Week 3 - Canterbury Tales Intro Study Guide

discuss “medieval social theory” and its three “estates”

society is made up of three estates: the nobility, or hereditary aristocracy whose mission on earth was to rule and defend the whole; the church, whose duty it was to look after society’s spiritual welfare; and laborers, the commoners who made up the majority and were supposed to provide for society’s physical needs.

how had society changed in the 14th century?

the basic categories or estates were increasingly inadequate. the growing and prosperous middle class did not fit in neatly among the three estates. social strata were becoming less fixed and more entangled, as wealth, profession, and personal ability helped determine one’s status and role.

from what social strata was Chaucer?

Geoffrey Chaucer was born into the ascendant middle classes.

what work would have given Chaucer literary prominence even had he not created The Canterbury Tales?

Troilus and Criseyde would have secured Chaucer a place among the major English poets.

how many stories were originally designed for the poem?

roughly 120

would Chaucer’s characters have actually been together in a real journey? why or why not?

the detailed descriptions of the various pilgrims not only denote their social status, but what other qualities?

why does Chaucer leave the evaluation of the character’s morality to the reader?