1.write in brief about Geoffrey Chaucer
Time and tide wait for no man.
- Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet, author and civil servant. He has been called the "father of English literature". He was the first writer to be buried in what has since come to be called poet's corner in westMinster Abbey.Chaucer also gained fame as a philosopher and astronomer.
The name Chaucer derived from the French word chaussier, meaning a maker of footwear. The family's financial success derived from wine and leather.
Notable works:
House of fame, Legend of Good women, The book of the Duchess, The canon's yeoman's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, The cook's Tale, The Man of Law's Tale, The Merchant's Tale
The Canterbury Tales:
The Canterbury Tales is Geoffrey Chaucer's best known work. It is a collection of 24 stories told by a group of 30 pilgrims who travel from southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket. Chaucer did not complete the work before he died.
Harry Bailly, host of the Tabard, serves as a master of ceremonies for the contest. The pilgrims are introduced by vivid brief sketches in the general prologue. Interspersed between the 24 tales told by the pilgrims are short dramatic scenes presenting lively exchange, called links and usually involving the host and one or more of the pilgrims.
Chaucer did not complete the full plan for his book. The return journey of Canterbury is not included, and some of the pilgrims do not tale Stories. The work is nevertheless sufficiently complete to be considered a unified book rather than a collection of unfinished fragments. Use of a pilgrimage as a farming device for the collection of stories enabled Chaucer to bring together people from many walks of life: knight, prioress, monk, merchant, man of law, pardoner, wife of bath and many others.
Also, the pilgrimage and the storytelling contest allowed presentation of a highly varied collection of literary genres: courtly romance, saint’s life, allegorical tale, medieval sermon, alchemical account, and at times, mixtures of these genres.
The Canterbury Tales, an unfinished poem known for being the first published book of poetry written in English. Before Chaucer auto used to write poems in Latin, Italian or French. By writing his poem in English Chaucer performs a very important cultural operation. He shows that English is a vehicle that can be used to express high literary contents and make poetry available to everyone. Author after him all wrote in English.
Some readers look to interpret the character of Canterbury Tales as a historical figure, other readers choose to interpret its significance in less literary terms. After analysis of Chaucer's diction and historical context, his work appears to develop a critique of society during his lifetime.
Characters of Canterbury Tales:
The Host, The pardoner, The wife of Bath, The Miller, The Knight, The Narrator, The Monk, The Miller
There are 30 pilgrims accompanying Canterbury Tales. Chaucer has presented The Knight as an ideal character. He is a significant and admirable character, and respects him. The knight is also a Nobleman, who struggles,Fight for god and truth instead of yearning for stardom and glory.
All characters in Chaucer's poem are United by the fact that they are taking part in what is probably the most famous pilgrimage in England and it represents a vivid portrait of English society of that time.
Renaissance literature and Neoclassical literature
Renaissance literature
(1550 -1660)
The Renaissance era in England is also known as "The Early Modern Period".it is a cultural and artistic movement in England from the early 16 century to the early 17 century. The Renaissance in England is generally referred to as the Elizabethan period because Elizabeth I reigned as queen for 45 years from 1558-1603.
In renaissance literature we find a great influence of science and rational research. One of the characteristics of this period is that, advancement of science and the new discoveries that they had made in society. the man had a position of the middle of the interest and the intellectual debate to the detriment of the Central position that, until now, the relation and the church had had.
Another characteristic of renaissance is that love becomes one of the favourite themes of the authors of the period. In fact it is one of the most recurrent themes that we find in the creation of literary work.Another characteristic of Renaissance literature is that we are presented with a beloved woman who has specific features that make her “ideal.”
5 characteristics of renaissance literature:
-A positive willingness to learn an explore
-Faith in the nobility of man -Humanism
-Rebirth of naturalism
-Secularism
-The discovery and the mastery of linear perspective
The Renaissance period was a time of rebirth of humanism, and new discoveries in fine arts, music, literature, philosophy, science and technology, architecture, religion and spirituality.
The Renaissance movement flourished in England with religious tolerance, interest in art, economical strength and diverse society. Literature produced in English was the most impactful and marked as the beginning of a new era or the golden age for English literature.
Neoclassical Age : (1660-1798)
The term Neo which means New and classical means the Roman and Greek classics. This was also the era of The Enlightenment, which emphasized logic and reason. This period ended in 1798 when Wordsworth published romantic "Lyrical Ballads".
The Neoclassical age is typically divided into three period
1.The restoration age
2.The Augustine age
3.Age of Johnson
New classical writers modeled their works on classical text and followed various aesthetic values first established in ancient Greek and Rome. Neoclassicism started in 1660 when the Stuarts returned to the throne and the Enlightenment was in full swing. When the neoclassical period was the predominant style, artists like Daniel Defoe and Samuel Johnson.
This age was also known as The Augustan period , The 18 century, The age of enlightenment, The age of prose and reason, The transition period, The age of satire. The Neoclassical age was political unrest, sharp wit and personal contention, for this reason satire got new importance.
Man found himself in the long struggle for personal liberty. Now he turn to the task of discovering of his neighbour, of finding in whig
and tory, in catholic and protestant, in Anglican and dissenter. The same general human characteristic that he found in himself.
The novel originated in the early 18 century after the Italian word "novella" which was used for stories in the medieval period. Novels focus on character development more than plot, in any genre it is a study of the human psyche.
Four wheels of English novel:
1.Henry fielding
2.Lawrence Sterne
3.Tobias Smollett
4.Samuel Richardson
In this period the Pope declares the limits of man, he also sets, by implications, the limits for the artist. Under the influence of empirical philosophy and experimental science, writers of the age narrowed both their vision of man and view of life. The affairs of men, their politics, their morals, and manners became the chief concern.
Neoclassical literature can be called "Traditional".
The Neoclassical writers like Dryden, Pope, Swift, and Johnson were convinced that excellence and perfection in the literary art have been attained by the Roman writers of antiquity, thus they can only copy the models of perfection and excellence.
Difference Between Renaissance period And Neoclassical period:
The Renaissance period opened gateways to new ideas and developments, while the neoclassicism period focused on retaining the Age of Enlightenment.
Renaissance period was known for humanist art rather than neoclassical focus on more classical and pure elements of style
Neoclassical is the period after the renaissance during which artists mainly focused on exploring and recreating classical art. The Renaissance period writers believed in secularism. They have no religious boundaries. But when we see the neoclassical period in this era writers follow only the classical style of writing. They have some boundaries for writing.Neoclassical period has full of conflicts between two political party whig and tory. We can also see this elements in the work of so many writers during that time.
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