OnTheCanterburyTales文学史论文.doc

本文档系作者精心整理编辑，实用价值高。On The Canterbury TalesCai HuaClass 2, 2009, Foreign Languages School, Qingdao Agricultural UniversityAbstract: Geoffrey Chaucer is the founder of English poetry. The Canterbury Tales is his masterpiece. This paper mainly focuses on the description of the features and the structure. Key words: The Canterbury Tales, the details, the structure 1. IntroductionGeoffrey Chaucer, known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and is the first poet to have been buried in Poets Corner of Westminster Abbey. Among his many works, he is best loved today for The Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written in Middle English at the end of the 14th century. The tales are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. These pilgrims are from different, almost all kinds of social classes. There are men and women with different states and occupations. Except the eminent royal and the most humble people, all the other kinds of people are there, including knight, squire, monk, rich businessman, academics of Oxford. 2. The details of The Canterbury Tales “When in April the sweet showers fall / And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all/ The veins are bathed in liquor of such power/ As brings about the engendering of the flower/ It happened in that season that one day/ In Southwark , at The Tabard, as I lay/ Ready to go on pilgrimages and start/ In fellowship, and they were pilgrims all/ That towards Canterbury meant to ride” Our author introduce the time, place, and the characters to us. With beautiful and brief words, it let us see a raining night in April. Newly sprouted leaves hang with drops, with spring breeze blowing gently. Such description writes for the story that these pilgrims can meet in a cozy inn and go together. That gives us suspense, like a clue. The books characters all represent a certain class, showing their special characteristics. He uses meticulous description and also humorous ironic words to portray the characters. “Somewhat deaf which was a pity/ She bettered those of Ypres and of Ghent/ In all the parish not a dame dared stir / Towards the alter steps in front of her/ And if indeed they did, so wrath was she / As to be quite put out of charity” The wife of Bath talks a lot that implies that she went to many cities and knew a lot. Hard of hearing is her pride to some extent. No one can be pushed in front of her, even before God, she will lose her temper ignoring the rules. Her characteristic can be seen easily. Theres no surprise to marry five men. From her dress and her leisurely house, we can know she lives a good life. Contrasted with the wife of Bath, the description of nun is from her expressing. “Her way of smiling very simple and coy/ Her greatest oath was only By St. Loy!” From the description, you must think she is modest. But, she likes to speak French to show her erudition. She learned French from the church near London, so its not standard. Chaucer use ironic words to write that “And she spoke daintily in French, extremely, / French in the Paris style she did not know”. A vainglorious and stodgy nun stands before us. While the other monk who is vainglorious and corrupt. He is the reflection of Roman church in that time. A real Christian should be like this: he is modest, dressed simple. Besides, the church thinks hunting is a sin. Chaucer described him as a leader of fashions, a person who loves hunting and farms. His head is bald and shines as any glass. So did his face, as if it has been greased. That monk is very different from a real one. And, the academic of Oxford has no interest in the money, only searching for the truth of the world. The horse he had is leaner than a rake. But has a hollow look, a sober stare. That academic is in sharp contrast to the monk. 3. Conclusion Chaucer is the first great writer of realism who makes romanticism less popular. In The Canterbury Tales, he uses many types of literature according to the feature of every story to make every story-teller more vivid.Therefore, The Canterbury Tales, which is called a painting of real life, a tru