the canterbury tales赏析全

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1、The Canterbury talesGeoffrey Chaucer Contributions Father of English poetry nChaucer, for the first time in English literature, presented to us a comprehensive realistic picture of the English society of his time and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life in his masterpie

2、ce The Canterbury Tales. nChaucer develops characterization to a higher artistic level, i.e. characters who are morally and socially typical but exquisitely individual and realistic in detail. nChaucer introduced from France the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry to replace the Old En

3、glish alliterative verse. nChaucer used for the first time in English the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter which is to be called later as the heroic couplet . nChaucer greatly increased the prestige of English as a literary language and extended the range of its poetic vocabulary and meters. He i

4、s considered as a great master of the English language. Chaucers contributions to English language qChaucers language, now called Middle English, is vivid and exact. His verse is smooth. He introduced from France the rhymed stanzas of various types, especially the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter

5、 which was later called the “heroic couplet” to English poetry. Though drawing influence from French, Italian and Latin models, he is the first great poet who wrote in the English language. His production of so much excellent poetry was an important factor in establishing English as the literary lan

6、guage of the country. The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the standard for the modern English speech.The Canterbury Tales介绍nThe Canterbury Tales is a book of stories. This is an important book, because it is one of the fi

7、rst to be written in the English language. The book is about a group of travelers who are going from London to Canterbury. As they travel along, each person tells a tale (a story). This is why the book is called The Canterbury Tales.nThe Canterbury Tales, begun in about 1386, consists of stories tol

8、d by some of the thirty pilgrims who set off from the Tabard Inn in Southwark, London, to visit the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury murdered in his own cathedral in 1170. The aim was to tell four stories each: two on the way, two on the way back. The teller of the best st

9、ory would be given a free dinner by the cheerful host of the Tabard. In fact, the collection is incomplete and only 24 stories are told. Two of the stories are written in prose and the others are written in verse. It opens with a general prologue where we are told of a company of pilgrims that gathe

10、red at Tabard Inn in Southwark, a suburb of London. They are on their way to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury. They set out together with the “jolly innkeeper,” Harry Baily, who becomes their “governor” and proposes that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and tw

11、o more on the way back. The pilgrims being 31 in all the total number of tales, according to Chaucers plan, was to exceed that of Baccaccios Decameron. These pilgrims include a Knight, his son the Squire, the Knights Yeoman, a Prioress, a Second Nun, a Monk, a Friar, a Merchant, a Clerk, a Man of La

12、w, a Franklin, a Weaver, a Dyer, a Carpenter, a Tapestry-Maker, a Haberdasher, a Cook, a Shipman, a Physician, a Parson, a Miller, a Manciple, a Reeve, a Summoner, a Pardoner, the Wife of Bath, and Chaucer himself.ThemeInfluenced by the early Italian Renaissance, Chaucer affirmed mans right to pursu

13、e earthly happiness and opposed asceticism, praised mans energy, intellect, and love of life. Meanwhile, he also exposed and satirized the social evils, esp. the religious abuses. Stylelively and vivid Middle-Age English nsatiric and humorous nheroic couplet nof unequal merits Characterization- vivi

14、d portrayal of individualized characters of the society and of all professions and social strata except the highest and the lowest nshows respect for the two landed gentry, the plowman and the parson; nsatirized all the religious people except the parson; nshows a growing sense of self-importance of

15、 the trades and towns people, reflecting the changing social status, esp. in towns and cities. General Prologue:nThe General Prologue is the key to The Canterbury tales that narrates about the gathering of a group of people in an inn that intend to go on a pilgrimage to Canterbury (England) next mor

16、ning. In the General Prologue, the narrator of The Canterbury Tales, who is one of the intended pilgrims, provides more or less accurate depictions of the members of the group and describes why and how The Canterbury Tales is told. If we trust the General Prologue, Chaucer determined that each pilgr

17、im should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the way back. The host of the inn offers to be and is appointed as judge of the tales as they are told and is supposed to determine the best hence winning tale. As mentioned before, The Canterbury Tales was never finished.nThe Prolog

18、ue provides a framework for the tales. It contains a group of vivid sketches of typical medieval figures. All classes of the English feudal society, except the royalty and the poorest peasant, are represented by these thirty pilgrims. nEvery figure is drawn with the accuracy of a portrait. It is no

19、exaggeration to say that the Prologue supplies a miniature of the English society of Chaucers time. Looking at his word-pictures, we know at once how people lived in that era. That is why Chaucer has been called “the founder of English realism.” Summary of The General Prologue On April 17th toward t

