Chaucer College Essays Samples For Students

English literature spanning various centuries reveals idiosyncratic trends and ideals of British history, which allows students and scholars to examine and assess successive literary periods. Indeed, literature can be situated within its historical context because literature cannot be separated from the context in which it as written. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales underscores societal concerns with regards to corruption. Moreover, it provides a window into the historical ideals with regards to gender and how women were expected to behave and comport themselves according to their class. In a similar fashion, Beowulf, a classic in old English literature, reflects the ...

Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” is a selection of stories that pilgrims use to tell stories that occurred as they traveled to a holy shrine in Canterbury. At first reading, “The Miller’s Tale” and “The Knight’s Tale” appear inconsistent and incomparable. Nevertheless, a closer reading of the two stories shows that the both stories are similar. The elements in the “The Miller’s Tale” reflects those in “The Knight’s Tale”. Arguably, the characters’ identities are different, yet the romance in both tales remains the same to an extent. In essence, the characters are basically the same in the two ...

[Client’s name]
Discuss how the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales and one of the tales themselves could function as a criticism of the three estates of medieval culture; that is, the social hierarchy of the 14th century. How do Chaucer’s descriptions of the pilgrims in the prologue contribute to this?
In the Medieval Culture there were three estates of the society. There were those, who prayed, those who fought and those who worked. In Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer the representatives of each estate go into the journey, and right from the Prologue each participant starts ...

[Client’s name]
Discuss how the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales and one of the tales themselves could function as a criticism of the three estates of medieval culture; that is, the social hierarchy of the 14th century. How do Chaucer’s descriptions of the pilgrims in the prologue contribute to this?
In the Medieval Culture there were three estates of the society. There were those, who prayed, those who fought and those who worked. All the representatives went into the journey, and right from the Prologue each participant starts to tell the stories that show all the ...

Research paper

Exploring identity of national cultures and their interaction has recently attracted the interest of scientists in various fields. Although the study of the features of different cultures is very high , however the impact and breaking borrowed national and cultural realities (such as literary works of art ) on a national- cultural soil can not attract special attention of the researcher. Possibility or impossibility of transferring foreign cultural ideas and its embodiment in a different region with its own, unique to this region national features , remains very challenging and interesting problem.
The present study was to review and comparative characterization of " The ...

Hurston uses a lot of folk sayings while writing about black people from the south. Darwin. T. Turner in his book, “ Zora Neale Hurston: The Wandering Minstrel” writes that “Gifted with an ear for dialect, an appreciation of the folktale, a lively imaginationshe interwove these materials in deceptively simple stories which exhibit increasing artistic consciousness (Turner 98-99).”
“As she approached Blue Sink she all but turned back. It was a dark night but the lake shimmered and glowed like phosphorous near the shore. It seemed that figures moved about on the quiet surface. She remembered that folks said Blue ...

Geoffrey Chaucer is certainly known to be someone who knew how to write a good story and especially in the Nunn Priests Tale and other similar recounts he espouses on the subject of love quite often. However he tended to see love rather lightly and in some cases, there is also an element of bawdiness and eroticism in his works especially where women are concerned.
The Parliament of Fools is also an important work in the Chaucer canon as it shows how he would be treating politicians who are of the ilk full of stupidity. This compares well with ...

The Battle between the Sexes in the middle Ages

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The battle of sexes which started out in the Middle Ages favored men greatly when compared to women. However, women on their part did not take this subject silently. These paper aims at showing how men and women have perceived women in writing in the medieval ages and even today. The discussion follows preempted questions according to their numbering in the assignment.
2.0 During the medieval times, male writers portrayed women in less than positive lights, with their perceived character and structural flaws exaggerated for the reader. This meant that women were often, presented in less ...

