Geoffrey Chaucer

***Khamûl*** · 03-17-2003, 12:15 AM

There seems to have been some discussion of Chaucer over the General Messages, so I figured I'd start this thread.

I read some of The Canterbury Tales this past semester in British Lit and kinda enjoyed it. It's going to be cool because I'm actually going to Canterbury this summer. Anyway, this is the Chaucer thread. Discuss.

Baby-K · 03-17-2003, 03:13 AM

We also did the Canterbury Tales - I thought it was extremely boring & pretensious, it really did nothing for me & I would much rather have read some other classics.

**crickhollow** · 03-17-2003, 12:18 PM

I really do like the Canterbury Tales, but I just don't want to write a paper on them right now.

*wonders how long it will be before Huan finds this thread*

Shadowfax · 03-19-2003, 03:48 PM

I've read very little of Chaucer, but what I have read, I really love. I love studying the development of the English language, and do reading Middle English is really cool and interesting to me. I think that next year at school we're going to actually study selections from the Canterbury Tales, so I'm excited about that.

**crickhollow** · 03-20-2003, 11:22 AM

Yay for me! I'm finished w/ my paper! I wish I could say that I 'm done completely, but I have to keep reading the darn thing for my final in two weeks.

I'll love it again in the not-too-distant future, but I've just had Chaucer overload, I guess.

Huan · 03-20-2003, 01:35 PM

It took me THIS long to find this thread, Crickhollow!

Unfortunately, I too have Chaucer overload, because I took a course in him from a professor who just COMPLETELY rubbed me the wrong way (figuratively speaking). I gotta know, what did you write your paper on? This last class, I couldn't think of ANYTHING to write. Chaucer scholars are very intimidating, and I just choked.
Speaking of which, Baby-K, you think Chaucer is boring and pretentious? You obviously didn't read the Miller's Tale. No story about a man being tricked into kissing a woman's naked "erse" could be called boring. It's Chaucer SCHOLARS whose writing is boring and pretentious.
Middle English is so beautiful. Sometimes I just walk around reciting the first fourteen lines of CT. "Whan that April with his shoores soote," etc. That must be a sign of some terrible psychosis.

sun-star · 03-20-2003, 01:40 PM

Chaucer's great.

But my real point is:

Quote:

It's going to be cool because I'm actually going to Canterbury this summer

Do come, I guarantee you'll like it. It's my nearest city, and I promote it whenever I can

Lalaith · 03-20-2003, 02:43 PM

Sorry, to interrupt your conversation, but isn't this they guy they mentioned in "A Knight's tale"?

***Khamûl*** · 03-20-2003, 06:17 PM

Yes, in the movie A Knight's Tale Geoffrey Chaucer is the gambling-prone announcer to Sir Ulrich von Lichenstein.

Lalaith · 03-21-2003, 09:27 AM

I think I gotta get one of his books.

Shadowfax · 03-22-2003, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lalaith
I think I gotta get one of his books.

Be forewarned, though, he wrote in Middle English, which is rather different than modern English of today. Here's a sample, the beginning of his Canterbury Tales:

Quote:

Here bigynneth the Book of the Tales of Caunterbury.
Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his half cours yronne .....

It's really great though; don't think I'm trying to scare you away or anything!

Lalaith · 03-23-2003, 04:33 AM

Thanks for the warning, but hopefully they translated his work into German and then I'll buy a German edition.

congressmn · 03-23-2003, 11:56 AM

i luv archaic writing. i will read ot for just this reason.

Shadowfax · 03-25-2003, 03:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lalaith
Thanks for the warning, but hopefully they translated his work into German and then I'll buy a German edition.

You're welcome! And good luck finding a German edition.

**crickhollow** · 03-27-2003, 09:29 PM

If you're worried about the language, Harvard has a pretty good interlinear translation, but it really is worth it to read in the original Middle English.

My professor was a very pregnant, brilliantly red-haired scottish woman, and the class was all female (except for one brave soul)-- so we had a lot of fun.

I wrote my term paper on Chaucer's view of marriage, using the Wife of Bath's prologue and Tale, and the Franklin's Tale. The Wife of Bath is such a funny character.

My favorite line from the Millers Tale?

"Tehee!" quod she, and clapte the wyndow to,"

***azalea*** · 03-27-2003, 09:33 PM

My husband was named after him.

