An Introduction to Geoffrey Chaucer

Preface: Chaucer and Genre Theory

Preface Chaucer and Genre Theory The Father of English Literature: Geoffrey Chaucer holds this title with universal accord. Proving English literature as rich, sophisticated, and entertaining as the French and Italian masterpieces of the Middle Ages, Chaucer availed himself of the English language’s inherent poetry at a time when it was derided as an inelegant vernacular. This book introduces readers to Chaucer and his writings to spark an appreciation of the literary accomplishments that make him such an inspiring, provocative , and alluring figure in Western culture, with the explicit purpose of helping novice readers to navigate Chaucer’s work in its original Middle English. Following the structure of the New Perspectives in Medieval Literature series, the first chapter of An Introduction to Geoffrey Chaucer provides an overview of Chaucer’s life in fourteenth-century England, a time marked by great dangers (including the Black Death), social unrest (including the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381), and complex court maneuverings (including the overthrow of King Richard II). The second chapter, which constitutes the bulk of the book, introduces Chaucer’s works, including his surreal dream visions Book of the Duchess, House of Fame, Parliament of Fowls, and Legend of Good Women; his masterpiece of love won and love lost during the Trojan War, Troilus and Criseyde; his incomplete masterpiece of sacred and profane voices clashing boisterously on a holy pilgrimage, the Canterbury Tales; and his miscellaneous verse addressing a variety of courtly, religious, and classical themes. Chaucer’s role in literary history provides the focus of the third chapter: previous writers and texts—including Greek and Roman authors of the classical x Preface: Chaucer and Genre Theory past, the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, and the literatures of France and Italy—influenced him, and he likewise influenced many writers who followed . This volume also offers reference materials including a chronology of important dates in Chaucer’s literary history, a bibliography for further research, a glossary of literary terms, and three sections designed to assist novice readers and speakers of Chaucer’s writing: a guideline for pronouncing Middle English; a list of high-frequency words in Chaucer’s literature to expand readers’ Middle English vocabulary; and outlines of the Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde by line number to help readers negotiate these complex and rich works. Using the three aids in tandem, novice readers of Middle English will be better able to appreciate Chaucer’s distinctive voice without relying on arid and simplistic summaries. To read a plot summary of a Chaucerian text is like eating a hearty stew that has been strained down to its broth: much of the good stuff is irrevocably lost. Immersing oneself in the supplementary sections will provide a strong foundation for the pleasures of reading Chaucer’s literature without the assistance of an interpreter. This book is intended for readers new to Chaucer, those who will benefit from broad discussions of Chaucer’s themes and the contexts of his literature, and my goal throughout is to demonstrate the allure and intellectual depth of his world. As a tool for this task, I rely on genre theory to structure the introductions to Chaucer’s diverse writings. In a sense, genres establish the rules of any given body of literature, and if readers understand the expected parameters of that body, they will also be able to discern when authors reinforce, play with, or subvert these structures to create their unique fictions. Genre gives readers a tool both for understanding Chaucer as an author who represents a specific cultural moment and for deciphering texts foreign to their experience; by learning to recognize the conventions and codes of a certain genre, readers are better able to recognize the parameters and expectations of a specific piece of literature, and thus to understand its place in the literary tradition . As Alistair Fowler suggests, genre provides a necessary point of departure for both writers and readers: writers need to know “which rules are worth breaking,” as readers need to know what rules are in effect in a given literary game.1 Chaucer uses genres common to the Middle Ages, such as romance, fabliau, epic, dream vision, exemplum, tragedy, ballade, lyric, allegory, and saint’s life, but never in a slavish fashion. When readers perceive Preface: Chaucer and Genre Theory xi how Chaucer reimagines genres to his own purpose, they will also be able to generate their own interpretations of his texts by...