The Canterbury Tales - General Prologue Video Summary
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- Visit us at www.gradesaver... to read the full video transcript and our study guide for this classic poem, which includes a full list of characters, themes, and much more.
The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, was written in the late 1300s, soon after the bubonic plague killed millions of people in England and throughout Europe. Chaucer was one of the first English poets to write in the vernacular of Middle English, popularizing the language of his day.
The poem is a collection of 24 stories built around a frame narrative about a group of pilgrims making their journey to Canterbury. Chaucer’s work addresses gender relations, religion, and sexual immorality within English society. He critiques members of the nobility, clergy, and peasantry, who were often in conflict with each other, and uses satire to call attention to the pilgrims’ hypocrisy. Chaucer unveils the vast spectacle of human failings by exposing the pilgrims’ preoccupation with worldly endeavors while on a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral.
The Canterbury Tales begins with the famous words, "When April comes with his sweet, fragrant showers, which pierce the dry ground of March, and bathe every root of every plant in sweet liquid….Then people desire to go on pilgrimages." The narrator, who is meant to be a version of Chaucer himself, is staying at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, just outside the gates of London, when the company of twenty-nine pilgrims descend.
The inn’s owner and host, Harry Bailly, sets up a challenge: each pilgrim should tell four tales on their journey-two on the way to the shrine of martyr Saint Thomas à Becket at Canterbury Cathedral, and two on their way back to London. The host will accompany them so he can judge the best story and the other pilgrims will pay for the winner’s supper upon their return.
The narrator then introduces the pilgrims, starting with the Knight who has the highest status and drew the shortest lot for the right to tell the first tale.
The Knight is a chivalrous nobleman who has fought in the Crusades in numerous countries in defense of Christendom; he is honored for his worthiness and courtesy. The Knight’s 'Fustian' tunic, made of coarse cloth, has rust stains from his coat of chainmail.
The Knight’s son, the Squire, accompanies him. At twenty years old, the Squire is a lover and a lusty bachelor, wearing clothes embroidered with red and white flowers. He constantly sings or plays the flute and is the only pilgrim, other than Chaucer himself, who explicitly has literary ambitions.
The Yeoman (a freeborn servant) also travels with the Knight, clad in a coat and a hood of green. He carries arrows made of peacock feathers, a bracer (an arm guard), a sword, a buckler, and a dagger as sharp as a spear. He wears an image of St. Christopher on his breast.
The narrator then moves on to the clergy. The Prioress, called 'Madame Eglantine' (or Mrs. Sweetbriar) sweetly sings religious services, speaks French and has excellent table manners. She would weep if she saw a mouse caught in a trap, and she has small dogs with her. She wears a brooch with the inscription 'Amor vincit omnia' ('Love conquers all').
The Prioress travels with the Second Nun who serves as her secretary, as well as three priests.
The Monk is next-a modern man who prefers to hunt hare with his greyhounds rather than read books in a cloister. The Monk is well-fed, fat, and his eyes gleam like a furnace in his head.
The Friar, named Huberd, is wanton and merry, and is licensed to beg in certain districts. Franklins (or landowners) love him as do worthy women all over town. He hears confession and gives absolution and is an excellent beggar.
The Merchant wears a forked beard, motley clothes and sits high upon his horse. He gives his opinion solemnly, and does excellent business, never being in any debt. But the narrator ominously remarks that he-the narrator-doesn’t know what other men think of the Merchant.
Next is the Clerk. A scholar of Oxford University, he would rather have twenty books by Aristotle than rich clothes or musical instruments, and thus is dressed in a threadbare short coat. He only has a little gold, which he spends on books and learning.
The Man of Law or “sergeant of the law,” is judicious and dignified, or at least seems to be. No one can find a flaw in his legal writings. Despite his high standing, the Man of Law rides in a homely, multi-colored coat.
A Franklin travels with the Man of Law. He has a beard as white as a daisy, and is of the “sanguine humour” (dominated by his blood). He lives for culinary delight and his house is always full of meat pie, fish and more meat.
The five guildsmen include a haberdasher, carpenter, weaver, dyer, and tapester. Representing an emerging middle class, all of them are clothed in the same distinctive guildsman's dress. None tells a tale.
1:50 the host (Harry Bailey)
1:59 the narrator
2:02 the knight
2:29 the knight's son the squire
2:51 the yeoman or a freeborn servant
3:18 the prires called madame eglentine or mrs sweetbreyer
3:45 the second nun and three priests
3:52 the monk
4:07 the friar Hubert
4:26 the merchant
4:49 the clerk
5:09 the man of the law
5:27 a franklin
5:47 + the five guilds men : a haberdasher, carpenter,
6:05 Roger the cook
6:26 a shipman from dartmouth
6:58 a doctor of medicine
7:20 the wife of bath named Alice Owen
7:59 a good religious man
8:22 a plowman
8:35 a miller
9:11 a noble manciple
9:28 the reeve
9:50 the summoner
10:18 the summoner's noble parther
10:47 Harry Bailey (again)
Prires? Maybe Prioress?🤔
Second nun Kon h?
I love how he challenged the idealized images of British social standings. Knights were thought to be immaculately clean and shining above the peasantry even though Chauser shows that they too are just people in dirty worn down armor from use and likewise are victim to fatigue.
stealing this thank you
Thank you
It's wonderful. When I am down with a cold and don't have the energy to sit and read the book, I find your audio visual explanation very refreshing. Thank you so much.