Introduction

The Canterbury tales are a compilation of 20 stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer. The tales cover different themes written in the Middle English language of the 14th century. Most of the tales were written in parts. The manner in which Geoffrey Chaucer describes the characters as well as the incorporation of elements such as sarcasm and irony portrays a critic of the English society, specifically the church (Ackroyd, Peter & Chaucer 2). This essay explores two of the Canterbury tales: “The Clerks Tale” and “The Franklin’s Tale”. The aim of the essay is to provide the similarities and the differences between ...

. The poem could be seen to be a description of the endless conflict between nature and chivalry. Other analysts have described the poem as a critique of the values of Christianity where the zeal to eliminate all traces of paganism leaves the court of King Arthur without any semblance of humanity. The manner in which the Knights are dressed is also important demonstrating the way the girdle is used since this is the only element of clothing which is discussed at length in the poem. This girdle returns as a leitmotif several times especially when one has to consider that it reappears ...

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The Great Vowel Shift in the English Language is one of the most important events in the evolution of modern English phonetics and pronunciation. It occurred towards the end of the Middle Ages and carried on into the English Renaissance, culminating in the seventeenth century when vowel usage was more or less consolidated. The event was likely caused due to a complex combination of socio-economic factors as well as cultural and technological change, but its effects are of more immediate concern. The Great Vowel Shift is responsible for creating many of the rules of written ...

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Tale, readers witness two possible poles between which the subject of the narrative wavers: a feminist who does not miss a beat when talking about female sovereignty in marriage and an anti-feminist who goes back and discredits the female gender. For example, on one hand, she notes that women are not only steadfast but also focused on their goals yet on the other, she says that a woman is incapable of keeping secrets even when they involve her husband (Chaucer, II.951-956). Still, as Walter Long explains in The Wife as ...

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the most famous works not only of the 14th century English literature but of the history of Literature in general. It is the literary creation which is of high importance to the studies of literary criticism as its author managed to create a piece of art which at his time could be understood by all social classes. Actually it was Chaucer’s main aim and we should admit that he did succeed. All the tales from the above mentioned cycle are quite original and interesting but we will try to analyze a ...

In this paper I will look at the character of Alyson, the Wife of Bath from the Canterbury Tales. She is a very wealthy, well-traveled woman as she has traveled around Europe and she has traveled on the pilgrimage to Jerusalem a total of three times Alyson is a very talkative, brash and sexual woman, who is a seamstress by vocation. Throughout her prologue she brags about the number of affairs and marriages that she has had. She has been married a total of five times and her current husband is half of her age. Besides her affinity for ...

Introduction

The objective of this paper is to compare and contrast two tales that are available in the Canterbury Tales. There were some twenty four titles to choose from and the two tales chosen were The Knight’s Tale and the Cook’s Tale.

Comparison Proper

In the Knight’s tale, the setting was in Greece at a time when the knights’ battle against Creon was just finished. It focused on the story of knighthood. There were two knights in the story named Palamon and Arcite. Knights have been known for their various typical aspects such as respect, morals, ethics, chivalry, piety, ...

Discussion and Journal Questions

Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s tale and her prologue are deemed by many to be some of the best parts of The Canterbury Tales. The story vividly describes the role of a woman in the Middle Ages through the character of Alison. However, her position does not seem to be very typical for that period of time, as she believed her experience in marriage matters could dominate the male authority. This idea is constantly expressed with the help of the notion of woman’s “sovereignty” over her husband.
In The Wife of Bath’s tale, the ...

Discussion Board Posts

What is the miracle of Caedmon’s hymn? Consider the poem itself as well as Bede’s account of its genesis
The miracle of Caedmon’s Hymn according to the Venerable Bede is that while Bede had always known Caedmon as a great poet of unmatched skill. He did not always possess such a talent. Bede contended that the gift of song that Caedmon had could have only come from God. The reason for this was so Caedmon could bring the people that come to listen to him away from evil. For much of Caedmon’s life he had ...

