Geoffrey Chaucer1 About the writernBirth: 1343nParents: John and Agnus ChaucernFather was a wine merchantnFamily was upper middle-class1.1Chaucer and the Royal FamilynAt 14, became a Page in the home of Prince Lionel and his wife ElizabethnMakes friends with Lionels younger brother John of Gaunt, who became his lifelong patronnContinued his education, and learned the ways of the Nobility1.2Chaucer and the French InvasionnOn March 1, 1360, the French captured ChaucernEdward III paid a ransom for Chaucers releasenBy May 1360, Chaucer returned home1.3MarriagenChaucer married Philippa Roet, a lady-in-waiting of the QueennThe Chaucers had three children: Katherine, Thomas, and Lewis1.4n1367, King Edward n1373, The controller of Customsn1386, Parliamentn1389, The clerk n1400, The death2 The first important realistic writerPresent a comprehensive realistic picture of the English societyCreate a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life3 “Father” of English poetryIntroduce the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry (e.g. heroic couplet)Master of the English languageChaucers Plan .nA Prologue followed by a series of stories and linking dialogues and commentariesnEach character would tell 2 stories going and 2 stories coming homeLondonCanterbury CathedralBut why do pilgrims go to Canterbury?Answer: ReligionnCanterbury has always been an important religious center in England.nReligion played an important part in medieval life.nPeople of all classes went on pilgrimages to holy sites to ask for help with medical, financial or other problems.The language The frame The structure The summary n(1)The language of The Canterbury Tales Prologue - Middle English - is closer to Old English, the language of the Anglo-Saxons, and Norman French n(2)Chaucers work consists of three partsThe General Prologue;24 tales, four of which left unfinished;Separate prologues to each tale with links, comments, and quarrels in betweenn(3) The idea of a frame story (story within a story) comes from a long tradition: The Arabian Nights and The Decameron. Chaucer read The Decameron when he visited Italy. nWritten sometime in the 1380s, The Canterbury Tales - the first selection of short stories in English - is about a group of pilgrims who agree to tell stories while they travel together to Canterbury, the seat of the English Church (still Catholic) and the site of the shrine dedicated to Thomas a Beckett, who was martyred for his faith.nThe Canterbury Tales is a cross section of medieval society: Chaucers interest in middle class characters, including a Knight, Squire(乡绅）, Yeoman(自耕农）, Prioress, Monk, Friar, Merchant, Clerk, Man of Law, Franklin, Haberdasher, Carpenter, Weaver, Dyer, Cook, Shipman, Physician, Wife, Parson, Plowman, Miller, and Host reflects the rise of the middle class in the 14th century.nSubject matter: sex, lust, greed, jealousy, native cunning (tricksters), the credulousness(轻信） of the stupid, marital problems, infidelity, corruption of the church. The General Prologuenhttp:/www.luminarium.org/medlit/gp.htmnWhan that April with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,nAnd bathed every veyne in swich licour Of which vertu engendred is the flour;nWhan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heethnThe tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his half cours yronne,nAnd smale foweles maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open yen(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages), Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,nAnd palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;nAnd specially from every shires ende Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,nThe hooly blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.Heroic couplet nA heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines. The rhyme is always masculine. Use of the heroic couplet was first pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in the Legend of Good Women and the Canterbury Tales. Chaucer is also widely credited with first extensive use of iambic pentameter. 4. Selected ReadingWhat does the poet describe in the first 18 lines?Zephyrus: (the west wind),Zodiac: In astrology, this band divided into 12 equal partscalled signs, each 30= wide, bearing the name ofa constellation for which it was originally named (黄道十二宫图 在占星学中，被等分为12份的黄道叫作宫，每宫 30度，保留着其所有星座的名称)(The sun is young because it has run only half way through the Ram 白羊星座, which is the first sign of the Zodiac 黄道带， 共分十二宫，标示太阳、月亮等天体的运行。 The sun runs through the sign of the Ram annually from March 21st to April 21st.)nWhats the main tone of The Canterbury tales ?nA vivid picture of spring ,Nice ,beautiful, live， joyful.nAPRIL is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead la