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Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400) Before William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer was the preeminent English poet, and still retains the position as the most significant poet to write in Middle English. Chaucer was born in the early 1340s to a middle-class family. His father, John Chaucer, was a vintner and deputy to the king's butler. His family's financial success came from work in the wine and leather businesses. Little information exists about Chaucer's education, but his writings demonstrate a close familiarity with a number of important books of his contemporaries and of earlier times. Chaucer was likely fluent in several languages, including French, Italian and Latin. Chaucer first appears in public records in 1357 as a member of the house of Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster. This was a conventional arrangement in which sons of middle-class households were placed in royal service so that they may obtain a courtly education. Two years later Chaucer served in the army under Edward III and was captured during an unsuccessful offensive at Reims, although he was later ransomed. Chaucer served under a number of diplomatic missions. By 1366 Chaucer had married Philippa Pan, who had been in service with the Countess of Ulster. Chaucer married well for his position, for Philippa Chaucer received an annuity from the queen consort of Edward III. Chaucer himself secured an annuity as yeoman of the king and was listed as one of the king's esquires. Chaucer's first published work was The Book of the Duchess, a poem of over 1,300 lines that is an elegy for the Duchess of Lancaster. For this first of his important poems, which was published in 1370, Chaucer used the dream-vision form, a genre made popular by the highly influential 13th-century French poem of courtly love, the Roman de la Rose, which Chaucer translated into English. Throughout the following decade, Chaucer continued with his diplomatic career, traveling to Italy for negotiations to open a Genoa port to Britain as well as military negotiations with Milan. During his missions to Italy, Chaucer encountered the work of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, which were later to have profound influence upon his own writing. In 1374 Chaucer was appointed comptroller of the customs and subsidy of wool, skins, and tanned hides for the Port of London, his first position away from the British court. Chaucer's only major work during this period was Hous of Fame, a poem of around 2,000 lines in dream-vision form, but this was not completed. Information concerning Chaucer's descendants is not fully clear. It is likely that he and Philippa had two sons and two daughters. Thomas Chaucer died in 1400; he was a large landowner and political officeholder, and his daughter, Alice, became duchess of Suffolk. Little is known about Lewis Chaucer, Geoffrey Chaucer's youngest son. Of Chaucer's two daughters, Elizabeth became a nun, while Agnes was a lady-in-waiting for the coronation of Henry IV in 1399. Public records indicate that Chaucer had no descendants living after the fifteenth century. Chaucer Lawrence Seitz Mitchum English 12 CP April 13, 2000 Geoffrey Chaucer: The Beginning of English Literature Geoffrey Chaucer’s world was the Europe of the fourteenth century. It was not rich or poor, happy or sad. Rather, it was the intermingling of these, a mixture of splendor and poverty, displaying both worldly desire and spiritual purity. Chaucer’s literary works broke away from conformity and set the stage for the beginning of English literature. His travels through it, mostly on the King’s business, or civil service, shaped his writing, offering the readers of today a brief glimpse into the world in which he lived. Chaucer lived from approximately 1340 to 1400. The world in which he lived was not one of peace or stability. Born the son of a London vintner, he remained a Londoner for most of the rest of his life, leaving the city only on the King’s business.1 The city of London was thus Chaucer’s environment for most of his life. Aside from brief visits into other countries or areas of England, he remained in the city, and it’s affects on his writing was immense. London of that time was not the London of today. It was a walled city, guarded against invasion, but long enough time had passed since such a threat had approached that the defenses had loosened. Houses perched upon the walls, and Chaucer in fact, lived for a time in a house built over Aldgate, (one of the gates of the city).2 London was a city less than three-quarters of a square mile in size: It ran east and west along the Thames less than one and a half miles, and extended northwards less than half a mile. Over 20,000 people were packed into this small area; the diversity of the inhabitants was overwhelming. Londoners ranged from wealthy to impoverished, from small to large, from shoemaker to blacksmith to minstrel to priest. The city was thus fairly close. Stone building mingled with tile, wood, and thatch. While the major streets were fairly wide, small shops and stands often spread out