What Is Literary Realism?

Literary realism is a literary movement that represents reality by

portraying mundane, everyday experiences as they are in real life.
It depicts familiar people, places, and stories, primarily about the
middle and lower classes of society. Literary realism seeks to tell a
story as truthfully as possible instead of dramatizing or
romanticizing it.
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-literary-realism

Literature is the mirror of its age. Supreme literary artist is one who becomes a mouthpiece
and provides a real picture of his age with its minute details. Chaucer is a perfect
representative of his age. He is in true sense a social chronicler of England. His poetry
reflects the 14th century not in fragment but as a complete whole.

Realism of Chaucer in “The Canterbury Tales” not gives us the impression that whatever has
been described is real in the ordinary sense of the word. Realism is not reality; it is a
collective term for the devices that give the effect of reality.

Chaucer represented life in its nakedness.

Literary movement regarding realism started hundreds of years after

Chaucer’s death, however, that did not mean writers were unaware about
realism. Poets like Chaucer knew how to present reality in poetry. It is
better to say that Chaucer was the first who presented reality in poetry.

http://www.cssforum.com.pk/css-optional-subjects/group-v/english-literature/282-chaucer-
realism.html

Characteristics of Realism:
There are certain characteristics of realism that are:

 Close to reality.
 Instead of plot, characters are more important.
 Importance of class.
 No or only believable exaggeration.
 Natural language
 Unbiased opinions
http://www.askliterature.com/poetry/geoffrey-chaucer-realism-in-canterbury-tales/

Geoffrey Chaucer realism in “Canterbury Tales”:

Chaucer's realism is inextricably linked to the way his poem The
Canterbury Tales mirrors English society in the 14th century. To see how
this trend works, it helps to look at the "General Prologue" of the poem,
in which Chaucer describes (often in minute detail) the personalities,
physical appearances, and occupations of the pilgrims he's traveling
with. Chaucer achieves his realistic tone by writing about pilgrims who
occupy a wide variety of social standings, perform many different
societal roles, and represent countless classes. For instance, Chaucer
describes a Reeve, Miller, Prioress, Knight, Yeoman, Parson, an
entrepreneurial woman (the Wife of Bath), and many more. In short,
Chaucer's group of pilgrims is essentially a microcosm of England during
the 14th century, and so he realistically represents the diverse range of
people in English society. Of course, some scholars note it would be
highly unlikely that such a diverse range of people would travel together,
and this point has its merits. This does not necessarily take away from
the realism of the poem, however, as Chaucer still realistically
represents the characters he chooses to portray and provides a realistic
portrait of England's many different classes and social roles. 
https://www.enotes.com

Conclusion:
Whether or not Chaucer was as unobtrusive a man as he presents himself in The
Canterbury Tales, it is true that as an artist he followed the principle of least
interference with his material. The degree of his self-effacement is really surprising. He
does not project the tint of his likes and dislikes, fads and fetishes, views and prejudices
on what he paints. He is no moralist either. “Like Shakespeare”, says Compton-Rickett,
“he makes it his business, in The Canterbury Tales, to paint life as he sees it, and leaves
others to draw the moral.” Thus, to conclude, “Chaucer sees what is and paints it as he
sees it.” And what is more, “he effaces himself in order to look at it better.”
https://neoenglish.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/chaucer-as-a-realist/