Age of Chaucer

The Literature of any age, being a mirror to life and the replica of attitudes, cannot be attributed to a single factor or even combination. There are always a host of variables lurking behind and at the forefront to manoeuver the literature of a particular age. This is precisely true in case of English literature of Chaucer’s age. It took centuries of turmoil, political and religious upheavals, and the merging of different races which led to the environment that was suitable for Chaucer and his contemporaries to create something genuinely unprecedented English.

Broadly speaking, the major feature which pervades all others was the emergence of National Pride in English people that is ultimately reflected through their literature. There are three main reasons of this English Pride: first, the amalgamation of different races taking place since Saxons’ time ultimately shaped into a common shared culture of eight centuries together; secondly, the recent conquests of Edward III against the former lords of French gave them a sense of supremacy; thirdly, the Scottish war of independence ensured them of being a nation.

Obviously, as the name of this age suggests, Chaucer stands tall among all his contemporaries because of the universality of the characters of Canterbury Tales and the rhythm of language he accorded to the Midland dialect. The nationalism was so uniformly divided among all the major dialects that all of them stand different from others. The English language was divided into a number of dialects which were employed in different parts of the country. The four of them vastly more prominent than the others were: The Southern, The East Midland, The West Midland and The Northern or Northumbrian. The writers of each dialect were strikingly different from others according to their local traditions and literary preferences. Each was fighting for its own supremacy but The East Midland, where now Oxford and Cambridge are located, emerged as “The King’s Accent” because of the quality and magnitude of literature it produced in the age of Chaucer. Geoffrey Chaucer and John Gower belonged to the Midland Creed. According to a renowned critic, “What Dante did for the dialect of Florence; Chaucer did for the East Midland dialect of England.”

Poetry:

    Poetry was the most popular genre of literature tried in the Age of Chaucer. There were a number of poets who wrote in various dialects but the notables whose works had quality and flare of the age were a few. These few were, however, extraordinary because each of them is genuine who contributed to the development of poetic culture in that age at least.

     Chronologically speaking the first poet of the 14^th century was John Barbour with his “The Bruce”. It is a 13,000 lines poem written in praise of the great Scottish freedom fighter Robert Bruce who defeated Edward II in 1314. The poet as well as the subject clearly suggests that it was written in The Northumbrian dialect.

     “The Morning Star of English Poetry” Geoffrey Chaucer born in London appears the horizon. Shaw divides his poetry into two categories: Chivalric and Of the Italian. The chivalric poems represent the Anglo Norman touch in his age. The poems are: “Romaunt of the Rose”, “Assembly of Fowls”, “Court of Love”, “Cuckoo and the Nightingale”, “House of Fame” etc. The poems written under Italian influence stand higher than the contemporary. Here we find the masterpiece, the expression of a genius written with heart and soul under the shadow of universal spirit_ _ “The Canterbury Tales” , “Legends of good Women”, “Troilus and Cresseide”.

     William Langland, belonged to the West Midland dialect, who spoke loud in the congregation of poets. His “Piers Plowman” is a great poem having the rudimentary images of the pastoral poetry of 15^th century. His other works are “Do Wel”, “Do Bet”, “Do Best”, “The Disposition of Richard II”.

     John Gower. Chaucer speaks of his friend “Moral Gower”. He was Learned, tedious, but popular in his day. His poems are “Confessio Amantis” and “Vox Clamantis”.

Prose:

    Although the literature of 14^th century is known chiefly for the quality poetry it is pregnant with, the prose herein also carries the worth because of the religious touch and literary importance. There are a couple of names like Sir Thomas Malory (King Henry IV) who wrote “The Byrth”, “Lif” and “Actes of Kyng Arthur”; and also Sir John Mandeville with his quaint and interesting “Travels”, but the tallest of all the prose writers of this age is John Wycliff with his Translations of Scriptures in 1380 and 1382. His labours in spreading the scriptures were so influential that he has been called the morning star of the Reformation.