The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

It would be impossible to overstate the influence of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, A work with one metaphorical foot planted in the Florentine Renaissance literary tradition of Boccaccio's Decameron and the other in works ranging from John Bunyan, Voltaire, and Mark Twain to the popular entertainments of our own time, The Canterbury Tales stands astride the cultures of Great Britain and America, and much of Europe, like a benign colossus.
Beyond its importance as a cultural touchstone and literary work of unvarnished genius, Chaucer's unfinished epic poem is also one of the most beloved works in the English language-and for good reason: It is lively, absorbing, perceptive, and outrageously funny-an undisputed classic that has held a special appeal for generations of readers. Chaucer has gathered twenty-nine of literature's most indelible archetypes-from the exalted Knight to the bawdy Wife to the besotted Miller to the humble Plowman-in a vivid group portrait that captures the full spectrum of late-medieval English society and both informs and expands our discourse on the human condition.
Presented in these pages in a new unabridged translation by the esteemed poet, translator, and scholar Burton Raffel-whose translation of Beowulf has sold more than a million copies-this Modern Library edition also features an Introduction by the well-known and widely influential medievalist and author John Miles Foley that discusses Chaucer's work as well as to his life and times.
Despite the brilliance of Geoffrey Chaucer's work, the continual evolution of our language has rendered his words unfamiliar to many of us. Burton Raffel's magnificent new translation bringsChaucer's poetry back to life, ensuring that none of the original's wit, wisdom, or humanity is lost to the modern reader.

Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London in around 1342, the son of a wine merchant, and his life was spent in royal government service, therefore his career is particularly extensively documented. By 1357, Chaucer had become a page to the bride of Prince Lionel, Edward III's second son, and it was while in the prince's service that Chaucer was ransomed when he was arrested in France in 1359-60. Philippa, Chaucer's wife, whom he married around. Katherine Swynford, the mistress (c. 1365), was her sister. 1370) and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster's third wife (1396), whose first wife Blanche (d.

The Book of the Duchess, Chaucer's ealrist great poem, is dedicated to her. From 1366 and 1378, Chaucer worked as a customs controller on wool in the port of London, although he also traveled overseas on official business, including two visits to Italy in 1372-3 and 1378. The effect of Chaucer's interaction with Italian literature may be felt in the late 1370s and early 1380s poetry he created, such as The House of Fame, The Parliament of Fowls, and a version of The Knight's Tale, and it reaches its pinnacle in Troilus and Criseyde. Chaucer was a member of parliament for Kent in 1386, but he resigned his customs job the following year, while he was appointed Clerk of the King's Works in 1389 (resigning in 1391).

After finishing Troilus and translating Boethius' De consolatione philosophiae into English prose, Chaucer began his Legend of Good Ladies. He worked on his most ambitious effort, The Canterbury Tales, in the 1390s, but it remained unfinished when he died. Chaucer rented a residence in the Westminster Abbey grounds in 1399, but died in 1400 and was buried there.

SKU	Non disponible
ISBN 13	9781551114842
ISBN 10	1551114844
Titre	The Canterbury Tales
Auteur	Geoffrey Chaucer
État	Non disponible
Type de reliure	Paperback
Éditeur	Broadview Press Ltd
Année de publication	2008-04-30
Nombre de pages	502
Note de couverture	La photo du livre est présentée à titre d'illustration uniquement. La reliure, la couverture ou l'édition réelle peuvent varier.
Note	Non disponible