Background to Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales

A lot can be said about the literary and historical contributions of Geoffrey Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales.  To start with, the epic was written between the years of 1387 to 1400.  The story tells about thirty pilgrims, all from different rungs of society, traveling from Southwark to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral in England.  The Canterbury Tales became historic in that it popularized the English vernacular by being written in the English language instead of French or Italian.   

Chaucer meant for each pilgrim to have two tales on the way to Canterbury and two on the way back from the cathedral (making 120 tales in total), but he never completed the enormous project.  Scholars are uncertain about the order of the tales because the printing press had not been invented yet, making many contemporary translations differ in order of tales.  Many scholars call each section of the tales a fragment.  Although not completely finished or even revised, each character has a tale in which it is representative of moral characteristics as well as societal and economical issues surrounding that specific character's life.

One of the important contributions made to literature by Chaucer was the development of human character.  Before his work, character was hardly developed, making many characters flat.  Plot was more important than character.  If you look at modern novels today, you'll see that Chaucer influenced the writing.  A good story is driven by a character and his or her psychology with whom the audience can somehow relate to--which can be positive or negative--and the story develops around that character.

Besides being one of the first texts written in the English vernacular, The Canterbury Tales held a lot of other important firsts.  Chaucer's work was one of the first to take a critical look at the Church, criticizing priests, monks, and other clergypersons.  Another first was it's focus on the world as opposed to God, Heaven, Hell, etc.  Needless to say, Chaucer's work was integral for the development of Western and English literature.

Hopefully, this background has gotten you ready for the tales themselves, which are humorous and enchanting.  Tomorrow I'll start summarizing!

Until then,

Cassy