大学英语课件lecture 2.ppt Canterbury Tales.ppt

An Age of Chaucer (1340-1400) Social Background Hundred Year’s War It was fought primarily over claims by the English kings to the French throne. Though primarily a dynastic conflict, the war gave impetus to ideas of both French and English nationality. Peasant Uprising in 1381 Peasants’ profound dissatisfactions with the church and the nobility. Uprising in 1381 was greatly aided by the activism of people aroused by John Wyclif and his followers. Rising Status of English Language Chaucer’s life and His Literary Career As a boy, Chaucer was introduced to most of the Latin authors at St. Paul School As a page, he was involved in the noble and courtly world of the English royal family. During the diplomatic missions to the continent, he got in touch with the literary culture of France, Italy, searching for new poems and poets. He also had a well-informed appreciation of the native English tradition and of several accomplished contemporaries and a remarkably wide familiarity with Latin literature of the Middle Ages. Chauce’s experiences as courtier, soldier, diplomat, legislator and burgher of London makes him familiar with the lives of various classes. Three Periods of Chaucer’s Literary Career French influence(1360-1372) The Book of Duchess (dream vision, octosyllabic couplet ) Incorporating features from several French courtly poems Alcione’s confronting the death of her beloved husband, Ceyx (Ovid, Metamorphoses, XI.) Italian influence(1372-1386) The House of Fame (dream vision, octosyllabic couplet ) A dream in which the narrator undertakes a haphazard journey to the goddess Fame’s Palace (a eagle scooping up the narrator in his claws and carries him to the faraway domain of Fame’s Temple, Dante, Purgatorio IX.) The Parliament of Fowls (Rim royal stanza of seven decasyllabic) Multiplicity of voices: narrator-dreamer, Africanus, Natu