Week 4 Discussion: Literary Movements
The discussion addresses the second option. The medieval period is describable by many aspects, including invasions, population distribution, and migration of people. However, literary works described the period, where the majority of the artists preferred to remain anonymous. The information from our Week 4 Lesson on Periods of Literature states that anonymity was a significant character. During this period, the majority of the written works of Literature were in religious contexts, meaning that the motivations behind them were related to religion, and Canterbury tales work is hardly an exception. The majority of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Tales were satirical, which is the element he used to capture the subject of religion. The Canterbury Tales consists of a narrative frame opening with a gathering of people at the Tabard Inn in London, preparing for the yearly occurrence at St Becket (Brown, 2016). The host suggests that they take turns in telling tales during their journey, and the best receive a meal upon their return.
The work related to the medieval period because Chaucer used it to illustrate an ironic and critical picture of the English society, and especially the church. The satirical involvement in Chaucer’s work is because people from different social classes engaged in spiritual quests, but they were more concerned about worldly things that their spirituality. The information from our lessons states that humanities through art, including Literature, provides expressions and examinations of people’s relation to specific values (Martin and Jacobus, 2014). The inspiration of the tales was to increase awareness of the stereotypes that some people expressed to others. Chaucer possibly chose the satirical element and concept of knowledge to inspire change in individuals and society in general, which would have promoted a better spiritual life with less hypocrisy regarding people’s’ interests in worldly things.
Additionally, the use of English facilitated familiarization if the language and its popularization as a vernacular in mainstream literature (Brown, 2016). The society, regardless of their classes, engages in religious conquests that overshadow their spirituality and focus more on practical aspects like titles and material gain. As in the concepts of the tales, people ought to take satire like lessons change their attitudes towards religion and other people.
References
Brown, P. (2016). Chaucer at Work: The Making of the Canterbury Tales. Routledge.
Martin, F. D., & Jacobus, L. (2014). Humanities through the Arts. McGraw-Hill Education.