Lucy Burroughs answered
Geoffrey Chaucer is widely considered to be the greatest poet of the Middle Ages. He’s best known for The Canterbury Tales, but he also wrote The Book of the Duchess, Parlement of Foules and Anelida and Arcite.
The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales was written towards the end of the 14th century and consists of twenty-four tales and a general prologue. Most are written in verse, but there are a couple in prose, too.
The Canterbury Tales focuses on a group of pilgrims on their journey to Canterbury Cathedral. While they’re traveling, the pilgrims have a story-telling contest, with each member of the group presenting a story to the others – all but the narrator, who may or may not be based on Chaucer.
The most famous tales are probably The Wife of Bath’s Tale, The Miller’s Tale and The Pardoner’s Tale. The Book of the Duchess This was Chaucer’s first major poem, and most Chaucer scholars believe it was written to commemorate the death of Blanche of Lancaster. There’s evidence to suggest that the poem was actually commissioned by Blanch of Lancaster’s husband, John of Gaunt.
Anelida and Arcite This poem is 357 lines long, and tells the story of the Greek Arcite and his attempts to woo Anelida, Queen of Armenia.
Parlement of Foules
Parlement of Foules is a dream-vision poem (a form that was really popular at the time – John Gower wrote a horrendous one called Vox Clamantis) in which the narrator falls asleep and is taken to Venus’s temple. Parlement of Foules is the first to name St. Valentine’s Day as a day of love and romance.
Other Works By Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales was written towards the end of the 14th century and consists of twenty-four tales and a general prologue. Most are written in verse, but there are a couple in prose, too.
The Canterbury Tales focuses on a group of pilgrims on their journey to Canterbury Cathedral. While they’re traveling, the pilgrims have a story-telling contest, with each member of the group presenting a story to the others – all but the narrator, who may or may not be based on Chaucer.
The most famous tales are probably The Wife of Bath’s Tale, The Miller’s Tale and The Pardoner’s Tale. The Book of the Duchess This was Chaucer’s first major poem, and most Chaucer scholars believe it was written to commemorate the death of Blanche of Lancaster. There’s evidence to suggest that the poem was actually commissioned by Blanch of Lancaster’s husband, John of Gaunt.
Anelida and Arcite This poem is 357 lines long, and tells the story of the Greek Arcite and his attempts to woo Anelida, Queen of Armenia.
Parlement of Foules
Parlement of Foules is a dream-vision poem (a form that was really popular at the time – John Gower wrote a horrendous one called Vox Clamantis) in which the narrator falls asleep and is taken to Venus’s temple. Parlement of Foules is the first to name St. Valentine’s Day as a day of love and romance.
Other Works By Chaucer
- The House of Fame
- Treatise on the Astrolabe
- The Legend of Good Women
- Troilus and Criseyde
- Several short poems
- A couple of translations