20、he end of the fourteenth century nine and twenty pilgrims gather in the Tabard Inn in Southwark, just across the river from London, at the beginning of the road to Canterbury. Geoffrey Chaucer talks to each one and joins their company for a pilgrimage to Canterbury to seek the blissful martyr, Thoma

21、s Becket. Harry Bailey, the host of the Tabard, decides to join them and act as their leader; each pilgrim will tell four stories - two each on the way there, two each on the way back. The pilgrim who tells the best tale - with the best sentence and most solaas will have a dinner at the others cost

22、when the company returns to the Tabard. The pilgrims agree and the next morning they set out, stopping at the Watering of St. Thomas, just out of town, where they reconfirm their decision and, at Harrys direction, draw straws to see who will tell the first tale. Strangely, the lot fell to the knight

23、 and he tells the first story. Introduction to the pilgrimsnThe knight: perfect and gentle man who loved truth, freedom, chivalry and honor. The most socially prominent person on the journey; the battles he fought were all religious wars of some nature.nThe Squire: a candidate for knighthood; a love

24、r who can sing lusty songs, compose melodies, poetrynYeoman: dressed in green; an expert woodsman, an excellent shot with the bow/ arrow.nPrioress: Madame Eglantine; a gentle lady; well-educated though her French wasnt accepted Parisian French. Coy and delicate; table manner; More a woman than a nun

25、! Without vocation but with the dogs and jewelry that satirical literature always condemns nuns for. Associates of the Prioress: 3 priests and another nunPilgrims Image GalleryFour main qualities of the Knight. nThe first is the Knights love of ideals“chivalrie” (prowess), “trouthe” (fidelity), “hon

26、our” (reputation), “fredom” (generosity), and “curteisie” (refinement) (General Prologue, 4546). nThe second is the Knights impressive military career. The Knight has fought in the Crusades, wars in which Europeans traveled by sea to non-Christian lands and attempted to convert whole cultures by the

27、 force of their swords. nThe third quality the narrator remembers about the Knight is his meek, gentle, manner. nAnd the fourth is his “array,” or dress. The Knight wears a tunic made of coarse cloth, and his coat of mail is rust-stained, because he has recently returned from an expedition. Signific

28、ancenThe Canterbury Tales is Chaucers Masterpiece and one of the monumental works in English literature. nIt is one of the landmarks of English literature, perhaps the greatest work produced in Middle English ngive us a true to life picture of his time. The work stands as a historical and sociologic

29、al introduction to the life and times of the late Middle Ages ntaking from the stand of rising bourgeoisie, he affirms men and opposes the dogma of asceticism preached by the Church. nAs a forerunner of humanism, he praises mans energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life. nHis tales expose and sa

30、tirize the evils of his time, attack degeneration of the noble, the heartless of the judge, the corruption of the Church and so on. nLiving in a transitional period, Chaucer is not entirely devoid of medieval prejudices. He is religious himself. There is nothing revolutionary in his writing, though

31、he lived in a period of peasant uprisings. nWhile praising mans right to earthly happiness, he sometimes likes to crack a rough joke and paint naturalistic pictures of sexual life. Chaucer has his weak points. But these are, however, of secondary importance compared with his achievement as a great p

32、oet and a story-teller.literary termsnheroic couplet: Iambic pentameter lines rhymed in pairs. It is called heroic because in England, esp. in the 18th century, it was much used for heroic (epic) poems. The heroic couplet became so important and fixed a form for various purposes that its influence d

33、ominated English verse for decades, until the romanticists dispelled the tradition in their demand for a new freedom. Poetics the heroic coupletcouplet: two consecutive lines of poetry that rhymean iambic pentameter: a poetic line consisting of five verse feet with each foot an iamb, that is a metri

34、cal foot consisting of one stressed syllable and one unstressed syllable as in dah-DUM, dah-DUM dah-DUM dah-DUM dah-DUM. an iambic pentameter couplet, e.g.At night there came into that hostelry iSome nine and twenty in a company iniamb: a poetic foot consisting of an unaccented syllable followed by

35、an accented one. (e.g: alone; My heart is like a singing bird)npentameter: a line of verse containing five feet.nMeter: any regular pattern of rhythm or pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.nFoot: a unit of meter.nRhyme: the repetition of sounds at the ends of words is called rhyme. When wor

