Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Introductory ‘General Prologue’ of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
In five pages this paper examines how the ‘General Prologue’ serves as an appropriate introduction to the socially satirical stories that comprise his fourteenth-century literary masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales. Four sources are listed in the bibliography.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGgenpro.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
rest of the world. A journey that began in 1380 and continued to 1400 was forged by clashing cultures, old and new (Bowden 2). The prevailing old worldviews
were rooted in clear-cut distinctions between good and evil, and humanity was still seen as vastly inferior in comparison to the almighty God (Bowden 2). At the time Geoffrey
Chaucer commenced what would become The Canterbury Tales, a greater number of his countrymen were demanding restrictive socioeconomic class structures be replaced by greater equality (Bowden 2). However, as
Chaucers General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales - perhaps one of the greatest literary introductions ever written - reveals, traditional and modern value paths were colliding, and a paradox was
created when the English people demanded social change but were not completely ready to relinquish the conventions that had historically defined them (Bowden 1). The first two lines
of the General Prologue offer a romantic, almost dream-like coming of spring: "As soon as April pierces to the root The drought of March, and bathes each bud and shoot"
(Chaucer 1433). The careful mentioning of March and April in the Prologue parallels the biblical book of Genesis, which provided an introduction of Gods creation of the universe (Chance
67). According to De Temporibus Anni (the translation of Aelfric), the worlds first day took place on March 15, and the religious pilgrimage that Englishmen undertook during the time
of Chaucer commenced after April 11, which corresponds with the aftermath of the Fall in Genesis (Chance 68). These opening lines serve an important introductory purpose in that they
establish a natural order, which is mirrored in the English social hierarchy of the period (Chance 68). This once consisted only of three estates - nobility/military, clergy, and commoners
...