Chaucer essay topics

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  • Chaucer's Creation Of Chaunticleer
    831 words
    Canterbury Tales: Chaunticleer; Behind the Rooster In the book Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer, gives us a stunning tale about a rooster named Chaunticleer. Chaunticleer, who is the King of his domain in his farmland kingdom. Like a King, he quotes passages from intellectuals, dreams vivid dreams, has a libido that runs like a bat out of hell, and is described as a very elegant looking Rooster. He has every characteristic of a person belonging to the upper class. Chaucer's hidden meanings and...
  • Justinus And Placebo's Scene With January
    1,019 words
    CANTERBURY TALES THE MERCHANT'S TALES AM TAYLOR 09/03/2005 Chaucer has let January become the character he is partially down to the fact of his age. We know January is highly sexually driven without a doubt. Yet Chaucer leads us to believe that this is down to his personality and character rather than his age being used as a justifiable tool; so what if the man is 60 he still wants to have sex right? We are told that January has a sexual appetite and regularly feeds with mostly a selection of mi...
  • Due In Part To Chaucer's Writing
    1,152 words
    The Effects of Geoffrey Chaucer's Education on the Canterbury Tales The Medieval period was one of transformation. The great religious pilgrimages that occurred effected the course of history. Social set-ups were believed to be ordained by God and were not to be changed ( . aol / barrons 1). Thus, Geoffrey Chaucer introduces each of the characters in the prologue of The Canterbury Tales and establishes their role in society. The church hierarchy was thought to be of equal importance (web chaucer...
  • Chaucer's Canterbury Tales Of The Fourteenth Century
    1,006 words
    A person can almost wholly learn the history of the world though literature that has been written. This is because the people and times have such a great influence on the writers and their work. Authors did not simply grab ideas from the sky. These ideas came from their mind; they wrote about what they knew. And what they knew is what surrounds them, whether it be war, peace, or a time of transition. In the early centuries, religion ruled the land and people. The first rulers came about from the...
  • Wife Without Chaucer
    2,117 words
    Women in the medieval times were cast into very distinct roles. There was a strict code of conduct that was followed. They were to be submissive to their husbands and follow their lead. A woman's place was also in the home and the responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, sewing, etc. fell into their domain. Women who deviated from these cultural-set norms made for interesting characters. Chaucer's use of women and their overstepping their boundaries and typical roles in society make them most memo...
  • Troilus And Criseyde
    1,435 words
    ... 's. 'At the same time, Troilus is very gentle and tender about town, illustrating the supposed ennobling qualities of love... In a like manner, he hunts dangerous beasts... , but lets the smaller one escape, thus showing his bravery and his tenderheartedness' (Berkley Research 9). Beyond these acts, Troilus demonstrates the various characteristics of the courtly love by swooning at his lady's disapproval, becoming highly agitated and distressed over his lady's absence. He is tormented by hav...
  • Son Of John Chaucer
    421 words
    Life and Career The known facts of Chaucer's life are fragmentary and are based almost entirely on official records. He was born in London between 1340 and 1344, the son of John Chaucer, a vintner. In 1357 he was a page in the household of Prince Lionel, later duke of Clarence, whom he served for many years. In 1359-60 he was with the army of Edward in France, where he was captured by the French but ransomed. By 1366 he had married Philippa Root, who was probably the sister of John of Gaunt's th...
  • Poetry And Courtly Love Machaut
    398 words
    handout: Guillaume de Machaut Noelle Chamorro, September 19, 2000 Guillaume de Machaut (1300-1377) Born to commoners, Machaut came from humble origins in the Champagne -Ardenne region of Northern France. He was educated in theology and letters with a master of arts degree. He became almoner (secretary) to Jean of Luxembourg, King of Bohemia, in 1323. Machaut married Jean of Luxembourg's daughter, Bonne. His duties as almoner included accompanying the king on his crusades. This experience gave Ma...
  • Speaker Chaucer
    690 words
    The most potent form of criticism that a writer can use is satire. Satire is a form of irony wherein the speaker uses false praise in order to condemn an idea or event. Chaucer was a pioneer in the realms of English and criticism. He popularized the use of the satiric mask. A satiric mask is when the writer has the speaker like or support something for trivial and unjustifiable reasons. By having the speaker supporting things for all the wrong reasons the writer makes the situation absurd and it...