I love The Canterbury Tales. I did the Middle English version of the first lines for the "first lines game," remember anyone?

Huan · 03-27-2003, 10:39 PM

I love that line too, Crickhollow; it's very fun to say aloud. Your paper topic sounds much more enjoyable than what I endured from that professor who so turned me off of academics; since I could never come up with a topic, he assigned me the "problem of intentionality" in Chaucer. Sounds fascinating, doesn't it?

Diamond · 03-28-2003, 01:18 PM

I had to read one Canterbury Tale for Honors Language Arts last year, and I ended up reading them all.

Chaucer had a great talent for creating characters and putting them in precarious or ironic situations.

And AKT!Chaucer? I love Paul Bettany ::g::

Di

**crickhollow** · 04-04-2003, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Huan
I love that line too, Crickhollow; it's very fun to say aloud. Your paper topic sounds much more enjoyable than what I endured from that professor who so turned me off of academics; since I could never come up with a topic, he assigned me the "problem of intentionality" in Chaucer. Sounds fascinating, doesn't it?

*bleh*

Quote:

"I weep for you," the walrus said,
"I deeply sympathise."

Huan · 04-04-2003, 03:19 AM

Oh, and to put the punctuation mark on that, the godawful seven-page paper I turned in (graduate papers are expected to be between 13 and 25 pages) warranted me a C in the class. Because what was I gonna say about "the problem of intentionality" anyway?!! A C at the graduate level is the same as a failed class. Oh well. None of this is Chaucer's fault, now is it

? I think our man Geoffrey has been hijacked by the same tasteless careerist tenure-minded feminist/ marxist/ race-studies/ classist "academics" who have ruined Shakespeare the last thirty years. Obviously all this touches a nerve.

03-17-2003, 12:15 AM	#1
*Khamûl* Slacker Warrior Admin Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,759	Geoffrey Chaucer There seems to have been some discussion of Chaucer over the General Messages, so I figured I'd start this thread. I read some of The Canterbury Tales this past semester in British Lit and kinda enjoyed it. It's going to be cool because I'm actually going to Canterbury this summer. Anyway, this is the Chaucer thread. Discuss. __________________ "If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you." Gandalf to Pippin Psalm 107:31

03-17-2003, 03:13 AM	#2
Baby-K Corruptor Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Jozi SA Posts: 1,885	We also did the Canterbury Tales - I thought it was extremely boring & pretensious, it really did nothing for me & I would much rather have read some other classics. __________________ Don't wet yourself with excitement.

03-17-2003, 12:18 PM	#3
crickhollow The Buckleberry Fairy/Captain Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Washington State again (I miss Texas). Posts: 1,345	I really do like the Canterbury Tales, but I just don't want to write a paper on them right now. wonders how long it will be before Huan finds this thread __________________ A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

03-19-2003, 03:48 PM	#4
Shadowfax The Fleet-Footed Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: British Columbia Posts: 913	I've read very little of Chaucer, but what I have read, I really love. I love studying the development of the English language, and do reading Middle English is really cool and interesting to me. I think that next year at school we're going to actually study selections from the Canterbury Tales, so I'm excited about that. __________________ Jesus saved me "To remain ignorant of things that happened before you were born is to remain a child" (Cicero, 106-43 B.C.) "Art is a lie which makes us realize the truth" (Picasso)

03-20-2003, 11:22 AM	#5
crickhollow The Buckleberry Fairy/Captain Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Washington State again (I miss Texas). Posts: 1,345	Yay for me! I'm finished w/ my paper! I wish I could say that I 'm done completely, but I have to keep reading the darn thing for my final in two weeks. I'll love it again in the not-too-distant future, but I've just had Chaucer overload, I guess. __________________ A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

03-20-2003, 01:35 PM	#6
Huan Elven Warrior Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Oxford, MS Posts: 274	It took me THIS long to find this thread, Crickhollow! Unfortunately, I too have Chaucer overload, because I took a course in him from a professor who just COMPLETELY rubbed me the wrong way (figuratively speaking). I gotta know, what did you write your paper on? This last class, I couldn't think of ANYTHING to write. Chaucer scholars are very intimidating, and I just choked. Speaking of which, Baby-K, you think Chaucer is boring and pretentious? You obviously didn't read the Miller's Tale. No story about a man being tricked into kissing a woman's naked "erse" could be called boring. It's Chaucer SCHOLARS whose writing is boring and pretentious. Middle English is so beautiful. Sometimes I just walk around reciting the first fourteen lines of CT. "Whan that April with his shoores soote," etc. That must be a sign of some terrible psychosis.

