Realism of Chaucer's in 'The Prologue To Canterbury Tales'

~~~~~~~
Realism of Chaucer's in
'The Prologue To
Canterbury Tales'
`~~~~~~~
Chaucer's Realism:
~~~~~~~~~
The British society in transition gave
an impetus to the Englishman's
intrinsic love of travel, fresh air, good
fellowship, gossip, story telling and
music. He sought an outlet for all
these in the pilgrimages he undertook.
According to him, pilgrims were united
in their desire though not in their
objectives. The expedition generally
turned out to be a holiday outing with
an air of carnival about it. These
piligrims constituted a heterogeneous
group of men and women drawn from
different social classes pursuing
different avocations. Maintaining a
rigid distinction between one class and
other had become a thing of the past.
The vast canvas of prologue depicts
the changing social system. The priest
and the layman, the poet and the
lawyer, the scholar and the artisan
could get together on terms of near
equality. It would be fairy easy to
reconstruct the modes and values of
social life from reading of the general
prologue to the Canterbury tales with
very near historical accuracy. In this
prologue, Chaucer does not let go a
single detail of dress or character that
would add credence to the story
recorded.
~~~~~~~~~
Chaucer's thought about the
characters in Tales:
~~~~~~~~~
The piligrims in the "Prologue" can be
broadly divided into two groups,
namely religious and secular. This
dicision depends on their avocations
rather than their attitudes. There is
high degree of realism in Chaucer's
portaiture of the men and women. The
realism is indicative of the general
incompatibility between profession and
practice, especially in respect of
ecclesiastical piligrims.
Chaucer indicates the blurring of
social distinctions in the way he
marshals his pilgrims. The religious
and secular groups are posed between
the distinct groups. The dubious status
of the eccelesiastical group consisting
of the Monk, Friar, the Nun, the
Parson, the clerk of Oxford and the
Summoner is thrown into relef. The
feudal group of the Knight and Squire
drawn with nostalgic respect owas
slowly passing into the past to the
rising middle class represented by
yeomanry and the urban professional
and merchant classes.
On another plane, the rise of middle
class ensuring greater economic
advancement also meant the
ascendency of material values in life.
Consistent with spirit of the times,
religion was practiced more as a
profession than a vocation calling for
dedicated service. Observing this
tendency among the contemporary
men of religion, Chaucer draws their
portraits with amusing irony.
Trade was carried on with a fair
degree of sophistication possible then.
Freed from provinciality it contributed
to the overall economic stability of
England. The English man's penchant
for adventure encouraged him to carry
on trade with foreign countries and to
import superior know-how from abroad
which however, he excelled in course
of time. The wife of Bath is a case
point. One gathers from the prologue
that the stability of English society
owed a great deal to the strong
institutional set-up of the
administration. The aberrant clergy
notwithstanding the church was a
power to reckon with, and kept
engaged public faith in ritual practices
and festivals associated with it.
Piligrimage undertaken both as a
holiday and as a penance is a case in
point. The Crown, the officials and the
craft and merchant gilds guranteed
social and economic security
respectively. However, wanting in the
performance, the intentions of these
institutions were unquestionably
sound. The assembly of the piligrims
presents the picture of a fraternity of
men and women linked by a common
bond of sociability irrespective of their
status in society and their individual
strength and weakness that kept the
society from disintegrating at a time
of violent socio-economic changes .
~~~~~~~
Chaucer's view of common
man
~~~~~~
Chaucer's portryal of the common
man too is worth noting. It is ironical
that the common man in Chaucer's
England allowed to be exploited
ecclesiastical opportunities. Thr
reason is not far to seek. The age that
had stumblingly recovered from the
shock of Black death was still
obesessed with idea of death. The
reaction of the public to the promise
of absolution provided by Churchmen
was divergent. The clergy is
responsible for initiating the laity into
spiritual discipline had themselves
been guilty of sins of omission. The
urban community that enjoyed
freedom and social security viewed
these pseudo-religious practioners with
distrust.
~~~~~~~~~
Chaucer's view on Black
death:
~~~~~~~~~
The idea of pilgrimage as absolution,
however still continued to appeal to
the people who were still haunted by
the memories of the Black death. The
rural community on the other hand
was more gullible than its urban
counterpart. Very often, they
succumbed to the allurements held
out by dishonest clergymen. Thus the
town man's attitude to the clergy was
out of implicit trust.