into the road, effectively narrowing it by up to half its width. London Bridge, the only bridge in the city, was home to a multitude of homes and shops, perched on top of the span to conserve space. Waste was disposed of simply. It was emptied out the windows into the alley or street and slaughtering was done in he streets as well, with scraps being tossed underfoot. Hogs were often used to keep the streets clean, but were assisted by wild dogs and scavenger birds. Open sewers ran through the streets and into the Thames. Most of the rest of Chaucer’s life was open at the courts of the king of England. Here a startling change was apparent. The filth of the streets disappeared, to be replaced by the splendor so often associated with royalty. The royal court of England was home to many in Chaucer’s time. Courtiers, pages, knights, nobles, princes, and of course the King and Queen. Chaucer rose through the ranks of the king’s men, experiencing all aspects of court life. He was a page, squire, court-bard, counselor and finally courtier to various monarchs. Many kings rose and fell in his lifetime. Chaucer began his life in the king’s service in the reign of Edward III, and performed his service a long while. He was important enough to Edward that he was personally ransomed after being captured by the French in the war between Edward and Charles, an honor usually reserved for nobles. By 1378 Edward III had died, and Chaucer was the man of Richard II. The country was caught up in a political battle between the nobles of Gloucesterand Lancaster. The actions of these two nobles sent Chaucer rolling, his world constantly changing about him. The only stable item in Chaucer’s world was religion. The institution of religion, the church, was quite prominent and visible. Cathedrals dotted the cities of the world, and even the smallest town had a church. The glory of the Church may even have outshined that of the royal court. Cathedrals were brilliant with magnificent carvings, statues of precious metals murals, holy artifacts, and many other gleaming treasures. Even the smallest church was home to some splendor. The glory of the church, and the power it put forth over the population made it a major political power of the time. Chaucer was born in the early 1340’s. Very little is known about the first stage of his life. However, two items are fairly certain. It appears that Chaucer was the son of a London vintner and relatively strong evidence supports that he attended one of three grammar schools: either St.Paul’s, St. Mary-le-Bow’s or St. Martin-le-Grand’s. Aside from this slim bit of information details of Chaucer’s early life are few. The next reliable bit of information places him at around the age of fourteen, a page in the household of the wife of Prince Lionel, the second son of Edward III. He held this position for some time. In 1359 Chaucer went to war technically as a soldier.34 Yet he primarily as a diplomat. Chaucer’s first appearance into the king’s business appeared in October of 1360, when he carried letters from Calais to England during peace negotiations there. For this service he held the official title of clerk of the king attached to the person of Prince Lionel. In this way, Chaucer began his life of service to his king. In 1368, Chaucer was awarded a royal reward for a long and valued service to his job. His actual duties during this period were apparently fairly hazy. He served as a sort of jack of all trades. The only thing we know about Chaucer’s life between 1358 and 1367 is that he was imprisoned in France, during the hundred year’s war, and was ransomed in March of 1360, for a rather large sum. In this time Chaucer also married Philippa Roet, lady in waiting to the Queen. She bore at least two children, Thomas and Lyte Lowys, a child who was delighted in arithmetic. Between 1368 and 1387, Chaucer undertook nearly a dozen diplomatic missions to Flanders, France, and Italy. Most were important, many were so secret that they were not mentioned in the histories of the time at all. In 1381, Chaucer was sent to deal with marriage negotiations between Richard II and the daughter of the French King. While Chaucer was not on diplomatic missions, he was performing his duties in the position for which he is best known, the Kings Custom Service. From 1374 to 1386, he was the comptroller of London. When he was removed from the post in 1386 he was instead granted the title Knight of the Shire, an important Parliament post, and later was placed as the Clerk of the King’s works at Westminster, the Tower, and other royal property in South England. Chaucer’s final post in the King’s service was that of the keeper of the small royal forest of North Pertherton. He held this post twice, from 1390 to 1391, and from 1397 to 1398. In 1399, he settled in Westminster. On Christmas Eve he leased, for fifty-three years, the garden of the monks of Westminster, to live in. However, he did not live long to enjoy his retirement. Geoffrey Chaucer died in October 25, 1400. In a time when literacy was a luxury affordable only by the very wealthy and powerful, Chaucer’s writings stand out as unique. The main language of literature of the time was