Chaucerian commentary
Chaucerian commentaryChaucerian Moral and Social Commentary in the Canterbury Tales
As the first great English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer has etched out a tradition of English literary brilliance. From stem to Stern, Chaucer’s cheerful and diverse poetry stands apart from other British writers. Between colorful and humorous verse and tale, Chaucer creates a picture of man in his society. The Canterbury tales, Chaucer’s defining work, integrates Chaucerian whit, paradox and color into a quilt of medieval social strata. Chaucer played not the part of the poet Baird but of the watchful investigator. The Canterbury Tales represent Chaucer’s investigation into the social and moral contradictions of human individuals in medieval society.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s 14th century existence created atmosphere, experience and opportunity that allowed Chaucer to delve into the character of the individual and examine the relationship between human ideals and human realities. Chaucer lived in a unique position through out his life that allowed him to bridge the wide canyon between the remote aristocracy and the sometimes volatile lower class. Chaucer was born into the upper middle class, a social strata that was mostly unacknowledged. The Medieval middle class was neither aristocracy nor Plebian; however, the middle class was increasingly important to medieval society and culture. As the son of a well to do wine merchant, Geoffrey Chaucer lived in close proximity with the lower classes, no doubt becoming quite familiar with the culture and attitudes of the commoners. Perhaps most vital to Chaucer’s ascension into poetic greatness evolved because of his unusual access and acceptance into the upper world of aristocracy. As an adolescent, Chaucer was sent by his father to serve as a page to Lionel of Antwerp. This initiated Chaucer into the world of the nobility to which he became a distinguished honorary member. Chaucer worked in many critical posts for the aristocracy, parliament, and the royal family. Chaucer’s service to the aristocracy provided him with an education and valuable contacts through out parliament and the royal court. It was Chaucer’s amicable nature and sharp intelligence that made him a valuable asset to the upper class of England.
During Chaucer’s era, England was far behind much of Europe not only in social theory but also in the literary movement of the early renaissance. For this reason Chaucer’s earliest literary inspirations were French and Latin examples rather than British works. However it was Chaucer’s move to Italy while in service to the British government that brought him in contact with the works of Italian masters, Dante and Boccaccio. It is these two Italian influences, which are most evident in the Canterbury Tales. Although Chaucer never completed his immense plans for the Canterbury Tales, the work illustrates the attitude of the medieval life for members of rural, urban, and noble communities of 14th century England.
Chaucer was way ahead of the common social theory of his time. Where...
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