36、ds rhyme at the end of lines of poetry it is called end rhyme.-characteristicoffeaturesdescriptionintheprologue（序言）Theuniqueintroductionatthebeginning,aslongas860lines,isaframeofthewholebook,clarifyingauthorsdesignationandconception.Ithasacloserelationshipwitheverylaterpartsofthebook,whilewecanalsov

37、iewitasarespectivelydependentpoem.Herebywewillanalyzethecharacteristicoffeaturesdescriptionintheprologue.Theprologueisactuallyagalleryofallwalksofpeople.ChaucerwidelyselectedhismaterialsfromEnglishsocietyofthatage.Exceptthetopofroyalandthelowestslaves,wecannearlyfindtherepresentativesofallsocialclas

38、ses.Thoughreadingthebook,wecanhaveabetterunderstandingandbroadenoureyesightofEnglishsocietyin14thcentury,aswellasenjoythefeastofart.Theprologueisrichincontent.Thereistheknightwhohasparticipatedinnolessthanfifteenofthegreatcrusadesofhisera;thewifeofBathwhohasbeenmarriedfivetimesandwellpracticedinthea

39、rtoflove;thepardonerwhoisassociatedwithshiftinessandgenderambiguity;justnameafew.Theybelongtodifferentpartsofthesociety,livingindifferentbackground,thushaddifferentlifestyles,habitsandcustom.Theycharted,joked,quarreled,andcompromised;theydiscussed,praised,criticized,andpersuaded.Theyadoptedtheirpart

40、icularwaytopresenttheirlifeexperience,providingavividseriesofnarrativeswhichdifferincontentandstyle.Thereisageneralnarrator,whoisfullofcuriosityandenthusiasm.Heisananonymous,navememberofthepilgrimage,whoisnotdescribed.Hesuggeststotellstoriesandthenorganizedthemintothebook.Eachofthetales,however,narr

41、atedbydifferentpilgrims,istoldfromanomniscientthird-personpointofview,providingthereaderwiththethoughtsaswellasactionsofthecharacters.Therefore,thereisnosurprisetofindthatTheCanterburyTalesincorporatesanimpressiverangeofattitudestowardslifeandliterature.Thetalesarebyturnssatirical,elevated,pious,ear

42、thy,bawdy,andcomical.ThenarratoropenstheGeneralProloguewithadescriptionofthereturnofspring.TheAprilrains,theburgeoningflowersandleaves,andthechirpingbirds;piercing,engendering,inspiringandpricking,allthoseareofspringsrenewalandrebirth,conjureupimagesofconception:WhanthatAprillwithhisshouressooteThed

43、roghteofMarchhathpercedtotherooteAndbathedeveryveyneinswichlicourOfwhichvertuengendredistheflour(GeneralPrologue,14)Followedbyisabriefintroductiontothebackgroundofthestory.“WhenthesweetshowersofAprilfallandshoot,/DownthroughthedroughtofMarchtopiercetheroot,/Ithappenedinthatseasonthatoneday/InSouthwa

44、rk,attheTabard,asIlay/Readytogoonpilgrimageandstart/ForCanterburyAtnighttherecameintothehostelry/Somenineandtwentyinacompany/Infellowship,andtheywerepilgrimsall/ThattowardsCanterburymeanttoride,”Afteralltheessentialelementsbeingpresented,thencomesthefeaturesdescription,themainpartintheprologue.Thena

45、rratorspendsconsiderabletimecharacterizingthegroupmembersaccordingtotheirsocialpositions.Thepilgrimsrepresentadiversecrosssectionof14thcenturyEnglishsociety.Medievalsocialtheorydividedsocietyintothreebroadclasses,called“estates”:themilitary,theclergy,andthelaity.Intheportraitsthatwewillseeintheresto

46、ftheGeneralPrologue,theknightandsquirerepresentthemilitaryestate.Theclergyisrepresentedbytheprioress,themonk,thefriar,andtheparson.Theothercharacters,fromthewealthyFranklintothepoorPlowman,arethemembersofthelaity.Theselaycharacterscanbefurthersubdividedintolandowners(theFranklin),professionals(theCl

47、erk,theManofLaw,theGuildsmen,thePhysician,andtheshipman),laborers(theCook,thePlowman),stewards(theMiller,theManciple,andtheReeve),andchurchofficers(theSummonerandPardoner).Thewayofdivisionandemotionalattitudesindescriptionreflectsthesocietysuniversalunderstandingtowardsdifferentoccupationsatthattime.Italsoallowsreaderstocatchaglimpseofthetheme,somethinglikethecorruptionofthechurch,theimportanceofcompany.