Chaucer was the master at making Catholic nobles laugh at the failings of others until they realized those characters were a bit too much like themselves. This great moralist, like a comic Dante, lets his characters boast and strut until they have convicted themselves out of their own mouths.
Chaucer was the master at making Catholic nobles laugh at the failings of others until they realized those characters were a bit too much like themselves. This great moralist, like a comic Dante, lets his characters boast and strut until they have convicted themselves out of their own mouths. Let him introduce you to the virtues and vices of his Canterbury Pilgrims in the “General Prologue.” Then, in “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale”, we can see how Chaunticleer the Rooster teaches us about predestination, undeserved Grace, and the Church of God. To read Chaucer well is to see how subtly the typological allegory can be constructed. We will finally read and discuss “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue” and “Tale”. It is important that parents read this “Wife of Bath’s Prologue” before their students do. Although Chaucer is very clear about the Wife’s sins versus the goodness of holiness and love of Mother Church, the Prologue allows her to describe her sinful life in a bawdy way. Each parent must be clear whether this bluntness of her tone is of moral use to their child, even if her errors are beautifully corrected in the Tale itself.
Course Materials: Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. Dr. Russell recommends Vincent Hopper’s Interlinear Translation that Barron Press puts out. That way you can read the Middle English and still see what it means right below each line. If it can’t be found at the library, it can be found online fairly cheap. If you do buy something else, please make sure it tries to be poetry and has line numbers. Otherwise you may not find the lines we are discussing in time.
Homework: Estimated two to threes hours per week for homework (outside of class time) that includes reading and taking quizzes.