Latin. Literacy and fluency in Latin were taught as early as literacy in English. In fact, many people could read Latin yet had treat difficulty figuring out the simplest English sentences. What little literature was not written in Latin was written in French. Latin and French poetry was widely recognized as being the only real literature of any worth. This of course, makes Chaucer’s works even more unusual. Unlike most of the other writers of the time, Chaucer wrote his works in English. It was read in English to the Royal Court upon completion. Chaucer’s writing career was not completely original or free of influences. His first works borrowed heavily form French and Latin poems, and it was only later that some of his works became more original. For example, Chaucer’s first recorded poem (the Book of the Duchess) the opening lines are simply translations of the openings of Froissarts Paradys d’Amour. While this is the most obvious use of the French poem, other instances reminiscent of the work appear throughout Chaucer’s poem. In the first part of Chaucer’s career as a writer, it can be seen that his writing is restricted by a style made popular at the time by French poetry. As in the prominent French poetry of the time, the Book demonstrates a love for detail and description. Chaucer never quite escapes the French influences in his writing but escapes some areas of French style. It was not until Chaucer began writing his most well-known work The Canterbury Tales, that he did this. Until this work, his writings were simply translations of old myths, or barely original poems written to fit the standards of French style. Chaucer wished to write something more ambitious, original, and memorable. The Canterbury Tales was the result. Chaucer’s style of writing in The Canterbury Tales is quite different from his earlier works. Hidden within the stories of the Pilgrims are sermons about the world he knew, and the evils he saw within it.5 The Canterbury Tales have no single style throughout, to which each shorter story is fit. Rather, Chaucer gives each section of the poem it’s own style. In fact, the over ruling style of Chaucer’s last work seems to be no style at all, each work is written to fit the subject. Chaucer worked throughout his life to break away from the molds which society had set about poetry in general, and his work in specific. Instead of forging beautifully crafted lies and tales about society, his poetry held up a mirror to reflect reality as he saw it.6 Chaucer’s growth out of the mold imposed by tradition is illustrated by the steady departure of it in his writings. And his final works, escaping at last form the accepted style, set the stage for the beginnings of English literature. Lawrence Seitz Mitchum English 12 CP April 13, 2000 Geoffrey Chaucer: The Beginning of English Literature Geoffrey Chaucer’s world was the Europe of the fourteenth century. It was not rich or poor, happy or sad. Rather, it was the intermingling of these, a mixture of splendor and poverty, displaying both worldly desire and spiritual purity. Chaucer’s literary works broke away from conformity and set the stage for the beginning of English literature. His travels through it, mostly on the King’s business, or civil service, shaped his writing, offering the readers of today a brief glimpse into the world in which he lived. Chaucer lived from approximately 1340 to 1400. The world in which he lived was not one of peace or stability. Born the son of a London vintner, he remained a Londoner for most of the rest of his life, leaving the city only on the King’s business.1 The city of London was thus Chaucer’s environment for most of his life. Aside from brief visits into other countries or areas of England, he remained in the city, and it’s affects on his writing was immense. London of that time was not the London of today. It was a walled city, guarded against invasion, but long enough time had passed since such a threat had approached that the defenses had loosened. Houses perched upon the walls, and Chaucer in fact, lived for a time in a house built over Aldgate, (one of the gates of the city).2 London was a city less than three-quarters of a square mile in size: It ran east and west along the Thames less than one and a half miles, and extended northwards less than half a mile. Over 20,000 people were packed into this small area; the diversity of the inhabitants was overwhelming. Londoners ranged from wealthy to impoverished, from small to large, from shoemaker to blacksmith to minstrel to priest. The city was thus fairly close. Stone building mingled with tile, wood, and thatch. While the major streets were fairly wide, small shops and stands often spread out into the road, effectively narrowing it by up to half its width. London Bridge, the only bridge in the city, was home to a multitude of homes and shops, perched on top of the span to conserve space. Waste was disposed of simply. It was emptied out the windows into the alley or street and slaughtering was done in he streets as well, with scraps being tossed underfoot. Hogs were often used to keep the streets clean, but were assisted by wild dogs and scavenger birds. Open sewers ran through the streets and into the Thames. Most of the rest of Chaucer’s life was open at the courts of the king of England. Here a startling change was apparent. The filth of the streets disappeared, to be replaced by the splendor so often associated with royalty. The royal court of England was home to many in Chaucer’s time. Courtiers, pages, knights, nobles, princes, and of course the King and Queen. Chaucer rose through the ranks of the king’s men, experiencing all aspects of court life. He was a page, squire, court-bard, counselor and finally courtier to various monarchs. Many kings rose and fell in his lifetime. Chaucer began his life in the king’s service in the reign of Edward III, and performed his service a long while. He was important enough to Edward that he was personally ransomed after being captured by the French in the war between Edward and Charles, an honor usually reserved for nobles. By 1378 Edward III had died, and Chaucer was the man of Richard II. The country was caught up in a political battle between the nobles of Gloucesterand Lancaster. The actions of these two nobles sent Chaucer rolling, his world constantly changing about him. The only stable item in Chaucer’s world was religion. The institution of religion, the church, was quite prominent and visible. Cathedrals dotted the cities of the world, and even the smallest town had a church. The glory of the Church may even have outshined that of the royal court. Cathedrals were brilliant with magnificent carvings, statues of precious metals murals, holy artifacts, and many other gleaming treasures. Even the smallest church was home to some splendor. The glory of the church, and the power it put forth over the population made it a major political power of the time. Chaucer was born in the early 1340’s. Very little is known about the first stage of his life. However, two items are fairly certain. It appears that Chaucer was the son of a London vintner and relatively strong evidence supports that he attended one of three grammar schools: either St.Paul’s, St. Mary-le-Bow’s or St. Martin-le-Grand’s. Aside from this slim bit of information details of Chaucer’s early life are few. The next reliable bit of information places him at around the age of fourteen, a page in the household of the wife of Prince Lionel, the second son of Edward III. He held this position for some time. In 1359 Chaucer went to war technically as a soldier.34 Yet he primarily as a diplomat. Chaucer’s first appearance into the king’s business appeared in October of 1360, when he carried letters from Calais to England during peace negotiations there. For this service he held the official title of clerk of the king attached to the person of Prince Lionel. In this way, Chaucer began his life of service to his king. In 1368, Chaucer was awarded a royal reward for a long and valued service to his job. His actual duties during this period were apparently fairly hazy. He served as a sort of jack of all trades. The only thing we know about Chaucer’s life between 1358 and 1367 is that he was imprisoned in France, during the hundred year’s war, and was ransomed in March of 1360, for a rather large sum. In this time Chaucer also married Philippa Roet, lady in waiting to the Queen. She bore at least two children, Thomas and Lyte Lowys, a child who was delighted in arithmetic. Between 1368 and 1387, Chaucer undertook nearly a dozen diplomatic missions to Flanders, France, and Italy. Most were important, many were so secret that they were not mentioned in the histories of the time at all. In 1381, Chaucer was sent to deal with marriage negotiations between Richard II and the daughter of the French King. While Chaucer was not on diplomatic missions, he was performing his duties in the position for which he is best known, the Kings Custom Service. From 1374 to 1386, he was the comptroller of London. When he was removed from the post in 1386 he was instead granted the title Knight of the Shire, an important Parliament post, and later was placed as the Clerk of the King’s works at Westminster, the Tower, and other royal property in South England. Chaucer’s final post in the King’s service was that of the keeper of the small royal forest of North Pertherton. He held this post twice, from 1390 to 1391, and from 1397 to 1398. In 1399, he settled in Westminster. On Christmas Eve he leased, for fifty-three years, the garden of the monks of Westminster, to live in. However, he did not live long to enjoy his retirement. Geoffrey Chaucer died in October 25, 1400. In a time when literacy was a luxury affordable only by the very wealthy and powerful, Chaucer’s writings stand out as unique. The main language of literature of the time was Latin. Literacy and fluency in Latin were taught as early as literacy in English. In fact, many people could read Latin yet had treat difficulty figuring out the simplest English sentences. What little literature was not written in Latin was written in French. Latin and French poetry was widely recognized as being the only real literature of any worth. This of course, makes Chaucer’s works even more unusual. Unlike most of the other writers of the time, Chaucer wrote his works