Themes are elements that give more meaning and direction to a literary piece. In the story “The Canterbury Tales”, several themes emerged and all of these brought more meaning to the legendary masterpiece.
Geoffrey Chaucer highlighted the significance of women in the community. This is evident in the way Chaucer discovers the possible subtleties of marriage between a man and a woman. During the middle Ages, feminism was not as emphasized as it is now; nonetheless, equality for women were not at all uncommon. As a whole, there is also a sense of religiosity that existed in the story especially during a pilgrimage; however, ...

Global Restructuring and the Impact on Women in the Service Industry

The role of women in the service industry exemplifies the struggle they undergo, both physically and mentally, in order to satisfy and comply with their employer’s wishes. In the process, they are degraded, rebuked, discriminated, paid less, made to work more, and dispensed with. Toward the end of the twentieth century, and the beginning of the twenty-first century, the world witnessed a surge in social-economic and socio-political changes that instigated changes to challenge and compete in a globalized world. Women were recognized for their contribution to science & technology, arts and humanities. Inequality gave way to equality and men and women ...

Aristotle is considered to be on one of the greatest philosophers that ever lived. He is referred to as the teacher of metaphysics ethics and logic. One of the most famous medieval fable stories concerning this great philosopher is titled “Phyllis et Aristotle” which when translated means Aristotle and Phyllis. This story is about how the great Aristotle, at the time living at the residence of one of his greatest disciples, Alexander the Great seeks to separate the powerful ruler from his wife, Phyllis whom Aristotle considered to be absorbing all his energy and time leading him to neglecting ...

Since ancient times, heroic motives have been often depicted and represented in poems. It is a never-ending topic that brings up eternal questions of loyalty, dedication and moral. It is interesting how we find the reflection of love in most of the heroic poems. It may be the love to the land or country, maybe the love to the woman, as well.
In both, “The Knight’s Tale” and The Iliad we find heroic ideas that certainly have something in common. Speaking of the first story it is important to say, that Theseus is the first hero shown, demonstrating ...

Philosophy

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer has an outstanding collision of themes that are immaculately portrayed in the different tales by the pilgrims on their way to the Saint Thomas Becket’s Shrine. These range from radical themes on feminism and anti-feminism, religion, fables, fiction and fabliaux, sex and adultery, tellers as dramatic voices and words and language in a growing list of themes. In his collection, Chaucer joins the pilgrims as an evident narrator as he tries to fit into the shoes of his characters to attempt to voice their views on a variety of themes in the Medieval English.
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Since time immemorial, the issue of gender has been subject to much debate. Literature captures gender perceptions of people in the past and the widespread sentiments of gender roles and equality back then. More often than not, women and men were boxed into the same set of roles in many classical literary pieces. Women were always portrayed as frail, gentle, submissive and passive. They obeyed their husbands and fathers without question. Men in classic literature always took on roles that characterized them as brave, strong, aggressive and initiator. Decision-making was their turf and they occupied positions of ...

Question D

Chaucer uses The Canterbury Tales to mock the society of the Medieval Era. The miller’s tale is crude and is a drunk and his tale is insulting to his company, especially when he does not acknowledge his rank and speaks out of turn.
Throughout time the English society has always acknowledge status; it is everything England and a true English know his or her class in society and abides by it. Chaucer uses the miller to defy the ranking in the British society. Not only does he speak out of turn but his tale is crass. Despite the crudeness ...

During Chaucer’s time women were not thought of as important human being, they were just people who were put on the earth to gratify men. They did not have a voice and Chaucer uses “The Wife of Bath” as a satire to challenge the unfairness of this society.
The tale begins with the wife of Bath telling her story with pride of the five men she has married. In her culture she knows that it is the norm that women like her should be shun; and even if a woman dares to behave as she does she would keep herself ...

- Literature produced in early Old English, a Germanic language with a Celtic imagination, expressed in Arthurian legend
- Legends of knights and honor
- Chivalric code
- Origin
- How chivalric code was passed on
- Definition
Dark Ages or commonly known as the ‘Middle Ages’ or the medieval era. This period is called ‘middle’ because it was midway between the end of the Holy Roman Empire in the fifth century and the beginning of Renaissance in the fourteenth century. However, this period in history does not have precise dates and most of the ...

