Geoffrey Chaucer (Author)

Geoffrey Chaucer was born sometime between 1341 and 1344, most likely in London. He was born
into a wealthy family, and he was a courtier and a bureaucrat.

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343 – 1400)

Chaucer was a polyglot; he spoke Italian, French and Latin, and translated works from French and
Latin into English. He also established Middle English as a respectable medium for medieval
literature (before him, works were written in French or Latin) and coined many English words used
today, as well as inventing the meter known as royal rhyme. His contemporaries praised his lyrical
skill and his capacity for imagination, and his style and the main themes he chose influenced the
writers of his time and all those who came after him. He is popularly known as the father of English
literature.
While Chaucer wrote many poems throughout his life, he is best known for his collection of poetic
stories found in The Canterbury Tales.
Chaucer died in 1400 of unknown causes. There is speculation that his political affiliations with King
Richard II and John of Gaunt may have cost him his life, but there is no definitive proof.
The Canterbury Tales
It is a collection of stories, told by a group of pilgrims from different social classes on their way to the
shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury during the Middle Ages. Pilgrims are programmed to tell
four stories: two on the way to the tomb, and two on the way home. Chaucer knew people of all
classes well, in his work he chooses details such as accents, the characters' clothing, or even their
hairstyles. The stories range from high-style romantic pieces to crude and obscene pieces intended
to insult and entertain. Geoffrey Chaucer intended these stories to provide him with an income for the
rest of his life.
Unfortunately, Chaucer died before finishing the tales and only 24 stories remain. Some notable
works are "The Knight's Tale", "The Miller's Tale" and "The Wife of Bath's Prologue”.
Canterbury Tales covers important themes such as greed, lust, love, forgiveness and revenge - all
themes that we can still relate to in our modern world, making them truly timeless stories.
The collection of stories is known for its wit, borderline humor, breaking stereotypes and questioning
church staff. They are of inestimable value to later scholars as a kind of snapshot of medieval life.
Geoffrey Chaucer Quotes
"The truth is the highest thing that man can keep."
The Canterbury Tales

"Life is so short, craftsmanship is so long to learn."

Fowles Parliament

"Forbid us something, and what we desire; but press upon us hard, and we will flee."
The Canterbury Tales
The Wife of Bath’s background

The wife of bath is a very well-dressed woman. She is very skilled at sewing and she takes pride in
her appearance. She seemed pretty likable, chatty, loves to laugh and seems to be a very
entertaining character, but she does kind of have some selfishness. Perhaps the most interesting
thing about the wife of bath is the fact that she says she's been married five times
and had other company in her youth so this is a very experienced woman and she in fact considers
herself an expert in love. She says that she knows all the oldest dances, but she was actually just
referring to relationships and flirting and courting and that kind of things.

Some facts about marriage in the middle ages show that women were able to get married as young
as 12 and men as young as 14. The wife of bath mentions that her first marriage was when she was
12 years old to a much older man.
Divorce was not a common practice. It was really more a marriage annulment when it was
considered illegal or invalid if it was determined that the man or woman was not old enough or that
they had secretly married someone in their family, if the man or woman was unable to
have children or perform or if the woman cheated on the man.

The wife of bath's previous husbands died, she's not getting divorced and moving on to the next one.
Her husbands have left her a considerable amount of money.
She catalogues all her marriages and says they were all much older than her, however, she was in
charge, she wore the pants in those marriages and then with her fourth husband, he was actually
about her age and she was married to him for the longest. She tells about how
he cheated on her but she turns around and cheats on him too, or at least flirts with other men to try
to make him jealous.
She meets her fifth husband at the fourth husband's funeral and actually falls in love with him. He's
one of the men who's carrying her husband's casket. She no longer needs to marry for money, she
has enough money from her previous four husband. But after being married to him for a while he's
not okay with her being the whip like she was in her other marriages and has a big physical fight.
After her fourth husband died, she was on a pilgrimage to Canterbury, looking for her sixth husband.
Which of these statements are correct?
All women desire control over their husbands.
She thinks husband and wives are never equals.
A widow shouldn’t keep looking for a new husband after her marriage ends.
Women can be deceptive and take choice away from others.
Women need to conform to the norms of the time and can’t enjoy their own sexuality.
The Wife of Bath is a feminist, liberated woman.
The Wife of Bath knows how to use her body and her mind to seduce men, marry
 them, and gain their money.
She questions the Church's stance on the role of women in marriage as well as the
number of husbands that a woman is supposed to have

The Wife of Bath’s tale

The story takes place in the time of King Arthur, when the elves and fairies were part of the earth and
the friars had not arrived, who later populated everything. A knight from the King's court encounters a
young “unaccompanied maiden” and rapes her. The man is sentenced to death, but the queen and
other women at court beg Arthur for mercy and end up saving him from beheading. Then, the queen
expresses her condition to keep him alive: she must return after a year and answer “what women
desire most vehemently.”
The knight goes on a trip with the goal, but does not get a satisfactory answer: wealth, joviality,
status, good lovers; There are many answers given, but none are universally valid. Dejected at not
finding a solution, he begins to return home when he finds, in a forest on the road, twenty-four ladies
dancing. As they approach, the dancers magically disappear. All that remains is a horrible old
woman, “the ugliest person you can imagine.” The gentleman asks her the question and she agree to
give him the answer, on the condition that he fulfills any request she has. The gentleman accepts the
deal and gets his answer
Upon arriving at court, the knight tells the queen that what women desire most is “to exercise
authority over both their husbands and their lovers and to have power over them.” All the women at
court agree with the statement, so the knight saves his life. However, the old woman's request is no
less horrifying to him, since she demands that he takes her as his “wife and lover.”
Much to his dismay, the gentleman marries her privately and they have relations. However, soon the
old woman notices the man's unhappiness and confronts him about it. At that moment, he laments
that she is “horrible, ugly and, furthermore, of low stock.” She mocks his superficiality and gives him a
choice: “You will have me old and ugly for the rest of my life, but a faithful and obedient wife, or you
will have me young and beautiful, and I will have to expose myself to all men coming to our house for
me.” Having reconsidered, the knight resigns himself to letting her decide “what is most pleasant and
honorable for both of them.” After hearing the answer, the woman understands that her husband has
chosen for her to have power and authority over the relationship and she becomes a young and
beautiful woman, without losing her fidelity.
Answer about the story:
1. Why does the Knight get different answers to his question?
2. Considering the role of women, why does the king allow the queen to decide the knight’s
punishment?
3. Apart from saving his life, why does the knight accept the old lady’s demands?
4. What’s the final message of this story?