ENGL 252
Dr. Debora B. Schwartz
English Department, California Polytechnic State University
The Canterbury Tales I: the General Prologue (GP)
We will start our unit on the Canterbury Tales by discussing the work as a whole as an example of the Frame Narrative genre and the General Prologue as an independent piece within that collection. We will consider GP lines 1-42 as "opening signals" for the collection as a whole, and discuss the implications of the ending of the work (the Introduction to the Parson's Tale and Chaucer's Retraction) for our understanding of Chaucer's poetic ambitions. Finally, we will consider the General Prologue itself as an example of the genre known as "Estates Satire" and discuss a number of the Pilgrim Portraits in this light.
You are responsible for reading the WHOLE TEXT in your modern English translation. Pay particular attention to the opening lines (which you are also to read in the Middle English original, found pp. vii-viii in your textbook). As you read, pay particular attention to the portraits of the Knight, Parson and Plowman (idealized portraits of the three Estates); the Prioress, Monk, Friar and Pardoner (satirical portraits of various representatives of the Church); the Wife of Bath and Miller (whose tales we will read); and the Squire and the Clerk (for reasons that the lecture will make clear).
Read carefully the first 42 lines of the General Prologue, both in translation (pp. 1-2) and in middle English (pp. vii-viii).
The opening lines of the General Prologue imitate the opening of another work which Chaucer and his audience knew extremely well: the 13th-century French Romance of the Rose, an allegorical dream vision about a young man (the dreamer-lover) and his efforts to win a beloved lady (the "Rose") that was the "best seller" of the 13th and 14th centuries. Most educated readers -- including Chaucer's cultivated court audience -- were familiar with this work, which Chaucer himself had partially translated into English. By imitating the opening of this "best seller," Chaucer plays with the reader's expectations. EVERYONE knew the opening of the Romance of the Rose and the poetic conventions it invokes. So EVERYONE knew what's supposed to happen in the Springtime, when the sap rises, the birds sing, the flowers bloom, and people start to long for LOVE. Chaucer begins his General Prologue with an evocation of April, of birdsong and flowers, and of people who ALSO are in a state of longing. . . and then surprises us with what they're longing for! (see GP lines 12-18). Note also the reference to the "drought of March" (GP line 2). Is England a country known for its dry winters? To what else might this line be a reference? (What parts of Europe are notably drier in climate than England? How would a poet like Chaucer know about the climate in, say, Greece or Rome?) In the first lines of the General Prologue, Chaucer does more than establish the ground rules of the pilgrimage. He also evokes the literary traditions of which he is a part, playfully manipulating conventions drawn from both classical and vernacular poetry in a virtuoso opening sentence that is 18 lines long (!). This virtuoso display of poetic knowledge and skill signals that one purpose of the Canterbury Tales collection is to allow Chaucer to STRUT HIS STUFF AS A POET well versed in the medieval art of translatio.
The General Prologue as a Whole: Estates Satire
The party described by Chaucer has gathered at the Tabard Inn in Southwark prior to departing on a pilgrimage to Canterbury (see the map of the pilgrimage route online or on e-reserve). A pilgrimage was a trip taken for religious purposes, in this case, to visit the shrine of St. Thomas à Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. Medieval Christians believed that the intervention of a saint could help assure their salvation. By visiting the shrines where the saint's relics were preserved, a pilgrim hoped to ensure the saint's sympathy and intercession. ("Relics" are physical remnants of the saint's material existence, typically bones or objects which the saint had supposedly touched or owned.) The "holy blisful martyr" the pilgrims are "seeking" is Saint Thomas à Becket, whose intervention they hope will lead to their own salvation. How many pilgrims are there? Are they a homogeneous group? What is the usefulness of this device to Chaucer? (What sort of people went on pilgrimages?) How is this helpful to Chaucer in his ambition to "strut his stuff" as a poet? (Would all of these people be expected to like the same kinds of literature?)