Saved for my test THANK YOU
It was very nice to see visual description. Thank you
Anyone else watching this to get an idea and understanding of "The Canterbury Tales" because they can't read Middle English for shit and don't want to fail their British
Lit class XD
🤚🤚
This helps a lot. Just bought the book, now must decipher it.
As in like literally finding hidden messages? Interested bc I've watched a lot on the messages Francis Bacon and others have left in the works of Shakespeare and the 1611 King James Bible
I find middle English very interesting and love to hear it when I hear it in videos.
Common mistake - Not Thomas A'Becket - Just Becket:
"an academic from the University of York has scoured the literature and traced the history of the name, from Becket’s birth to the end of the 18th Century.
The study, published in the journal Open Library of Humanities, pinpoints the change to Thomas a Becket to 1596 and a man called Thomas Nashe, satirist, wit, poet, and Shakespeare collaborator.
According to the study, the addition of the ‘a’ to Becket’s name is based upon Robin Hood characters such as George a Green and Alan a Dale, which were popular in the 1590s, with the name designed to make Becket into a sort of rustic figure of fun by Protestants.
Study author, Dr John Jenkins, from the University of York’s Department of History, said Nashe seemed to deploy the rustic ‘a’ to turn Becket into a folkloric figure, hinting at a brawling comedic character as a form of irony, in response to Becket’s saintly legacy. It also pointed to Becket’s supposedly lowly birth.
Saved my essay grade, I appreciate it
Licensed to beg in certain districts - I got to remember to put that on my resume.
Fabulous guidance crystal clear concept
Very nice introduction. Thanks!
Amazing description of every characrer👍👍
Very nice summary, thanks, it's in my college syllabus so I was looking for it's summary in easy words
This video is very helpful for my Grade 9 students. This gives an overview of England's social class during Chaucer's time'
Have to write a character into the Canterbury tales as part of a major assessment for the semester and it’s due tomorrow.
Hopefully this helps my writers block !!
How did it go
im actually related to Geoffrey Chaucer on my moms side, isn't that weird im related to a christen poet and a viking king of Denmark witch hated christens
Prove it
Is there any kind of satire from Chaucer's view
When are you gonna cover Huckleberry Finn or Raisin in the Sun or The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian?!
Great and helpful thanks!!
Thanks
Wonderful
We owe to Chaucer genious work
He perceived things in moral context quicker than anyone
Thank you very much for your great helpful work.
Thanks a lot
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight might help, the vibe of the language is a little easier to adjust to, it was published about the same time and can be read in about 2 hours
Thanks for this🤭😍😍
Geoffrey Chaucer "4th Earl of Salisbury", "6th and 3rd Baron Montacute", "5th Baron Monthermer", 1343-1400
My step 17th great-grandfather of maternal grandfather
Thomas Montacute "4th Earl of Salisbury", "6th and 3rd Baron Montacute", "5th Baron Monthermer", Count of Perche 1388-1428
Son of Geoffrey Chaucer "4th Earl of Salisbury", "6th and 3rd Baron Montacute", "5th Baron Monthermer",
Alice Montagu 5th Countess of Salisbury, 6th Baroness Monthermer, 4th and 7th Baroness Montacute 1407-1462
Daughter of Thomas Montacute "4th Earl of Salisbury", "6th and 3rd Baron Montacute", "5th Baron Monthermer", Count of Perche
Richard, 16th Earl of Warwick 6th Earl of Salisbury - Neville Kingmaker" 1428-1471
Son of Alice Montagu 5th Countess of Salisbury, 6th Baroness Monthermer, 4th and 7th Baroness Montacute
Anne Neville 1456-1485
Daughter of Richard, 16th Earl of Warwick 6th Earl of Salisbury - Neville Kingmaker"Dorothy Dennis 1501-1532
Daughter of Anne Neville
Elizabeth Willougby 11th Baroness Latimer 1510-1562
Daughter of Dorothy Dennis
Lady Mary Joan Brook (Blundell) 1527-1553
Daughter of Elizabeth Willougby 11th Baroness Latimer
Martha Blundell (Edwards) 1553-1623
Daughter of Lady Mary Joan Brook (Blundell)
Sara Edwards 1586-1662
Daughter of Martha Blundell (Edwards)
John Coole 1616-
Son of Sara Edwards
Elizabeth Coale 1643-1731
Daughter of John Coole
Ann Coble 1681-1749
Daughter of Elizabeth Coale
Robert Tillstone 1714-1763
Son of Ann Coble
William Tilston 1745-1780
Son of Robert Tillstone
Mary (Martha) Tilston 1780-1833
Daughter of William Tilston
Margaret Hall 1802-1885
Daughter of Mary (Martha) Tilston
Ellen Fearnett 1825-1919
Daughter of Margaret Hall
Isabella Ashworth 1834-1871
Daughter of Ellen Fearnett
James Sutcliffe Smith 1838-1908
Husband of Isabella Ashworth
Frank Smith 1883-1972
Son of James Sutcliffe Smith
Nancy Smith 1923-2004
Daughter of Frank Smith
Graham Shaw
You are the son of Nancy Smith
Please cover the BOOK THEIF 🛐🛐🛐
Excellent
Nice
Pardon me, but it is pronounced Canterbury, not canter berry.
Ich yare to done some work.
Good video but the pronunciation of Canterbury really jars me
👏👏👏
Wife of who?
Wife of Bath is an expert in love making.
Bath is a place, not a person
Real fact
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
The "translation" into modern English ruins the poetry. You might have also told your viewers who Chaucer actually was. "Poet" alone doesn't begin to describe the man, his high office and remarkable life.
hello mario
Thanks