![]() The Cathedral was a popular pilgrimage location because it contained the remains of Sir Thomas Becket, a Catholic martyr and saint. Chaucer’s story follows pilgrims on their way to Canterbury Cathedral. The Canterbury Tales borrows most heavily from Boccaccio’s The Decameron, which also uses a frame story to relate a number of smaller tales. Yale University Press Chapter Title: THE TALE OF THE ELOQUENT PEASANT Book Title: The Literature of Ancient Egypt Book Subtitle: An Anthology of Stories, Instructions, and Poetry Book Editor (s): WILLIAM KELLY SIMPSON Published by: Yale University Press. Chaucer was influenced by famous Italian writers such as Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. Escalating class tensions from Chaucer’s time are evident throughout the stories within The Canterbury Tales. This, coupled with the increasing demands on the peasantry, led the artisans and peasants to revolt. The rich profited off of the war and began indulging in showy luxury items, which led to the establishment of a rich merchant oligarchy that had significant influence in London. The Hundred Years War further contributed to class tensions. This scarcity of labor led to workers being able to better bargain for higher wages and better treatment. ![]() An estimated thirty to fifty percent of the population died, leaving the peasant working classes ravaged. The Black Death ravaged Europe throughout Chaucer’s childhood and adulthood. Not only was language unstable during Chaucer’s lifetime but so was the political and social makeup of England. The enormous popularity of this text contributed to the legitimization of the English language. ![]() ![]() When he was writing in the 1300s, English was rarely used in official contexts Latin was the language of the Church and French was the language of the court. Chaucer was one of the first writers to create popular fiction in the English vernacular. Each bring out different understandings of the communities on how justice applies in society as well as how we refer to such laws today. The Canterbury Tales is written in Middle English, a form of English that combined elements of Old English and French which was spoken from 1150 to 1470. Hammurabi’s Code, The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, and an Assyrian Law and a Palace Decree essentially discusses the relationship between justice and the law in the individual civilizations. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |