Discussion about Chaucer as a representative poet of his age

Chaucer as a representative poet of his age,Nun's Priest's Tale,The Canterbury Tales,Troilus and Criseyde

Discussion about Chaucer as a representative poet of his age

 

With Chaucer (1340 - 1400), the father of English Poetry, begins an era-a new epoch-in the history of English literature. He is, indeed, the most formidable literary figure before the Renaissance and the greatest name among the English men of letters before Spenser and Shakespeare. But what is more, the credit of ushering modern English literature goes to him. In various ways, Chaucer gave a new impulse and vitality to English literature, and raised an edifice of all gold over the rough stone of Anglo-Saxon literature and the barren field of Anglo-Norman.  

During the second half of the fourteenth century when Chaucer had been writing, some significant historical events took place and they shaped his creative imagination. The literary tradition of the Middle Ages was then on the wane though the effects of the Great famine and the dreadful Black Death were visible. The political condition of the period was not all sound, too. The hundred years' war, fought between England and France, still continued. Then came the troublesome reign of Richard II, which was an unfortunate time for the English nation. In the religious matters, the age had the bitter taste of some unfortunate controversy within the Church. It resulted in the rise of Protestantism. There came a hope that despotism and corruption of the Catholic Church would not continue much longer.

Nevertheless, all was not wrong in England. The economic condition, particularly of the peasantry definitely improved. With better production and higher prices, a healthier living could be possible for the much subdued and oppressed peasant class before the Peasants' Revolt. There was a strong awakening of national pride and confidence in the formation of one nation by the Normans and the English.

But a great literature flourished in England, so much needed for the emergence of the Renaissance, soon to follow. The great awakening of English literature in the second half of the fourteenth century was particularly due to a great master, Geoffrey Chaucer.

The crowning piece of Chaucer's literary genius is certainly The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. He began that ambitious literary project about 1387. He continued to work on it till his own death, thirteen years later, but left it unfinished. The Canterbury Tales is an unforgettable creation in English literature. In its plan, conception, execution and matter of wit and humour, The Canterbury Tales remains an unassailable literary work. Chaucer demonstrated here amply his power to reflect life in its variety, illuminate what is basically humdrum and probe deep into the motives and actions of different men and women, engaged in diverse professions.

Chaucer's greatness is, perhaps, most significantly manifested in his art of characterisation. His works present not merely a band of men and women, but some individuals with certain special characteristics, moods and tendencies. The Prologue is full of God's plenty'. His characters well represent the then English society. The dignified feudal lords, the corrupted churchmen, the dishonest business class, the rising guildsmen, the peasant class, the professionals like the doctor and the lawyer, are all present in it. In The Nun's Priest's Tale the dilapidated house of the widow and her concern at the fox's attack on her cock presents Chaucer's concept of the rural poor people.

Again, Chaucer stands triumphantly in his power of story-telling. His descriptive and narrative gifts truly possess rare qualities. He, in fact, remains the first great English story-teller in verse. The modern age of English literature is greatly indebted to him in this respect. His description of the pilgrims in The Prologue or his narrative about the cock and hen in The Nun's Priest's Tale exemplify adequately his skills in telling a story.

What is more remarkable and original in Chaucer is his perception of the fun of life and his wonderful sense of humour. Humour with him is always invigorating and delightful. Chaucer is found to have moved here much more forward than his age and his predecessors. In The Canterbury Tales, humour is present as an indispensable and diverting element. Humour in it is chiefly in the shape of irony and satire, though we do have some examples of pure provoking laughter.

As a poet, his eminence depends much upon his technical command over versification. His mastery is manifested in the striking originality, innovated by him in versification. The use of the line of five stresses, called the pentameter, was possibly first introduced by him. The intricate structure of French ballad forms is found cut down and simplified by him to produce a seven-line stanza, called rhyme-royal. That proves to be the successful medium in such long narrative poems, as Troilus and Criseyde. Finally the rhyming pentameter or heroic verse, which is the metre of the greatest English poetry of all times, owes its origin in England to Chaucer's use of decasyllables (ten syllables). Indeed, Chaucer's metrical innovations alone are enough to earn him the title of 'father of English poetry', bestowed on him by Dryden.

The Chaucerian literary world is not antique, but modern. This has an absolutely modern environment in an old setting. His genius has put fresh and formative spirits into old things and turned gross into gold. Albert is quite right in his observation, “Chaucer is, indeed, a genius, he stands alone, and for nearly two hundred years none have claim equality with him". In the language of David Daiches, with Chaucer, the English language and English literature grew at a bound to full maturity.