The Canterbury Tales: The English Language's First Masterpiece | Literary Classic | Absolute History

Geoffrey Chaucer, a poet living in the late 1300s, witnessed significant societal changes in England during the transition from feudalism to a more mercantile system. Chaucer began writing the Canterbury Tales around 1387 during a period when the Catholic Church still held extreme power and the Black Death and the 100 Years War were still having profound impacts on England. Chaucer employs satire, irony, and humor throughout the tales, making readers laugh at first and then revealing the seriousness and tragedy beneath. His innovative use of the five-stress line in Middle English enhances the complexity of his mature poetry, setting him apart as a groundbreaking writer.
Despite the unfinished nature of the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer's overarching design and exploration of morality and social reality make it one of the greatest works in English literature.

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[TheSqueak]

Oh man…the video production takes me right back to watching VHS documentaries on boxy TVs perched atop wheeled black carts in middle school and high school.

[nbenefiel]

My dad read me the Canterbury Tales in Middle English when I was little. By the time I read it as an undergrad, I was perfectly comfortable with it.

[dalenbickenbach]

So good to have this history lesson and narrative for those who went into depth as part of their lives to interrupt what i knew little of. Thanks.

[jerryoconnor]

I believe the tales were meant to be told aloud to an audience of listeners and therefore they need to be entertaining, as indeed they are. I studied them as part of my primary degree and I loved them. I agree that such a motley crew travelling on pilgrimage together is unlikely but it’s a perfect opportunity to give a picture of society and the thinking of the time. In order to entertain and work it would have to reflect what society felt at that time. Also, it’s a very good historical record as for instance, the Wife of Bath related the different pilgrimages she went on confirming that those places were places of pilgrimage at that time.

[dianamoore]

In my Senior year of Highschool, our English teacher read Canterbury tales to us. I enjoyed it. Maybe that's why I now have a liking for Roosters and hens to decorate with.

[frankschmitzer]

Thank you for a very thoughtful, well researched, and entertaining
study of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. We still love these stories.and how they give us a window into another time and place. I can't help but think human nature hasn't changed much . . .
Again thank you.

[paulrosa]

The narrator doesn't mention that Chaucer knew Boccaccio's Decameron Tales. It came out first. That's what we learned in High School. Dante's Divine Comedy and the Decameron were both written in the vulgar (people's) language, not in Latin. J. Draper doesn't mention that he drew his inspiration and several of the stories from the Decameron. A brief glance at the forward of an old copy of the Decameron Tales I have (but barely read yet) says Chaucer, Shakespeare, Keats, Tennyson and Hawthorne all used stories from the Decameron as the basis for their own stories. Shakespeare apparently used five of them. Italy was still the most developed culture at the time.

[WDCallahan]

Hey! That's my Grandfather they are talking about!
He was quite the trendsetter back in the day. He basically made English cool.
Technically he's my
But I just call him Grandpa Geoff.

[Gawainer]

Please do this for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight too!

[efretheim]

I' m confused by the title "The English Language's First Masterpiece". I always thought that Beowulf held that distinction.

[Jsh]

It’s so incredible to read the tales. It is one of the funniest stories ever and people are just as sex Chrjs now as they were then nothings different amazing

[geraldmeehan]

I've not read "Tales" since high school. I will have to review.

[heathergibbs]

I liked and shared this video 📹 out your welcome Absolute History Happy 😊 New Year 🎉❤

[MacMasore]

Was just listening to this and being Flemish it’s interesting how some words still sound or are at least a bit Dutch. Even knowing the origins of both languages

Meneren, alla to name a few

[margaretwolak]

😅...First time I readed the Canterbury Tales. I was asked by Teacher what my thoughts on the story. I bluntly said"A bunch of raunchy people ".

[cfs]

Name one enterprise left to human hands that is not “riddled with corruption.”

[jonathanlaykin]

The woman reading the quotations has a woeful command of the sound of Chaucer's English.

[StephanieMoondance]

For which tv channel was this originally made? The footage looks decades old😊

[dalestaley]

Excuse me, please defind a "fablio". I've not heard this word before and the definitions I'm receiving are that is a textile. Is that correct?
I love language and would love to know its meaning.
Thank you,
Dale

[R-ll]

I think its funny the show/episode ends wirhout an outro or definite capital-E ending lol