Chaucer, Geoffrey
Chaucer, Geoffrey (1346–1400) English medieval poet. His writings are remarkable for their range, narrative sense, power of characterization, and humour. They include The Book of the Duchess (1369), The House of Fame (c.1375), The Parliament of Fowls, and Troilus and Criseyde (both c.1385). His most famous and popular work is The Canterbury Tales (c.1387–1400), an extraordinarily varied collection of narrative poems, each told by one of a group of pilgrims while travelling to the shrine of Thomas à Becket. Ranging from the courtly “Knight's Tale” to the bawdy “Miller's Tale”, they provide a panoramic view of 14th-century English society and are a landmark in medieval fiction. Influenced by both French and Italian literary traditions, Chaucer's writings exercised a powerful influence on the future direction of English literature, not least in confirming se English as its principal language.
http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/chaucer.htm
http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/chaucer.htm
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Chaucer, Geoffrey
