The Canterbury Tales: Decameron, Dante e Virgilio
what were pilgrimages like in the Middle Ages:
the most famous places where pilgrims went to worship at the tombs of saints, Rome, Spain, Canterbury
Chaucer's Wife of Bath has visited them all, besides having been to Jerusalem three times
many also returned with extravagant tales about the places they had visited:
why did Chaucer's pilgrims go to Canterbury?:
Chaucer's pilgrims ride to worship at the shrine of St Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral
the king and Becket had been for some time in conflict over the respective rights and privileges of the Church and the Crown
Becket's orders from Henry 8 following the Reformation and the destrution
what is the frame of the work?:
Life as a journey was one of the oldest commonplaces in world literature
the American critic Harold Bloom, suggest that though the structure of the Canterbury Tales was mostly original
who are the characters?:
the main difference between The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales in the characters three estates of medieval society in England
the nobles, the clergy, the common people, for example the Miller, the Cook, the Physician
Chaucer himself, at the end of the Tales, he asks the readers indulgence
Chaucer put real people into the pilgrimage: the Cook was based on a famous contemporary cook, Also, real places are mentiond, for example Deptford and Greenwich
Going on a pilgrimage could be a penitential act that sometimes would involve walking barefoot, and it certainly could be dangerous
it was inspired by the pilgrim figures of Dante and Virgil in the was undoubtedly Boccaccio's Decameron
Great contemporary historical events such as the Black Death and the Peasant's Revolt are mentioned only once in the poem, this too was quite typical of the Middle Ages
Chaucer's pilgrims are both individuals and stereotypes of this combination of allegory and realism is exactly the strenght of the Canterbury Tales
Chaucer established the East Midland and London dialect
Chaucer was also a great metrical innovator: he introduced the iambic pentameter