Who Was Geoffrey Chaucer - 888 Words

Who was Geoffrey Chaucer? One of the most unique poets of during the Middle Ages was Geoffrey Chaucer. He was born in London sometime between 1340 and 1344. His parents were John Chaucer and Agnes Copton. John Chaucer was an affluent wine merchant and deputy to the king’s butler. Geoffrey held several opportunities early in his life serving as a noblewoman’s page, a courtier, a diplomat, a civil servant, and a collector of scrap metal. He was given theses oppurtunities because of who his father was and the role he played in society. There is not much about his early life. It was proven that he could speak French, Latin, and Italian. Chaucer joined the English Army’s invasion of France in 1359, this was during the Hundred Years war, it was also during the time of te Black Death. After joining the war he was soon taken prisoner; King Edward the third of England paid his ransom in 1360. Six years later in 1366 Chaucer married Philipa de Roe, who was Kind Edward the thirds wife’s maid. It was rumored that they had two sons an a daughter, but was never proven. The king gave Chaucer a life pension in 1367, and began traveling abroad on diplomatic missions. While on his trips to Italy in 1372 and 1378, he discovered the works of Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrach all of these had a huge impact on Chaucer’s own literary work. Chaucer had taken a liking to love poetry of the French tradition, including the Romaunt of the Rose (c. 1370) and Saint Cecilia (c. 1373), later used as theShow MoreRelatedThe Summoner and His Tale in the Canerbur Tales by Goffergy Chaucer674 Words   |  3 Pagescharacteristics. In the series of tales The Canterbury Tales, author Geoffrey Chaucer writes about a group of people with different occupations during the Middle Ages. Who are going on a pilgrimage to the sacred town of Canterbury. Chaucer gives a detailed description of each character traveling to Canterbury. During this trek to Canterbury each of the passengers tells a different tale that Chaucer has chosen for them. When Chaucer described the Summoner he started with he had a face on fire like aRead MoreGeoffrey Chaucer s Impact On Literature1231 Words   |  5 PagesGeoffrey Chaucer’s Impact on Literature: English poet Geoffrey Chaucer is acclaimed to be one of the best and most influential poets in history. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote several famous literary works in what is called middle English. Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1340 in London, England. Over the course of Chaucer’s life, he entered and exited several different social classes. He began to write his most known pieces when he became a public servant to Countess Elizabeth of Ulster in 1357. He diedRead MoreThe Canterbury Tales By Geoffrey Chaucer1321 Words   |  6 PagesCanterbury Tales is enhancing. Geoffrey Chaucer was a revolutionary writer whose life influenced his writing. Geoffrey Chaucer helped the king and stayed at his service for years. Chaucer quit the service to chase his ambitious dream of being a writer and a poet, and hoped to succeed. Chaucer wrote many stories and poems and his most successful and popular was The Canterbury Tales. His stories were revolutionary and successful. Geoffrey Chaucer s li fe was not always good, he was originally a servant andRead MoreGeoffrey Chaucer s Influence On The 19th Century1341 Words   |  6 Pages Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the most acclaimed writers of the 14th century. It was not exactly certain when Geoffrey Chaucer was, born but it was known to be around 1340 to 1344. He was the son of John Chaucer and Agnes Copton. John Chaucer was a very successful London wine merchant, but soon died in 1366. His wife Agnes got remarried to another Chaucer, said to be a cousin of her late husband John. â€Å"Just where the boy got his schooling is not known; he may have been at either Oxford or CambridgeRead MoreChaucers The Canterbury Tales1381 Words   |  6 PagesThe Canterbury Tales serves as a moral manual in the Middle Ages. In the tales, Geoffrey Chaucer portrays the problems of the society. For instance, Chaucer uses the monk and the friar in comparison to the parson to show what the ecclesiastical class are doing versus what they are supposed to be doing. In other words, it is to make people be aware of these problems. It can be inferred that the author’s main goal is for this literary work to serve as a message to the people along with changing theRead MoreWomen s Liberty Through Literature1105 Words   |  5 PagesJohnson  The role of women in society has been well documented through world literature. Works such as The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, Hamlet by William Shakespeare,The Education of Women by Daniel Defoe, and A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. These works come from a wide variety of time periods, they range from the middle ages to the modern era, where the first was published around 900 years before the last.  Women make up approximately half of the population of the world, yet throughoutRead MoreThe Canterbury Tales Comparative Essay887 Words   |  4 PagesComposition A Knight Nobler Than a Monk The Canterbury Tales, written at the end of the fourteenth century, is a frame story written by Geoffrey Chaucer. In the novel, the narrator joins a diverse group of twenty-nine pilgrims who are traveling from Southwark to the shrine of the martyr Saint Thomas’a Becket. While the pilgrims are gathered at the inn, Chaucer observes the pilgrims and records a descriptive account of twenty-seven of the pilgrims, which include a knight and a monk. When readingRead MoreThe Wife Of Bath s Tale By Geoffrey Chaucer And Le Morte D Arthur1133 Words   |  5 Pagessystem in feudalism was honored by society. During the time period, the social status of a man was determined by wealth and the amount of land he owned, making men superior to women. Women were expected to please their husband and take care of the home. They were treated very unfairly compared to men. The stories, â€Å"The Wife of Bath’s Tale† by Geoffrey Chaucer and â€Å"Le Morte d’ Arthur† by S ir Thomas Malory reveal the values of society by adding satire and characterization. Chaucer incorporates satireRead MoreTheme Of Feudal Class In The Canterbury Tales1218 Words   |  5 Pagesthe number and the cause/ Of our assembly in this company (lines 711-14). Geoffrey Chaucer explains to his readers that he has given a full description of each of his fellow pilgrims in his General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales. Along with naming each character, he provides their profession which classifies each pilgrim into one of three social classes: the religious class, the merchant class, or feudal order. Chaucer provides a social commentary of the major social classes of his day, and thoughRead MoreThe Pardoners Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer Essay1114 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life†. The Pardoner’s tale, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, underlined the main theme â€Å"radix malorum est cupiditas†, or that greed is the root of all evil. The Pardoner’s tale is an eccentric tale about three brothers, who succumb to the temptations of greed. In The Pardoner’s tale he referenced that the characters, or rioutours who exhibited these sins were men, because it would be unrealistic in that era to see women behave in that context