Geoffrey Chaucer

A detailed Summary of Geoffrey Chaucer

Though it is not pleasant thought, it cannot be denied the importance of the physical and material features in determinating ones social rank. However, as Geoffrey Chaucer illustrates in his 14th century work, "The Canterbury Tales", this may not have had any correlation to one's actual position in society. In this piece, Chaucer presents characters of various social degrees as traveling pilgrims, each one telling a story that is representative of their respective class. From the collage of tales and the vivid physical descriptions of each character, one can sense Chaucer's appreciation of both the distinguished and distasteful characteristics of each. As the tales were written during medieval times, they are inherent with the class divisions of the three societal "estates": the nobility, the church and the commoner. Chaucer lived his life in limbo between each of this classes which in turn allowed him to, "View with both sympathy and humor the behaviors, beliefs, and pretensions of the diverse people who comprised the levels of society"(175). The "Canterbury Tales" serves as a platform for presenting the wide array of people and personalities in this time while stressing the significance of the divisions of class. The noble image

Societies emphasis on superiority is also reflected in the character of the Knight. Chaucer mentions a large number of battle victories the Knight has to his name including victories in Alisandre, Pruce, Lettou, Ruce, Gernade, Algezir, Belmarye, Lyeis and Satalye (179). The reason for such an extensive account of the battles was to provide proof to his audience of the Knight's worthiness. Chaucer also continues to give accounts of the Knight's heroism in combat, mentioning that, "At mortal batailes hadde he been fifteene, / And foughten for our faith at Tramissene / In listes thries, and ay slain his fo." (179). The fact that the majority of the information given on the Knight is battle accounts shows the high value that people of the 14th century would have placed on battle as measure of nobility. These battle victories are representative of the condescending and prestigious qualities the upper class was believed to have had. By emphasizing the numerous victories of the Knight, Chaucer attempts to show the reader some of the qualities associated with the elite which revolved around superiority and eminence.

The first character introduced is the Knight. By doing this Chaucer establishes the Knight as the most noble, the representative of the upper class, and therefore the most regarded of the characters. Presenting him first sets up the social and moral "blueprint" by which all the other characters can be compared. In fact, Chaucer goes so far as to describe him as "A verray, parfit, gentil knight". Such a description allows the reader to envision the character as a image perfection which further establishes a standard of comparison. This "blueprint" is also evident in the order of the tales themselves as the Knight is allowed, through Chaucer's creation, to tell the first tale. In both instances the Knight is given priority to set a standard. Given that Chaucer wrote "Canterbury Tales" during a time when aristocracy would have been seen as the ruling class and therefore, the superior class, the emphasis placed on the Knight probably reflected societies tendency to view the nobilities in this light.

The explanation of the Knights clothing reveals a level of humility in him. As Chaucer

However, there is a wealth of evidence that shows that perhaps the Frere was better suited to an aristocratic lifestyle. He had many talents that would have been highly regarded in his time, including social skills, language skills and a strong musical aptitude. These details presents some of the characteristics valued by the elite. Chaucer also mentions that the Frere could flirt, "As it were right a whelpe." (184). By comparing to his flirtatiousness to a puppy, one can see the Frere has a talent with women which definitely would have been highly regarded at that time. These characteristics, combined with the Frere's popularity with the aristocracy shows just how the Frere marketed these certain traits in order to gain favor with the elite as opposed to the church. Whereas the characteristics of a good Christian, such as truth, morality and compassion, should have been evident in the Frere, he opted to foc

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Approximate Word count = 2105
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English