Geoffery Chaucer was a popular and admired poet during Medieval England. His works were moderately praised but often not clearly understood. Although some considered him the "father of English literature and the prime shaper of the English language, English literature had long been developed before Chaucer's "reign" and the development of Modern English had little to do with him. Chaucer's career can be divided into three stages; French influences, Italian tendencies, and English realism. These stages reflect the gradual rejection of Medieval conventionalism and the forward progression towards modern realism.
Chaucer's poetry has origins in various sources such as Latin, French, and Italian. His works include folk tales, sermons, rhetorical textbooks, philosophical meditations, and ribald jokes. His poems were often narrated by a naïve persona and were often left unfinished but should be interpreted as a completed work. Chaucer's favorite subject was human love. His works frequently contrasted authority with real life experiences. These contrasts could be tragic or comic and never really gave a resolution. His creativity, cheerful attitude, charm, compassionate yet expository understanding of human differences make his work even more alluring until this very day.
Good post!
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