Chaucers contribution to the development of english literary tradition essay

Widely considered the greatest English language poet of the Middle Ages, he authored The Canterbury Tales and a slew of other poetry.

Geoffrey Chaucer - Biography and Works. Search Texts, Read Online. Discuss.

This doublesided meaning of the word, which gives a truer picture of what tradition actually is, can be traced throughout the Western literary canon.

From the earliest examples of literary art, the issue of tradition can be seen. For example, in the Babylonian poem Gilgamesh, the goddess Ishtar is outraged that Gilgamesh dishonors her; to punish him, she sends a bull to destroy him. Yet the idea of tradition implies an appeal to stability, an unchanging order of expectations and events that makes human life possible because tradition presumes that tomorrow will be more or less like today.

Geoffrey Chaucer Case - Essay

If the breaking up of expectations is also part of the idea of tradition, then one may question when such rejection is warranted and when it will introduce chaos into ordinary life.

This problem of tradition—knowing when to maintain it and when to reject it—is a subject for political philosophy. The establishment of a proposition that is then contradicted is very much like the idea of a word, custom, or ritual handed down and then rejected by another contradictory word, the basic meaning of tradition.

According to Plato, the wise statesman is the one who knows when to maintain a political order and when to initiate a change that will cause the city to more closely resemble its ideal.

Thus, at the very beginnings of Western literature, in Gilgamesh and in The Republic, the idea of tradition contains both a thematic and a political meaning.

Intertextuality in Literature A third meaning, of intertextuality, can also be seen in ancient literature: The implication is that these images represent the same civilizational values for the Romans as the cities of war and peace for the Greeks. The purpose of such double-sided representation is exactly what tradition, in the form of intertextuality, does.

Will Aeneas be strong enough and wise enough to show the wisdom necessary for a true ruler of a great city, or will his desire for the past in Troy still affect his judgment? Because the images on the shield remind the audience of the glory of republican Rome, the question being asked of them is whether they have the strength and wisdom necessary to go forward into the imperial future in order to create, through their own practice of virtue, an even greater city than the one Aeneas founded.

Thus, in The Aeneid, Virgil combines the thematic and political meanings of tradition through intertextuality by changing the significance of an important literary symbol. In contrast to what has been handed down, these three actions—conflict, wisdom, and intertextuality— can be seen in later literature.

In his book The Anxiety of Influence, the literary critic Harold Bloom attempts to describe the stages of change that take place as the ephebe the younger artist asserts his voice over the father the precursor: An earlier critic, T.

Eliot shows the necessary interaction between a new work and the context in which it appears. The critic must develop the wisdom to decide which new works of art deserve to move the tradition forward and which do not rise to that level.

As we have seen, authors read earlier authors and derive inspiration and innovations from them. The rejection of both subject matter and form creates new subject matter and form for new audiences. Thus, every linguistic group has some sort of literary tradition, whether oral or written, by which stories give meaning to experience.

The particular groupings for literary traditions can be national English, German, Chineseformal epic, tragic, comic, lyric, narrative, poetic, dramaticor periodic ancient, medieval, modern. For example, postcolonial literature borrows from European models but adds native experience and forms into that tradition; Salman Rushdie is perhaps the best-known writer in this tradition.

See also Alexie, Sherman: Frogs, The; Browning, Robert: Christmas Carol, A; Dreiser, Theodore: Room with a View, A; Jackson, Shirley: Woman Warrior, The; Momaday, N.

Biswas, A; Reed, Ishmael:3. Geoffrey Chaucer Born round – the time of the year war with France. During his life the black death in the country killed almost 40% of the people.

5 Ways Geoffrey Chaucer Influenced English Language and Literature Alicia Holland September 17, January 1, Although he doesn’t have the same worldwide name recognition as William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer – who lived, approximately, from to – is sometimes known as the father of English literature.

Chaucer's Poetry Geoffrey Chaucer Chaucer's Poetry literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Chaucer. Geoffrey Chaucer's contribution to English literature is extremely important.

Chaucer’s Contribution to Language

He was the first English writer to write in the vernacular. Previously, Latin was the language used by writers. Geoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales English Literature Essay. Print Reference this. Disclaimer: He used the pilgrimage to create literary works that could last over a hundred years.

Chaucer’s precise description of the harsh reality of society includes controversial topics like the corruption of church, sexuality, and abuse of power. Dec 27,  · Chaucer’s contribution to English versification is no less striking than to the English language.

Again, it is an instance of a happy choice. He sounded the death-knell of the old Saxon alliterative measure and firmly established the modern one.