age of Medievalism to the age of Modernism. The age saw the emergence of the standard English language.

4. Another significant event of the age was the Black which affected one third of country’s population.
There was also the charged atmosphere due to the Peasant upheavals in England.

5. About Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340 -1400)
He was born in London in around Son of a wealthy London wine merchant. Educated at St Paul's Cathedral School and then Inner Temple where he studied Law. In 1357, he became courtier diplomat and civil servant. In , we went to France ,Genoa, Italy, Spain, and Florence. In 1386, Chaucer was a Member of Parliament for Kent. He was first greatest poet of medieval ages  and first poet of national importance . He was an author, philosopher, and alchemist.  He died October 25, 1400 in London, England, and was the first to be buried in Westminster Abbey’s Poet’s Corner.
Geoffrey Chaucer

6. His Major Works Translation of Roman de la Rose (1360)
The Book of the Duchess (1369)
The House of Fame (1384)
Anelida and Arcite (1370)
Parliament of Foules (1382)
Troilus and Criseyde ( )
The Legend of Good Women (1385)
The Canterbury Tales (1387)
A Treatise on the Astrolabe (1391)

7. His Contribution to the English Literature
Father of English Poetry.
Keen Observer of Man and Manners.
First humorist and humanist.
First great realist.
First national poet of England.
First great character painter.
First writer to bring atmosphere of romantic interest about men and women.
First great narrative poet of England.
He is Grandfather of English fiction.

8. His Contemporaries John Wycliff (1324?-1384) Richard II
Translation of the Bible into Standard English
(Father of English Prose)
Pamphlets in Latin against abuse of power
Richard II
He was a great patron of the arts and a literary culture flourished at his court in the second half of the Fourteenth Century.
John Gower(c )
 Confessio Amantis 
William Langland( )
The Vision of Piers Plowman
John of Trevisa
Ranulf Higden Polychronicon 
John Lydgate (c )
Fall of Princes 

9. The Prologue : An Overview
Heroic couplet and Caesura.
Humour, Irony, and Satire.
Canterbury Tales influenced by Boccaccio’s Decameron.
There are 30 characters including narrator who meets at tabard inn.
There are 24 stories completed out of 120 stories in Canterbury tales.
Knight tells the first tale and Parson the last.
Tale of Thopas and tale of Melibeus are the two tales of Chaucer.
It ends with Retraction.

10. List of Characters The Plowman The Narrator The Physician
The Parson
The Manciple
The Reeve
The Summoner
The Cook
The Shipman
Man of Law
The Dyer
The Carpenter
The Tapestry-Maker
The Haberdasher
The Canon
The Canon's Yeoman  
The Narrator
The Host (Harry Bailly)
 The Wife of Bath
 The Pardoner
The Miller
 The Knight
The Squire
The Knight's Yeoman
The Prioress
The Second Nun
The Monk
The Friar
The Merchant
The Clerk
The Franklin

11. Classification of Major Characters
UPPER CLASS
MIDDLE CLASS
LOWER CLASS
The Monk
The Merchant
Cook
The Plowman
The Reeve
Squire
The Clerk
Shipmen
The Parson
The Manciple
Prioress
The Franklin
Doctor Of Physique
Yeoman
Miller
Friar
Man Of Law
Wife Of Bath
The Summoner
The Knight
Five Guildsmen
Pardoner

12. Characters Representing Three Sections of The Society
Ecclesiastical Section
Agricultural Section
New Urban Society
The Monk
The Friar
The Pardoner
The Summoner
The Parson
The Prioress
The Second Nun
The Clerk
The Knight
The Squire
The Knight's Yeoman
The Reeve
The Franklin
The Plowman 
The Miller
The Physician
Man of Law
The Manciple
The Wife of Bath
The Merchant
The Shipman
The Carpenter
The Tapestry-Maker

13. Chaucer’s Art of Characterization I
Chaucer’s Art of Characterization I. Characterization by theory of Humour. 2. Characterization by Physiognomy. 3. Characterization by Individual and Type Method. 4. Characters are real and universal. 5. Characterization by profession of Characters. 6. Characterization by vices of Characters. 7. Characterization by Irony and Satire. 8. Chaucer’s use of Contrast.

14. Tribute to Chaucer Edmund Spenser paid tribute to him as his master
Tribute to Chaucer Edmund Spenser paid tribute to him as his master. Many of the plays of William Shakespeare show thorough assimilation of Chaucer's comic spirit. John Dryden, the great poet of 18th-century England, said of the Canterbury Tales, “This is sufficient to say … here’s God’s plenty.” Mathew Arnold says about Chaucer that he was nourished on the French romance. William Blake points out that the characters of Chaucer's Pilgrims are the characters which compose all ages and nations. John Dryden, who modernized several of the Canterbury tales, called Chaucer the father of English poetry.

15. Conclusion
The age of Chaucer covers a period of glaring social contrast and rapid political change. It was essentially an era of unrest and transition. The age was also remarkable for the growth of national sprit and Church was the seat of power . Moreover , the age was the dawn of new learning. During the age England passed through medievalism and come to the beginning of modern world .
Chaucer stands triumphantly in his power of description. His description and narrative gifts truly possess rare qualities. He, in fact, remains the first great English story-teller in verse. The employment of verse, as a vehicle of story-telling is certainly Chaucer’s most notable contribution and the modern age of English literature is greatly indebted to him in this respect. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of excellently narrated stories. The various tales are narrated so skilfully that they engage and entertain us very well.

16. Thanks