in English. It was read in English to the Royal Court upon completion. Chaucer’s writing career was not completely original or free of influences. His first works borrowed heavily form French and Latin poems, and it was only later that some of his works became more original. For example, Chaucer’s first recorded poem (the Book of the Duchess) the opening lines are simply translations of the openings of Froissarts Paradys d’Amour. While this is the most obvious use of the French poem, other instances reminiscent of the work appear throughout Chaucer’s poem. In the first part of Chaucer’s career as a writer, it can be seen that his writing is restricted by a style made popular at the time by French poetry. As in the prominent French poetry of the time, the Book demonstrates a love for detail and description. Chaucer never quite escapes the French influences in his writing but escapes some areas of French style. It was not until Chaucer began writing his most well-known work The Canterbury Tales, that he did this. Until this work, his writings were simply translations of old myths, or barely original poems written to fit the standards of French style. Chaucer wished to write something more ambitious, original, and memorable. The Canterbury Tales was the result. Chaucer’s style of writing in The Canterbury Tales is quite different from his earlier works. Hidden within the stories of the Pilgrims are sermons about the world he knew, and the evils he saw within it.5 The Canterbury Tales have no single style throughout, to which each shorter story is fit. Rather, Chaucer gives each section of the poem it’s own style. In fact, the over ruling style of Chaucer’s last work seems to be no style at all, each work is written to fit the subject. Chaucer worked throughout his life to break away from the molds which society had set about poetry in general, and his work in specific. Instead of forging beautifully crafted lies and tales about society, his poetry held up a mirror to reflect reality as he saw it.6 Chaucer’s growth out of the mold imposed by tradition is illustrated by the steady departure of it in his writings. And his final works, escaping at last form the accepted style, set the stage for the beginnings of English literature. William Shakespeare Even after four centuries, the literary world remains to uphold Shakespeare as the greatest genius in British literature. While best known as a dramatist, Shakespeare was also a distinguished poet. Shakespeare’s extraordinary gifts for complex poetic imagery, mixed metaphor, and intelligent puns, along with insight into human nature are the characteristics that created the legend he is today. The following essay will address how Shakespeare contributed to modern playwright, the point in time when Shakespeare wrote some of his great plays, which was the Elizabethan era, and the beginning of his acting and playwright career, had influences with William Shakespeare. When you consider the influence of Shakespeare on the modern playwright, it cannot mean purely the choice of plots, since Shakespeare borrowed them from other sources and from history. The lessons he teaches are not merely narrative or certainly those of architecture but individual ones of texture. Shakespeare was an actor, whether great or even good is of no importance. What is certain is that he had to have been a very interesting actor to write works such as King Lear and The Comedy of Errors. He knew in the most delicate detail the possibilities of the actor’s skills and elevated them to the level of the great (“Everything Shakespeare” np). He lived at a time when sophistication of audiences had not yet come to demand such plays without impurities, so far more had to be assigned to the domain of imagination. When there were battles, the battles are shown in isolated parts of the conflicts. The suggestive powers of the actor demanded a far greater burden then they do today, for time and space had to be placed with people and decorated by the persuasion of the word and gesture. A boatman rowing across an unseen river finds the way of suggesting not only water but also wind and current by the movements of his body(Rowse 57). Naturally enough, technical advances of three centuries have served to weaken the demands on the public imagination and to assign the actors to roles of simple instruments in an ever-growing orchestra. The stage made a dramatic change from the upper and lower stage of the Elizabethan playhouse, yielding in the seventeenth century, to the proscenium that we know today. Shakespeare was performed under what must have been extraordinarily cumbersome conditions (Cahn 230). Shakespeare was in fact fortunate that he lived in the period he did. It was an era when English drama flourished. His works were based on many different aspects of that period. Many of his plays are traced back to the life or works of saints, biblical accounts, and morality plays, which were particularly from the medieval ages (Cahn ix). The Elizabethan era that he lived in brought about a renewed interest in classical drama. Shakespeare drew upon the literary brilliance of other great writers in that same time period such as Christopher