Pay attention to the individual portraits of the pilgrims. From what walks of life do they come? Note pilgrims who represent each of the three "male" estates (see The Medieval Estates); note also the Wife of Bath representing the "female" estates of "wife" and "widow" while the Prioress presumably represents that of "virgin." Read carefully the portraits of Knight, Parson and Plowman. Of which "estates" are these idealized portraits? Other portraits represent two new classes that were gaining prominence in the 14th century: the urban middle class, and the intellectuals (people trained as "clerks"-- i.e. "clerics"-- but not destined to a career within the church). Which pilgrims represent these new classes? As you read the various portraits, pick out a key word or phrase to describe each pilgrim. Pay attention to physical descriptions (in medieval times, physiognomy was believed to be revealing of character -- see e-reserve chart or website on the four humors). What do the descriptions reveal about the pilgrims' characters? Which figures are painted in a positive or in a negative light?
Pay particular attention to the portraits of the various religious figures (Prioress, Monk, Friar, Parson, Pardoner, pp. 4-9, 16-17, 21-22); to the portraits representing the other two "official" estates (the aristocrats = Knight and Squire, pp. 2-4; the peasantry = Plowman, pp. 17-18); to the "new" estate of Intellectuals (the Clerk, pp. 9-10); and to the representatives of the "middle class" whose tales we will read: the Wife of Bath (pp. 15-16) and the Miller (pp. 18-19). How would you describe each of these figures? What do we learn about their past lives and characters? What seems to be Chaucer's attitude toward the Church? Is he anti-religious? What if anything is satirized? Contrast the portraits of the Wife of Bath and the other woman pilgrim described in the Prologue, the Prioress (pp. 4-5). Love is mentioned in both portraits. Is the sort of love which interests each the same, or different? How might she define this "love"? Is it appropriate to her station in life? (What sort of love might one expect a Prioress to be concerned with?) Note the Wife of Bath's extensive prior experience (the first word of her own Prologue, see p. 103) as both a wife/lover and as a pilgrim. Note the narrator's allusion to her partial deafness (mentioned in passing); the story of how she lost her hearing plays a crucial role in her personal Prologue.
What is the role of Chaucer the pilgrim within this group? Is he an objective observer? How does Chaucer define telling the "truth" in his poem? (The tales of the pilgrims are understood as fiction; what then is "true" about them?) What is the responsibility of the poet with respect to that truth? The Host says that the "best" tale is that which best instructs and most delights us. How does this statement add to our understanding of the "truth" of the tales?
Pilgrimage as Metaphor: From the General Prologue to
the Close of the Canterbury TalesConsider the metaphorical implications of the Pilgrimage. On one level, it is a useful device for Chaucer because it permits him to assemble a group of very different storytellers who will tell very different types of stories, allowing him to "strut his stuff" as a writer (see Opening Signals, above). But there are strong metaphorical implications as well, best illustrated by the transformation of this theme in the Introduction to the Parson's Tale, the final piece in the Canterbury Tales collection. This reading is not included in your textbook, but I will talk about it in lecture. By the end of the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer has redefined the Pilgrimage as the metaphorical journey of one human life, the goal of which is no longer the shrine of St. Thomas à Becket in Canterbury Cathedral -- rather, it is "Heavenly Jerusalem," a metaphor for salvation. The Parson redefines the Pilgrimage, changing it from a literal journey (from London to Canterbury) to a metaphorical one (from birth to death and beyond); the Parson's Tale, a penitential treatise teaching the reader how to atone for each of the seven Deadly Sins, could be seen as a particularly appropriate literary genre to read (or write) in the "twilight years" of one's life. Similarly, Chaucer's Retraction, in which "the makere of this book [taketh] his leve," is a particularly appropriate genre for a writer to master as his life draws to an end; it symbolizes Chaucer's recognition that what ultimately matters most is the salvation of one's immortal soul. In this regard, it is interesting to note that the Parson's Tale and the Retraction together constitute the final "fragment" of the Canterbury Tales in every manuscript that preserves the full collection.
Contents of this and linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 1999-2005
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