Goeffrey Chaucer the father of English poetry
his life
he is born in a well-off // wealthy // affluent family
he travels a lot and marries a lot of women (an eventful life)
he has a wide range of jobs
a page ≈ court servant
a customs official
a diplomat
a judge
a member of parliament (MP)
a soldier
he goes through 3 phases
italian phases: influence of italian poets is visble in some dream visions and works
french phase: lyrics and love songs
english phase: in which he writes The Canterbury Tales
he writes his works in middle english
characteristics of it
intimidating
musical and suitable for singers
phonetic
flexible (this language is used in works and in everyday life)
a mixture of French, Latin and old English
the article "the" and the adj. become indeclinable
No inflections
the Canterbury Tales
24 tales (with prologue & epilogue)
storytellers
a long narrative poem
Chaucer himself
pilgrims
they DEPART from London and they HAD TO Canterbury
a travel of 4 days
in April (sprine)
it stand for rebirth (of soul and of nature) and restoration
the settings
London is the WORDLY and TERRESTRIAL city
Canterbury is the HOLY city
the Tabard inn (the southern bank of the Thames)
the frame
the pilgrimage to Canterbury
lots of people takes part in this pilgrimage
life as a journey
this isn't just penitational, but also recreational
Chaucer himself takes part in a pilgrimage, he is a reporting pilgrim
to ENTERTAIN and to INSTRUCT
the combination between allegory and realism is one of its strengts'
The allegory doesn't diminish the truth and the realism of whole poem
the tone
thoughtful
comic
didactic
mocking (=che si prende in giro)
realistic and detailed