03-20-2003, 02:43 PM	#8
Lalaith The Elvish Temptress Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Vienna, Austria Posts: 3,055	Sorry, to interrupt your conversation, but isn't this they guy they mentioned in "A Knight's tale"? __________________ What I am and what I would are as secret as maidenhead.

03-20-2003, 06:17 PM	#9
*Khamûl* Slacker Warrior Admin Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,759	Yes, in the movie A Knight's Tale Geoffrey Chaucer is the gambling-prone announcer to Sir Ulrich von Lichenstein. __________________ "If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you." Gandalf to Pippin Psalm 107:31

03-21-2003, 09:27 AM	#10
Lalaith The Elvish Temptress Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Vienna, Austria Posts: 3,055	I think I gotta get one of his books. __________________ What I am and what I would are as secret as maidenhead.

03-23-2003, 04:33 AM	#12
Lalaith The Elvish Temptress Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Vienna, Austria Posts: 3,055	Thanks for the warning, but hopefully they translated his work into German and then I'll buy a German edition. __________________ What I am and what I would are as secret as maidenhead.

03-23-2003, 11:56 AM	#13
congressmn Incharge: neighbourhood security Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: on my 499th post Posts: 481	i luv archaic writing. i will read ot for just this reason. __________________ i am nothing. i am a cold stone, which deceives with the light it reflects, giving illusions of warmth.

03-27-2003, 09:29 PM	#15
crickhollow The Buckleberry Fairy/Captain Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Washington State again (I miss Texas). Posts: 1,345	If you're worried about the language, Harvard has a pretty good interlinear translation, but it really is worth it to read in the original Middle English. My professor was a very pregnant, brilliantly red-haired scottish woman, and the class was all female (except for one brave soul)-- so we had a lot of fun. I wrote my term paper on Chaucer's view of marriage, using the Wife of Bath's prologue and Tale, and the Franklin's Tale. The Wife of Bath is such a funny character. My favorite line from the Millers Tale? "Tehee!" quod she, and clapte the wyndow to," __________________ A day will come at last when I Shall take the hidden paths that run West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

03-27-2003, 09:33 PM	#16
*azalea* Long lost mooter Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 3,342	My husband was named after him. I love The Canterbury Tales. I did the Middle English version of the first lines for the "first lines game," remember anyone?

03-27-2003, 10:39 PM	#17
Huan Elven Warrior Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Oxford, MS Posts: 274	I love that line too, Crickhollow; it's very fun to say aloud. Your paper topic sounds much more enjoyable than what I endured from that professor who so turned me off of academics; since I could never come up with a topic, he assigned me the "problem of intentionality" in Chaucer. Sounds fascinating, doesn't it? Last edited by Huan : 03-27-2003 at 10:41 PM.

03-28-2003, 01:18 PM	#18
Diamond Hobbit Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Minas Tirith Posts: 45	I had to read one Canterbury Tale for Honors Language Arts last year, and I ended up reading them all. Chaucer had a great talent for creating characters and putting them in precarious or ironic situations. And AKT!Chaucer? I love Paul Bettany ::g:: Di __________________ I see in your eyes the fear that would take the heart of me... There will be a day when the strength of men fails, but it is not this day!" "He was twitching!" "He was twitching because he has my axe embedded in his nervous system!"

04-04-2003, 03:19 AM	#20
Huan Elven Warrior Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Oxford, MS Posts: 274	Oh, and to put the punctuation mark on that, the godawful seven-page paper I turned in (graduate papers are expected to be between 13 and 25 pages) warranted me a C in the class. Because what was I gonna say about "the problem of intentionality" anyway?!! A C at the graduate level is the same as a failed class. Oh well. None of this is Chaucer's fault, now is it ? I think our man Geoffrey has been hijacked by the same tasteless careerist tenure-minded feminist/ marxist/ race-studies/ classist "academics" who have ruined Shakespeare the last thirty years. Obviously all this touches a nerve.