The_Canterbury_Tales介绍.ppt

Position in British literature The Tales There are all together 24 tales with the Knights tale at the beginning, the Parsons tale at the end, and the Clerks tale and others stretching in between. These tales can be divided into different groups such as Romance, Fabliou, Saints Legends, Homilies, Moralities, Devotions and Marriage. The special genius of Chaucers work, however, lies in the dramatic interaction between the tales and the framing story. The Knight starts the story of two chivalric knights, who fell in love with the same young lady and who later fought a fierce battle for winning the lady. Then, the Miller interrupts with a deliciously bawdy story of seduction aimed at the Reeve ; the Reeve takes revenge with a tale about the seduction of a millers wife and daughter. Thus, the tales develop the personalities, quarrels, and diverse opinions of their tellers. The prologues and tales of the Wife of Bath and the Pardoner are high points of Chaucers art. The Wife, an outspoken champion of her gender against the traditional anti-feminism of the church, initiates a series of tales about sex, marriage, and nobility. The tale told by the Wife of Bath illustrates the view that women must rule men and that only the wifes domination can lead to peace and happiness in marriage. On the contrary the Clerks tale points to the attainment of happiness by a woman acting in full submission to her husband, suggesting thereby that the wifes patience and meekness is the key to married bliss. Both the Merchants tale and the Franklins tale are triangle love stories of husband, wife and lover, in which the lover, following the conventions of courtly love, attempts to persuade the wife to be unfaithful to her husband. Though the stories differ greatly both in subject and style, The Canterbury Tales should be read as a whole poem and not simply as a collection of tales strung together by some loose thread. Structure 1. The General Prologue 2. 24 tales 3. Separate prologu