Marlowe, Sir Philip Sydney, Edmund Spenser, Holinshed, and Edward Hall. Shakespeare was influenced by elements of classical literature to create his own distinct form of poetry and drama. His history plays borrow from English histories, and his comedies often incorporate aspects of English folklore. His mythological themes were modeled after Ovid’s works (Cahn 5). Much of Shakespeare’s stylistic qualities of writing can be attributed to elements of Roman classicism, derived from Plautus and Terence. The themes of his comedies are often reflected by Italian Renaissance literature. His history plays tend to trace the English monarchy from the fourteenth century to the emergence of the Tudors in the sixteenth century (Cahn 283). There are numerous reasons as to why William Shakespeare is so famous. He is generally considered to be both the greatest dramatist as well as the most brilliant poet who has written in the English language. Many rationales can be supported to explain Shakespeare’s enormous appeal (“The Shakespeare” np). His fame can be attributed to his vast knowledge and understanding of human nature. He was able to find human qualities and employ then into situations in which complex characters were derived that prove to be individual as well. The struggles represented in his works are applicable to everyone. Sometimes the characters are successful, sometimes they fail, and sometime the outcome is tragic (Cahn 1). William Shakespeare’s first experiences, which influenced his numerous writings, with theatre began shortly after the “dark years.” These years were a time where Shakespeare’s life was not well documented until he became known as a dramatist. He probably became acquainted with professional acting companies touring the provinces and made his way to London, where his first plays, the three parts of Henry VI history cycle, were presented. Ovid’s Metamorphoses influenced Shakespeare to issue a pair of narrative poems by directly modeling his (Evans 276). Shakespeare further established himself as a professional actor and playwright when he joined the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, an acting company formed by Henry Carey. The Lord Chamberlain’s Men began performing at the Theatre and the Cross Keys Inn, moving to the Swan Theatre when municipal authorities banned the public presentation of plays within the limits of the City of London (Martin 65). After this event, Shakespeare and other members of the company financed the building of the Globe Theatre, the most famous of all Elizabethan playhouses. The success of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men is largely attributable to the fact that after joining the group, Shakespeare wrote for no other company (“TheShakespeare” np). Shortly after James I accession to the throne, he granted the Lord Chamberlain’s Men a royal patent, and the company’s name was altered to reflect the King’s direct patronage (“Everything Shakespeare” np). They were entitled the King’s Men. The King’s Men played at the Blackfriars Theatre, where Shakespeare’s late plays where first staged. The intimate setting of the theatre influenced Shakespeare’s use of increasingly sophisticated stage techniques. In conclusion Shakespeare had a tremendous influence on cultures and literature throughout the world. His works reflected aspects of his lifestyle, as well as expansion of the ideas of others into literary works of his own. His contribution to the development of the English language offered many words and phrases that have become a part of speech and capable of comprehension. Shakespeare's plays and poems have become a requirement in curriculums and education in schools for the purpose of teaching. His history plays have been implemented to teach about history, in substitution of history books, as well as his comedies and tragedies are used to teach literary devices. His personal ideas on romance, love, comedy, and tragedy have influenced the perception of millions of people today. He is a great and renounced writer that generates such continual interest through his endless contributions. What can you tell me about Shakespeare's writing style? Shakespeare used a metrical pattern consisting of lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter, called blank verse. His plays were composed using blank verse, although there are passages in all the plays that deviate from the norm and are composed of other forms of poetry and/or simple prose. The sonnets were written in iambic pentameter. Shakespeare's style of writing and metre choice were typical of the day, and other writings of the time influenced how he structured his compositions. What was the primary source Shakespeare used when writing his history plays? The primary text that Shakespeare used in constructing his history plays was Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Who is "the Bard" and what does it mean? The word "bard" actually means "poet", but for centuries people have used it primarily as a nickname for William Shakespeare. So, whenever you hear someone say 'the Bard', or the 'Bard of Avon' (Stratford-upon-Avon being his home town) they are referring to Shakespeare.