Dante’s Inferno presents the reader with a series of ‘circles’ that depict different layers of hell – each designed for a different sort of sinner. These circles are designed to hold and punish particular types of people for eternity. In this essay, I will choose three literary characters and discuss which circle of Dante’s hell is pertinent to them. The characters I have chosen are Okonkwo from Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, who I believe belongs in the first layer of Dante’s hell – ‘limbo’ – because he does not accept Christ as his personal saviour and, whilst he is ...

Nature is an important element in many of the early texts. Both Beowulf and Canterbury Tales, written in very early English, use and personify Nature. It can be useful, therefore, to discuss the persona and action of nature in both texts, in an exploration of the use of nature in early fiction. This paper will, therefore, compare and contrast nature in the works of Beowulf and Canterbury Tales.
The imagery in the opening prologue of the Canterbury Tales is expressly related to nature. It describes the rebirth of spring, but the verbiage, specifically, that is used by Chaucer to ...

The Wife of Bath is undoubtedly one of the most interesting characters in the entire collection of Canterbury Tales. She is interesting not only to the readers, but also to the writer himself, Geoffrey Chaucer. The Wife of Bath is the only character to have a prologue longer than their tale. The wife of bath begins by saying that what she is about to say is all meant for entertainment and that no one should take offence. Throughout her tale, she consistently and repeatedly reveals that she is a sly and crafty liar. The reader may question the authenticity of her ...

There are two significant tales, Miller’s and Wife of Bath’s that stand out from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer for astonishing depiction of eternal problems of love, marriage and sex. The issues of love affairs have always excited people’s minds and hearts both now and always. Chaucer touches upon the majority of the important questions connected with marriage, reveals lustful and sly nature of the dishonest people. Both tales describe liberal attitude and disregard towards marriage and sex.
Firstly, it should be said that in both tales the liberal attitude and disrespect towards the ...

Chaucer’s, “The Miller’s Tale” is a classic comedic piece that tells a remarkable story. However, the language in the original story can be discouraging to the modern reader. Therefore the writer hopes to present the tale in a modernized version that will help individuals to better understand the story without losing the true meaning of the story. In addition, there is the hope that readers of all ages will be able to understand the modernized version of the story. The writer hopes to tell the legend and life of the carpenter and his wife. After the knight told his story, ...

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Classrooms that have employed best practices in teaching are easily detectable. Immediately when you enter the learning space you will observe things like; project materials and books, focused and engaged students in their work, collaborative and authentic tasks used by the teacher to place students at the centre of the learning process, clustered sitting arrangements varied with multi-instructional areas, classrooms are activity based spaces as opposed to ‘sit and get lectures' spaces, students will be eager to enlist visitors into their tasks and teachers are engaged with various groups and there will be a joyful feeling of informed movement, industrious ...

The Pardoner Tale is among the tales of The Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury tales were written by Geoffrey Chaucer. The Pardoner is given initiated by the Host’s longing to have something that is positive following the depressing story. The Pardoner prompts his prologue to show up the different evils associated with tricking people. After the evil deeds to the people he goes ahead and brings into context a moral tale. Originating from the Pardoner’s prologue and story, he is displayed as the most evil of the pilgrims. However, the pardoner is the most modern and intriguing character. Among ...

The poem entitled Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written by an anonymous individual – thought to be a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer – in the fourteenth century (Pace University). Its narrative is a moral one and discusses the importance of remaining honourable and chivalrous. Sir Gawain is a knight of King Arthur’s rule and as such, he always attempts to behave in a brave and noble fashion. His encounter with the Green Knight tests this as he must ward off his friend’s beautiful wife’s sexual advances, and honestly bestow his day’s awards upon his friend, as well as honourably ...