Life and Works of Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer

  v  Geoffrey Chaucer (1340 – 25 October 1400), known as the Father of English Poetry.

  v  He is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Age.

  v  He was the first poet to be buried in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey.

  v  He is called as ‘Morning Star of Renaissance’.

  v  He achieved fame during his lifetime as an author, philosopher, civil servant and astronomer, composing a scientific treatise on the astrolabe for his ten-year-old son Lewis.

  v  Chaucer also maintained an active career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat.

 

Early Life:

  v  Poet Geoffrey Chaucer was born in1340 in London, England. 

  v  Chaucer’s father, John, carried on the family wine business.

  v  Geoffrey Chaucer is believed to have attended the St. Paul’s Cathedral School, where he probably first became acquainted with the influential writing of Virgil and Ovid.

  v  In 1357, Chaucer became a public servant to Countess Elizabeth of Ulster, the Duke of Clarence’s wife. 

  v  In 1359, the teenage Chaucer went off to fight in the Hundred Years War in France, and at Rethel, he was captured for ransom.

  v  King Edward III helped pay 16 pounds of ransom to release Chaucer.

  v  After Chaucer’s release, he joined the Royal Service, traveling throughout France, Spain and Italy on diplomatic missions throughout the early to mid-1360s. 

  v  For his services, King Edward granted Chaucer a pension of 20 marks.

  v  In 1366, Chaucer married Philippa Roet, the daughter of Sir Payne Roet, and the marriage conveniently helped further Chaucer’s career in the English court.

  v  By 1368, King Edward III had made Chaucer one of his esquires. 

Public Service:

  v  From 1370 to 1373, he went abroad again and fulfilled diplomatic missions in Florence and Genoa, helping establish an English port in Genoa.

  v  He also spent time familiarizing himself with the work of Italian poets Dante and Petrarch along the way. 

  v  By the time he returned, he and Philippa were prospering, and he was rewarded for his diplomatic activities with an appointment as Comptroller of Customs, a lucrative position.

  v  Meanwhile, Philippa and Chaucer were also granted generous pensions by John of Gaunt, the first duke of Lancaster.

  v  In 1377 and 1388, Chaucer engaged in yet more diplomatic missions, with the objectives of finding a French wife for Richard II and securing military aid in Italy.

  v  During trips to Italy in 1372 and 1378, he discovered the works of Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch—each of which greatly influenced Chaucer’s own literary endeavors.

  v  Busy with his duties, Chaucer had little time to devote to writing poetry, his true passion.

  v  Chaucer established residence in Kent, where he was elected a justice of the peace and a Member of Parliament in 1386.

  v  When Philippa passed away in 1387, Chaucer stopped sharing in her royal annuities and suffered financial hardship. 

Major Works:

1. French Period: (1360-1370)

  v  The Romaunt of the Rose:

§  It is based on French work ‘Le Romaunt de la Rose’ by Lorris and De Meung.

§  It is allegorical, dream poem written in Octosyllabic Couplet.

§  It begins with an allegorical dream, in which the narrator receives advice from the god of love on gaining his lady’s favour.

§  It has three fragments (i.e.) A, B, C.

  v  The Book of the Duchess: (1369)

§  Chaucer's first published work was The Book of the Duchess, a poem of over 1,300 lines.

§  It is an elegy for Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster, addressed to her widower, the Duke.

§  It is called as “The Dreame of Chaucer”.

2. Italian Period: (1370- 1385)

  v  The House of Fame (1382)

§  It is a poem of around 2,000 lines in dream-vision form based on ‘Dante’s Divine Comedy’.

§  It is allegorical poem written in Octosyllabic Couplet.

§  It has the description of temple of Venus. 

  v  The Legend of Good Women (1385)

§  It is based on ‘Boccaccio’s Mulieribus’

§  Chaucer introduced the stanza form of iambic pentameter couplets i.eHeroic Couplet in The Legend of Good Women, which is seen for the first time in English.

§  It has a prologue and 9 legends.

§  It describes 9 famous women.

  v  Troilus and Criseyde:

§  It was influenced by The Consolation of Philosophy, which Chaucer himself translated into English.

§  Chaucer took some the plot of Troilus from Boccaccio's Filostrato.

§  Chaucer invented Rhyme Royal i.e. Chaucerian Stanza (7 lines) in this poem.

§  Troilus and Criseyde is a narrative poem of 8,000 lines that retells the tragic love story of Troilus and Criseyde in the context of the Trojan War.

  v  Anelida and Arcite:

§  It tells the story of Anelida, queen of Armenia and Arcite.

§  It has some elements of Boccaccio’s Tessida.

  v  Parlement of Foules:

§  His works included Parlement of Foules, a poem of 699 lines. 

§  This work is a dream-vision for St. Valentine's Day that makes use of the myth that each year on that day the birds gather before the goddess Nature to choose their mates.

§  This work was heavily influenced by Boccaccio and Dante.

§  It was written in 1380, during marriage negotiations between Richard and Anne of Bohemia.

§  It had been identified as peppered with Neo-Platonic ideas inspired by the likes of poets Cicero and Jean De Meung.

§  The poem uses allegory, and incorporates elements of irony and satire as it points to the inauthentic quality of courtly love. 

  v  Translation of Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy as Boece:

§  Boece is Chaucer’s translation into Middle English of ‘The Consolation of Philosophy’ by Boethius.

§  It was originally written in Latin, stressed the importance of philosophy to everyday life.

