Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction
Chaucer sees what is and paints it as he sees it.
In The Prologue
The Prologue is not only a long poetical intro but a social history of 14th
century England. It presents almost all aspects of this age as well as of
people along with the detail of their appearance, sex, profession, attire and
conduct.
He has separated his work from the influence of French and Italian literature
and entered the abundance of his own self. He worked as a true philosopher,
interpreter or chronicler, in relating his stories in a realistic manner.
Chaucer as a Realist:
Chaucer as a realist presents before us in The Canterbury Tales the pulsating
life of the common people. Chaucers pilgrims talk of their purse, their love
affairs or their private fends. Their vision is confirmed to the occurrences
within their parish. This is the typical vision of the common people which is
realistically presented by Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales.
Chaucers depiction of the Shipman represents the salient features of the
trade. The Merchant is another important figure who signifies the changed
conditions of Chaucerian society.
Chaucer has introduced a number of artificial elements, but he does it so
skillfully and artistically that the impression of realism he creates, makes us
forget them. He is devilishly sly, and deceives us as he should with the
most innocent air in the world.
In the words of Hazlitt:
There is not artificial, pompous display, but a strict parsimony of
the poets material like the rude simplicity of the age in which he
lived.
Realism comes to Chaucer very naturally, as it arise from his own
observation and worldly outlook; and interest in secular matters. As Hadow
observes:
Chaucer is no visionary, afraid to ace the facts of life, dwelling in a world of
beauty and De-light which has no counterpart on earth,but a poet who takes
no shame in human nature, whose eyes see so clearly that they are not
blinded by evil, who dares to say, with his Creator, that the world is good.
Chaucer is the first English poet to free poetry from the traditions of heroic
and alternative verse. He has brought a fresh wind into the mansion of
English poetry. He is realist in his language and style too. He exhibits for the
most part the nakedness of objects with little drapery thrown over it. His
metaphors are not for ornament but for use and like as possible to the things
themselves. Thus Chaucers The Prologue reveals the growing prosperity
and prominence of the commoners.
Trade was carried on with a fair degree of sophistication possible then. Freed
from provinciality it contributed to the overall economic stability of England.
The English man's penchant for adventure encouraged him to carry on trade
with foreign countries and to import superior know-how from abroad which
however, he excelled in course of time. The wife of Bath is a case point. One
gathers from the prologue that the stability of English society owed a great
deal to the strong institutional set-up of the administration. The aberrant
clergy notwithstanding the church was a power to reckon with, and kept
engaged public faith in ritual practices and festivals associated with it.
Pilgrimage undertaken both as a holiday and as a penance is a case in point.
The Crown, the officials and the craft and merchant gilds guaranteed social
and economic security respectively. However, wanting in the performance,
the intentions of these institutions were unquestionably sound. The
assembly of the pilgrims presents the picture of a fraternity of men and
women linked by a common bond of sociability irrespective of their status in
society and their individual strength and weakness that kept the society
from disintegrating at a time of violent socio-economic changes.
Conclusion
It would be quiet justifiable to call Chaucer as a realist o high rank because in
his Prologue we see the picture of 14th century England so clearly that it
makes us feel that we are looking at the history through the mirror of words.
Thus he has given every minute detail of all of the aspects of his society, so
perfectly and artistically that his work has driven out the English language
from the gloominess of the dark-age to a prominent status for which the title
The father of Modern English Poetry has been given to him.