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In Todays writing, writers conform to the readers wants and needs, contrary to the writers of the 13 th and 14 th centuries. In these times writers wrote from the heart not from the pocket book. They wrote on their beliefs and morals and dreams. But never did they judge. Their styles taken from their trials and tribulations.
As so in Geoffery Chaucer's works he used his life experiences to influence his every word. Geoggrey Chaucer is the first likely personality in English, and we know more about the outline of his life than we do about Shakespeare? s. His inner life is recorded in his poems, and he liked to put himself as a character into them.
From his birth to his death his writing was not appreciated, but as they say some writers are hated in life and praised in death. Today man understands his physical surroundings more fully than did his medieval ancestor, today that is not the case. Today man is able to take per cautions against many of the dangers which face him. Fears of that sort, exceedingly violent in themselves, bred a species of violence in the medieval mind.
So in the writings of the times this eminent fear was a influence of writing for all. Though Chaucer was an amazing writer most of his life is fragmentary, but there is a lot of it. A lot of peoples lives back then were difficult to document. He was an extraordinary man, a great poet who was courtier, soldier, learned man, much travelled minor diplomat.
The range of his experience and interests is amazing, from common life and based tales to puritanical religion. He knew an assertion of people of all backgrounds from French to Flemish. His attitudes ranged from sentimental feeling for small children, to a deep interest in love. Chaucer's age has never been determined for sure but has been speculated by the finding of a recent from a tailor, when Chaucer was being fitted for a uniform for work, meaning he would have had to have been between the ages of 13 and 18. This placing his birth between the years 1340 - 1344 in London, the son of John Chaucer a vintner. In 14 th century London there were three elementary schools of good academic standing which were attended by the sons of the higher class.
And we know that Geoffery Chaucer attended one of those schools before continuing his education in a much higher enviroment. All three schools offered the same curriculum more or less: reading, religion, Latin, French, and arithmetic, and maybe even some science courses. Chaucer shows this in all of his mature work of being extraordinarily well read and of having many wide and deep intellectual interests. Another obvious influence on Chaucer's writings was his city itself. With the crooked narrow streets of London to grow up on, and the horseback riding constantly along the countryside meeting all the townsmen and the peasants surrounding him, Chaucer experienced his early life in a entirely new fashion. With a population of 40, 000 made up in a small area, he had many subject to base his stories upon and proved throughout time that he did base most of his most famous subjects off of people he had meet through his life and travels.
The next important event in Chaucer's life was his service with Prince Lionel. He started off as a page, only to advance to squire in the Royal Household. Funny is that in the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer mentions a number of accomplishments of that delightful and life-like character who bore the title of squire. But what must have been the most rewarding accomplishment for Chaucer himself in his won courtesy education is not on the list of acquisitions of his Squire knows how to wel edit (Bowden 9) that is, how to compose very well the lyrics for songs.
Fourteenth-century squires were expected to make perfect the art of writing verse. Famous French authors such as Guillaume de Louis fo Le Roman de la Rose, Deschamps, Froissart, and Machaut were the foundation for Chaucer's first poems. With most of his life based on the serving of others Chaucer decided to join the English army (1359 - 60) under Edward III. He was captured by the French army and ransomed. Chaucer was soon released for sixteen pounds, which was less than Edward III paid for his horse. By the year 1366 he had married Philippa Re the sister of John Grants 3 rd wife.
After marring Philippa his social status was raised once again. He then began to go on Diplomatic missions to the continent of Italy (1372 - 73). Chaucer began to travel a lot to Italy for Diplomatic reasons this would prove to have a huge importance on his writings. Chaucer decided to go to the Inner Temple and study law, and after this he held a number of elected positions. Among them he was the controller of customs on furs, skins, and hides for the port of London. And then was the clerk of the kings works.
Chaucer died on October 25 th, 1406, buried in Westminster Abbey. Even though Chaucer had a collection of works unlike any others he still had yet to be appreciated as a truly great writer. And along with this he still wasnt able to attain knighthood but in the end did have a very decorated military career and a complete career in civic service. In his time he was not appreciated as though are writers are today with a number one best seller. In his time Chaucer's writing style wasnt even liked. To most his writing was appropriate, therefore making Chaucer's writings a taboo of its time.
But his writings were not left unappreciated forever. It wasnt till the last 17 th century in England when his writings started to catch on to the English readers. At this point Chaucer was dead, and as you can see in his mind he died a failure. But in reality his work lived on longer than any other English writing from that time period. Scholars at one the divided Chaucer? s works into three?
periods? : the French, Italian and English periods. To the first belong his translation of the Romance of the Rose, the Book of Duchess, and a minor poem, the ABC, a translation of a French poem in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary which, according to Speghy? s edition of Chaucer, was made? at the request of Blanch, Duchess commemorated in the Book. (Grose 98) Up to this point in his career Chaucer is site to have followed the French tradition in which he was schooled. But in 1372 he visited Italy for the first time, and it is considered likely that works which show a close acquaintance it Italian authors must have been written after this visit.
During this period, the Italian? period? , he wrote famous works such as the Legend of Good Women, the House of Fame, the Parlement of Foules and the Troilus and Criseyde. Even though Chaucer? s reputations today depends mainly upon the Canterbury Tales. But in bulk they form rather less than half of those owns of his which have come down to us. Besides a number of shorter poems, there are five or site other major works in verse and two or three is prose.
With these i will not examine. But in the De Consolation e Philosophiae of Boethius and the Treatise on the Astrolabe, both of which are accepted as genuine, and another scientific essay, the Equatorie of the Planets, dating from the year 1392. This piece of work was discovered after WWII. In the Library of Peter house, Cambridge, by Dr. D.
J. Price, who has attributed it ot Chaucer. (Grose 97)? No incontrovertible evidence has appeared either to prove or dissolve this, so the questo is still open. ? (Grose 97) These works belong to science more than too English Literature. These being his earliest known works shows how his life of schooling in science more than likely was the fuel for his writing. During this period you could see a lot of the influences that played a major role in his writing. From the story Troilus and Criseyde, Chaucer shows three main influences; the chivalric world, the philosophic world, and his enviromental influences.
Criseyde, in one of her early conversations with Pandarus, speaks of the disgrace that would come to her if Troilus love were suspected by anyone. And as the love affair progressed through the story it ends in a tragic way. This done to show the chivalry of the time by emphasizing the courtly love theme (Bowden 184). Chaucer is noticeably affected by London during his time. That is, by the turmoil and confusion that surrounded the political background at the time. Unrest in enviroment breeds questioning in many departments of life, and philosophical concepts even slightly and momentarily shaken become matters calling for rethinking and affirmation.
Chaucer during the story shows how Troilus who in his pain would learn more surely why his disasters have come about hinting along the lines of predestination. But he never makes a stand on his beliefs. This all shows the psychological effects of the times on people, especially a chivalric knight. After all this came his most prized works the Canterbury Tales during his so called English? period? , dated around the time Chaucer retired from the Customs position he held.
Even though certain stories of the Canterbury Tales was written before the entire works was released it is still all credited to the english period. This work is upon which his modern reputation depends. But in all of his works a common theme is shown. The point which I want to bring out is the growing importance of the comparison of the contrasting elements in Chaucer?
s writings as his style matured. There is a possible analogy here with contemporary art, or at least architecture. The predominant architectural style during Chaucer? s lifetime was what is now known as the Gothic. It had its origins in France in the 12 th century and lasted until the Renaissance. In architecture, both the Romanesque style which preceded it and the classical life which can elater were founded upon the harmony produced by the use of the classical orders of architecture.
Every building seemed to have a rational scheme imposed upon it. Gothic architecture, on the other hand, is covered all over with unrestraint decoration (Grose 121). In his writing detail is piled upon detail. Instead of the colonist, more solid barrel vault, the vaults of a Gothic church seem to soar upwards airily towards the heavens. (Grose 121) A better way of looking at his career is to see it an an increasing Gothic mastery of contrast and comparison, which are the foundation of the ironic humour for which he is justly celebrated. As in the Romance of the Rose, Chaucer uses his French formed back ground is the style of Courtney Love, and in form it is in the love-vision tradition. Another way of analyzing the love-vision is to see it as an organic structure in with certain actions take place before the main part of the story is reached (Grose 123).
The Book of the Duchess, developing fromthe Romance of the Rose, shows the first site of naturalistic style which is said to be the mark of Chaucer? s later poetry. Most of his poem is write in the same conventional could vein as his translation of the Romance, but there are signs of comes relief as well as observed detail which are not to be found in that work. Apart from the portrayal of the narrator himself, one notable passage is th rose where Iris is sent on a message to Morpheus, The God of Sleep. In this Chaucer takes a usual complete contrast from romantic poem to a humorous poem pointing out the inherent notion that the God of Sleep should be very hard to waken. And then in his final period of his writing, Chaucer wrote in English style which seemed to stick for him.
During this he wrote The Canterbury Tales, by far his most impressive works. In this he seemed to use people that he had meet throughout his entire life and place them into the pages. Many of the figures in the General Prologue seem to leap off the pages. He does an extraordinary job of developing all these characters to engulf the reader into the stories. Chaucer in this story had many intentions for meaning and interpretation bu tthe most significant, on a symbolic level is the image of a pilgrimage tied up with the question of love, which has proved to be the most prominent theme in all of Chaucer? s works. ?
A pigramige should remind u sof the Divine Long; the give of life as a pilgrimage towards the Divine Love is as old as the Church herself. ? (Grose 128) When we look at the pilgrims more closely, the motives we can see love at work. And it seems that through all the stories love is there, showing that at the time Chaucer had one thing on the mind. Whether these periods have any validity is a enduring question amoung the scholars, and not only in regard to Chaucer. It is a fascinating question, bringing in many considerations of greater and lesser importance. For instance, how far is Chaucer an original writer? Many of his works are mere translations, while others are clearly based quite closely on borrowed stories.
In fact, the only Canterbury Tales that are not traceable to other writers is the character the Miller. (Grose 98) All these stories and poems had some common and some conflicting views. But throughout his entire writing career the theme of love stayed the same. He seemed to want to focus on the comparing and contrasting of the life it? s self. And as we could see his writing only got better the longer he wrote and the more he travel. Through every experience his writing grew more brillant, and more captivating.
And in the end at his death Geoffery Chaucer was unappreciated, and denied by the public only later to be considered one of the greatest writers of all time.
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Research essay sample on Troilus And Criseyde Chaucer