3. English Period: (1384 – 1390)

  v  The Canterbury Tales:  

§  Chaucer wrote the unfinished work, The Canterbury Tales.

§  The Canterbury Tales is by far Chaucer’s best known and most acclaimed work.

§  Initially Chaucer had planned for each of his characters to tell four stories a piece.

§  The first two stories would be set as the character was on his/her way to Canterbury, and the second two were to take place as the character was heading home.

§  Apparently, Chaucer’s goal of writing 120 stories was an overly ambitious one. 

§  In actuality, The Canterbury Tales is made up of only 24 tales and rather abruptly ends before its characters even make it to Canterbury.

§  The tales are fragmented and varied in order, and scholars continue to debate whether the tales were published in their correct order.

§  Despite its erratic qualities, The Canterbury Tales continues to be acknowledged for the beautiful rhythm of Chaucer’s language and his characteristic use of clever, satirical wit. 

  v  A Treatise on the Astrolabe:

§  A Treatise on the Astrolabe is one of Chaucer’s prose works.

§  It is an essay about the astrolabe, a tool used by astronomers and explorers to locate the positions of the sun, moon and planets.

§  Today it is one of the oldest surviving works that explain how to use a complex scientific tool, and is thought to do so with admirable clarity. 

Later Life:

  v  From 1389 to 1391, after Richard II had ascended to the throne, Chaucer held a draining and dangerous position as Clerk of the Works.

  v  He was robbed by highwaymen twice while on the job, which only served to further compound his financial worries.

  v  To make matters even worse, Chaucer had stopped receiving his pension.

  v  Chaucer eventually resigned the position for a lower but less stressful appointment as sub-forester, or gardener, at the King’s park in Somersetshire.

  v  When Richard II was deposed in 1399, his cousin and successor, Henry IV took pity on Chaucer and reinstated Chaucer’s former pension.

  v  With the money, Chaucer was able to lease an apartment in the garden of St. Mary‘s Chapel in Westminster, where he lived modestly for the rest of his days.

Death:

  v  He died October 25, 1400 in London, England.

  v  He was the first to be buried in Westminster Abbey i.e. Poet’s Corner.

Quotes:

  v  “Chaucer is our well of English undefiled” – Spenser

  v  “Here is God‘s plenty” – John Dryden

  v  “Some of his characters are vicious; and some virtuous” - John Dryden

  v  “Chaucer is perpetual fountain of good sense, learned in all sciences” - John Dryden

  v  “Chaucer is the father of English poetry” - John Dryden

  v  “Chaucer lacks the high seriousness of the great classics” – Mathew Arnold

  v   “With him, real poetry is born” – Mathew Arnold

  v  “Chaucer found his native tongue a dialect and left it a language” – Lowes

Geoffrey Chaucer Facts

ü  Geoffrey Chaucer was the greatest poet of the Middle Ages, and is regarded as the Father of English literature. He was born in London, England c. 1343 to John Chaucer and Agnes Copton, and affluent couple in the wine trade. Geoffrey attended St. Paul's Cathedral School where it is believed he discovered the writing of Ovid and Virgil, which would serve as influence for his own writing in later years. Geoffrey became a public servant to Countess Elizabeth of Ulster in 1357, a position he held for the rest of his life. In 1359 Geoffrey fought in the Hundred Years' War in France, and was captured and held for ransom. King Edward III helped pay for his return and he joined the Royal Service.

ü  Interesting Geoffrey Chaucer Facts:

ü  Geoffrey Chaucer traveled through France with the Royal Service in the early to mid-1360s.

ü  King Edward Gave Geoffrey a pension of 20 marks for his service with the Royal Service.

ü  Geoffrey married Philippa Roet in 1366. She was the daughter of Sir Payne Roet. The marriage helped Geoffrey's career.

ü  In 1368 Geoffrey Chaucer became one of King Edward III's esquires. His position sent him on diplomatic missions, also giving him time to familiarize himself with the work of poets such as Petrarch and Dante.

ü  Geoffrey Chaucer's passion for poetry grew as his career advanced. In 1385 he asked for a temporary leave. He lived in Kent for four years but still found little time to write as a Parliament member.

ü  In 1387 Philippa died, and Geoffrey's financial situation became dire. It was Philippa's royal annuities that kept them living so well, and those annuities disappeared when she died. This meant Geoffrey had to work and could not devote himself to writing.

ü  It is believed that Geoffrey Chaucer's Parliament of Fouls was written in 1380. It was a poem about courtly love and its inauthentic quality.

ü  It is believed that Geoffrey Chaucer wrote Troilus and Criseyde in the mid-1830s, a poem about his character's tragic love story. This poem is considered by many to be one of his greatest works.

ü  It is not known when Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Legend of Good Women, a poem that was left unfinished.

ü  Geoffrey Chaucer's work The Canterbury Tales was originally meant to be 120 stories long. It was only completed to 24 stories, and his characters did not make it to Canterbury at all. The work was never finished but is highly regarded in literature.

ü  While working as Clerk of the Works Geoffrey was robbed twice, and he eventually gave up his position to work as the gardener in Somersetshire in the King's park.

ü  Geoffrey Chaucer's major works include Roman de la Rose, The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, Anelida and Arcite, Parliament of Foules, Boece, Troilus and Criseyde, The Legend of Good Women, The Canterbury Tales, and A Treatise on the Astrolabe.

ü  Geoffrey Chaucer died on October 25th, 1400 in London, at the age of 60. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

ü  Geoffrey Chaucer's gravestone became the first of what would be called Poet's Corner in the abbey.