  • Chaucer Plays With The Idea Of Curteisye
    835 words
    In his Canterbury Tales, Chaucer fully explicates the cultural standard known as curteisye through satire. In the fourteenth century curteisye embodied sophistication and an education in French international culture. The legends of chivalric knights, conversing in the language of courtly love, matured during this later medieval period. Chaucer himself matured in the King's Court, and he reveled in his cultural status, but he also retained an anecdotal humor about curteisye. One must only peruse ...
  • Development Of Character In Troilus And Criseyde
    3,104 words
    Chaucers epic poem, Troilus and Criseyde, is not a new tale, but one Chaucer merely expanded upon. One of these expansions that Chaucers work has become renowned for is the improvement of the characters. Generally, Chaucers characters have more texture, depth, humanity, and subtlety than those of the previous tales. Of the three main figures in the epic poem, Troilus, Criseyde, and Pandarus, Pandarus is the character that Chaucer took the most liberty with, creating and evolving Pandarus until h...
  • Historical Background Of The Canterbury Tales
    1,177 words
    Historical and Literary Background of the Canterbury Tales During the Medieval age (or Middle Ages as it is known as today), there were two main factors in the community. These groups were small but powerful forces that were backed by the labor of a vast numbers of peasants. After the arrival of the "plague" or "the death" as it was commonly called, in the medieval times, was the downfall of both of the powerful groups. The Church and the Aristocracy began to demolish after the coming of the Bla...
  • Squires Motivation On Survivor Island
    474 words
    Canterbury Tales is a novel about twenty-nine characters from all walks of life, coming together to reach a destination. Geoffrey Chaucer portrays each character uniquely. He includes underlying hints about the character and he / she personality traits. The concept of living with others for a period of time to reach a common goal can also be traced in the Popular television show Survivor Island. The combination of the two stories would produce the idea of a medieval Survivor Island. Out of the t...
  • Chaucer's Monk
    1,325 words
    The Canterbury Tales It may be difficult to imagine that people who lived in this world over six hundred years ago share very close similarities with modern day people. It is hard to believe that six hundred years from now lawyers and doctors will act the same, or share surprisingly similar characteristics. Time may change an abundance of things in our world, but people are people throughout the ages. Sure, some types of people change completely over the course of time. The characteristics of ce...
  • Qualities Chaucer
    427 words
    Krista Perry Chaucer's Prologue Chaucer presents a very positive picture of the pilgrims in the ruling class. Chaucer only shows respect to one religious figure and looks down upon the other five. Chaucer includes good qualities in knights and squires that he describes. Qualities Chaucer includes in his Knights are honor, loyalty, respect, chivalry, generosity and courtesy. One page 2, Chaucer says: "There was among us a brave Knight, who had loved chivalry, truth, and honor, generosity and cour...
  • Chaucer Attitude Towards The Guildsmens's Showy Wealth
    482 words
    In the masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer described his characters by classification. Chaucer describes the character's wealth as an impression on the character, good or bad. Chaucer's attitude helped to create feelings for the characters that were described throughout the work. Chaucer attitude towards the guildsmens's showy wealth was opposing of their real character. For example, they strongly represented "one impressive guild-fraternity" (13) with showy clothes and admirable...
  • Chaucer's Tales
    1,031 words
    A person's life experience can have a great effect on his or her life. Personal experiences tend to have more of an effect on writers and storytellers than an average person. The average person will often tell and share a life experience to others. A writer, on the other hand, may make it very interesting and use it as an inspiration for one of his or her works. Take one of the greatest writers, Geoffrey Chaucer, for example. His life is known primarily through records pertaining to his career a...
  • Chaucer's Own Incomplete Copy Of The Tales
    2,653 words
    Chaucer's "Retraction" The "Retraction", a fragment that follows the last of the Tales in Chaucer's masterpiece, has attracted much critical attention. Various literary critics of this particular section in The Canterbury Tales have debated about whether it implies a renunciation on the author's part of his work, or is intended ironically. However, despite the piece's satirical tone, it seems most fitting to conclude that Chaucer's "Retraction" is a sincere gesture, offering his moral stance on ...
  • Beginning Of The Prioress's Tale
    834 words
    The Character of the Prioress in the Canterbury Tales is a multifaceted one. It seems almost as though her description is self-contradictory on many occasions. Every time the persona created by Chaucer makes a complimentary statement about the Prioress, a subtle opinion hinted by Chaucer the author takes it back. Overall, the conflict between the critical author and the benign persona are a stalemate, and the Prioress is portrayed neutrally. The portrait of the Prioress begins in the general pro...

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