Historia y Literatura Inglesa 1

HISTORIA Y LITERATURA INGLESA I
Topic: Relation between author´s life and the literary work.
STUDENT: VEGA PAEZ, SOFIA

Geoffrey Chaucer (British poet) was born around 1342 in London. He was not only a writer, in his
early years, he worked as a page in service to a knight (was a member of Edward III`s army in
France) when he was captured by French. Then he worked as diplomatic to the king; These was the
beginning of several diplomatic missions to the continent of Europe.
In 1366, Chaucer married with Fhilippa Roat, who had been in the service of Philippa of Hainaut,
queen consort of Edward III.
During trips as a diplomatic of the King Edward III, he discovered the works of Dante, Boccaccio
and Petrarch, those who inspired him in his works. His first important works was “Book of the
Duchess”, he wrote this poem by the funeral of the Duchess of Lancaster, who was John Gaunt`s
wife, Chaucer`s friend. When Chaucer wrote this poem, he used the dream- vision form ( a gender
use by diverse writers in the Middle Age) and also he used in his followings works an unusual
method, the use of a first- person narrator.
Another significant Chaucer`s works was “Hous of Fame”, writing in 1370, a poem of more than
2000 line, in which the poet used the dream-vision form again; and in which they used an ironic
tone, one of his most important feature in his works.
Between 1380 to 1386, Chaucer continued work at the Custom House despite he had been problems
with the law, in which accused him to rape (sexual assault) a woman. But in 1386 his resident in
London was leased to another man and he was removed. Finally, when Chaucer`s wife died in 1387
and for political circumstances that were not favorable for Chaucer, he decided to move to Kent.
These years were very difficult for Chaucer. In 1388 the Parliament opposition prevailed against the
King Richard II and many of his offices were revoked and many members were executed. In 1389,
King Richard II returned to the power and the King gave Chaucer a new job, as to repair and
maintenance of royal buildings (as The Tower of London and Westminster Place).
Between 1387 and 1400, Chaucer wrote is most important work: “The Canterbury Tales”. A
collection of stories about 30 pilgrims on their way to Canterbury from London. In which they were
agree to interest in a storytelling contest while they travel. Most of the pilgrim are introduce in the
“Prologue”. The Canterbury Tales have 24 tales, the stories are short dramatic scenes, usually
involving the host and one or more of the pilgrims. Chaucer can not complete the full plan for his
book, but even so the book was sufficiently complete for his publication. In this book Chaucer used
a diversity of genres: courtly romance, racy fabliau, saint` life, allegorical tales, medieval sermon,
between others. Another important features in the story that Chaucer wrote were that he moved
through the different classes in this century. The characters were writing with a skill proportional to
their social status and also he breathed new life into his female characters, given them, for first time
a voice as narrator.
His last years, Chaucer lived modestly. He died in 1400.
Geoffrey Chaucer is considering the “father of English literature”. He wrote poetry and stories that
had had important features. One of this characteristic was that he helped to establish Middle English
vernacular as mainstream language of the day, replacing Latin and France. Another characteristic of
Chaucer`s work is that he used a variety of genre, tone and style.
Chaucer work has the inspiration and influenced of several writers after his dead as Shakespeare,
Marlowe, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Dickens, among others. Geoffrey Chaucer could be capturing
the voice of Kings and commoners alike.
The most important books and poems that Chaucer wrote were: The Canterbury Tales, Troilus And
Criseyde, Troilus And Cressida, The Book of the Duchess, Chanticleer and the Fox, among others.
Bibliography
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Geoffrey-Chaucer
https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Geoffrey-Chaucer/

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HISTORIA Y LITERATURA INGLESA I

Topic: Relation between author´s life and the literary work.

STUDENT: VEGA PAEZ, SOFIA

His last years, Chaucer lived modestly. He died in 1400.

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