G. Chaucer’s collection of stories The Canterbury Tales, the peculiarities of its composition, system of images and variety of genres.
The Canterbury Tales, frame story by Geoffrey Chaucer, written in Middle English in 1387–1400.
Style and Structure
The key thing about Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is that it's a story within a story. He uses a frame narrative to set up who all of the characters are, and then the characters each tell stories of their own.
The framing device for the collection of stories is a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas à Becket in Canterbury, Kent. The 30 pilgrims who undertake the journey gather at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, across the Thames from London. They agree to engage in a storytelling contest as they travel, and Harry Bailly, host of the Tabard, serves as master of ceremonies for the contest. Most of the pilgrims are introduced by vivid brief sketches in the “General Prologue.” Interspersed between the 24 tales are short dramatic scenes (called links) presenting lively exchanges, usually involving the host and one or more of the pilgrims. Chaucer did not complete the full plan for his book: the return journey from Canterbury is not included, and some of the pilgrims do not tell stories.
The use of a pilgrimage as the framing device enabled Chaucer to bring together people from many walks of life: knight, prioress, monk; merchant, man of law, franklin, scholarly clerk; miller, reeve, pardoner; wife of Bath and many others. The multiplicity of social types, as well as the device of the storytelling contest itself, allowed presentation of a highly varied collection of literary genres: religious legend, courtly romance, racy fabliau, saint’s life, allegorical tale, beast fable, medieval sermon, alchemical account, and, at times, mixtures of these genres. The stories and links together offer complex depictions of the pilgrims, while, at the same time, the tales present remarkable examples of short narratives in verse, plus two expositions in prose. The pilgrimage, which in medieval practice combined a fundamentally religious purpose with the secular benefit of a spring vacation, made possible extended consideration of the relationship between the pleasures and vices of this world and the spiritual aspirations for the next.
Characterization In depicting the Canterbury pilgrims, Chaucer presents realistic descriptions that exhibit his understanding of the human drama and the foibles and eccentricities of its participants. Using concise and specific language, he enables the reader to see or hear the squire carving meat for his father, the prioress crying when she sees a mouse ensnared, the monk riding horses with bridles that jingle, and the wife of Bath wearing hose of scarlet red. In "The Reeve's Tale," Chaucer tells us that Simkin is a bully with a bald head who can play pipes, fish, and wrestle. In "The Man of Law's Tale," he tells us that the eyes of the evil knight pop from their sockets after he tells a lie. In "The Miller's Tale," he tells us that Absalom gains revenge by ramming a red-hot poker between the buttocks of Nicholas.
.......Among the pilgrims are the learned, the religious, the worldly, the romantic, the practical, the idealistic, the merry, the irreverent. The pilgrims come from the middle class but vary in their personal backgrounds and occupations. As a group, they are a microcosm of the English society that flourished beyond the pale of the highborn. However, the characters in the pilgrims' stories include royals as well as commoners. Thus, in The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer presents the whole range of humanity, a rarity in a day when most writers centered their stories primarily on kings and queens and legendary heroes. The host, Harry Bailly, plays a crucial role in The Canterbury Tales. With his questions and comments, he stimulates conversation that helps to reveal the personalities and attitudes of the pilgrims.
.......Generally, the tales the pilgrims tell reflect the attitudes and beliefs of the tellers.
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Examples of Genres in The Canterbury Tales
Fabliau - Five of the tales that the pilgrims tell are fabliaux.
Chivalric Romance (or Courtly Love) "The Knight's Tale" is an example of a chivalric romance, or a tale of courtly love.
Exemplum "The Pardoner's Tale" is an example of an exemplum (plural, exempla)
Arthurian Romance "The Wife of Bath's Tale" is an example of an Arthurian romance
Beast Fable "The Nun's Priest's Tale" is an example of a beast fable,
Satire - A satire is a literary work or technique that attacks or pokes fun at vices and imperfections. Many of the prologues and tales contain satire that ridicules people who exhibit hypocrisy, greed, false humility, stupidity, self-importance, and other flaws.
Low Comedy - A type of comedy that is generally physical rather than verbal, relying on slapstick and horseplay as in "The Miller's Tale." Low comedy usually focuses on ordinary folk.
And so on..
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