1 http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/chaucer.htm
November 19, 2008
GREATEST OF ALL STORIES
Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier, and
diplomat. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame
narrative The Canterbury Tales. Sometimes called the father of English literature, Chaucer is
credited by some scholars as the first author to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the
vernacular English language, rather than French or Latin. The Canterbury Tales contrasts with
other literature of the period in the naturalism of its narrative, the variety of stories the pilgrims
tell and the varied characters who are engaged in the pilgrimage. Many of the stories narrated by
the pilgrims seem to fit their individual characters and social standing, although some of the
stories seem ill-fitting to their narrators, perhaps as a result of the incomplete state of the work.
Chaucer drew on real life for his cast of pilgrims: the innkeeper shares the name of a
contemporary keep of an inn in Southwark, and real-life identities for the Wife of Bath, the
Merchant, the Man of Law, and the Student have been suggested. The many jobs Chaucer held in
medieval society- page, soldier, messenger, valet, bureaucrat, foreman and admistrator- probably
exposed him to many types of people in the Tales. He was able to shape their speech and satirize
their manners in what was to become the popular literature among people of the same types1.
As Christians in this lifetime it may not look like much to us but the work of Chaucer was
one of the greatest stories written for the english language. The greatest of all stories though for
us is the bible. It has so many true stories of real people who did God’s work. I can’t even
imagine what it would look like if God wrote a book about our lives with satire. He is definitely
the most amazing author and only knows what can happen next to us. So we should definitely
realize how amazing God really is especially when it comes to our own true tales of life.
2 http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/chaucer.htm
November 19, 2008
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