The 14th Century

1. End of feudalism

a. Accelerated by natural disasters

i. Famines first ½ of century

ii. Black Plague 1347-49

b. Upper class: scramble for personal wealth

c. Middle class on the rise

i. Merchants

ii. Cities independent from nobility

iii. World view more practical, more aware of depth & ambiguity

d. Impact on the arts

i. New class of patrons

ii. Use of vernacular for serious literature

iii. Appreciation for depth, ambiguity

iv. Artists pursue technical brilliance

2. Religious changes

a. Bishops lose moral credibility

i. Squabbles over papacy

ii. Pardoners

b. Rise of Guilds

i. Middle class

ii. Goals: religious, secular

Chaucer’s life (1340 to 1400)

1. Middle-class family: peasant ancestors, now rich wine merchants

2. Courtier’s career:

a. soldier

b. diplomat

c. royal officer

3. Experienced turbulent times

a. Black plague

b. Wars with France

c. Peasants’ revolt

d. Murder of king in 1400

4. Demise of feudalism and feudal values

General Prologue

1. Pilgrimage

a. Pilgrimage churches

b. Dante as pilgrim

c. Realities of medieval pilgrimage

2. Frame story: like Boccaccio’s Decameron

3. Innovative use of narrator

a. Lines 1-18: a “poet”

b. Lines 19-34: a simple traveler

c. Lines 172-85: a pleaser

4. Layering of Voices, as in Polyphony

5. Realism

a. Portraits of middle and lower classes

b. Use of details to complement/contradict what narrator says (Knight, Prioress)

Miller’s Tale

1. Narrative artistry

a. Timing

b. Suspense

c. Surprise

2. Characterization of teller of tale

a. Simplest level: bad person tells bad joke

b. Wants to “pay” (“quite”) the Knight

c. Is he a character in his own story?

d. Ineffective in his worst intentions

3. Themes

a. Love, Cuckoldry, Vengeance / Oneupmanship

b. Class issues, Anti-intellectualism

c. Trivialization of Christian story, ritual, symbols

i. Noah’s Flood

ii. “Pilate’s voice,” “Absalon,” “Paul’s Window”

iii. Absalom’s serenade & Song of Solomon: God and his People

d. Repentance

Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale

1. Narrative artistry in the tale: resembles Miller’s Tale in pacing, suspense, surprise

2. In-depth characterization of the Pardoner

a. Simplest level: he tells you how bad he is

b. Sermon prologue: shows his skill at gaining fools’ confidence

c. After telling tale, can’t help proceeding to the call for money

d. Self-projection into his characters:

i. The youths

ii. The old man

iii. Even the apothecary

3. Themes

a. Deliberate emptying of Christian story, ritual and symbols

b. Repentance, Death