Geoffrey Chaucer Case
Essay by sambitions • September 2, 2013 • Essay • 851 Words (4 Pages) • 1,115 Views
Geoffrey Chaucer is considered one of the most prominent and important authors of Medieval England. This paper will prove that this is so, considering the contributions this author made to medieval English literature that lead to him to prevailing as a prominent author. These contributions encompass his achievement for language- Chaucer's role in the development of vernacular literature, his various inventions and his translations of important works.
Chaucer made an achievement for language, which remains so important that the author is sometimes considered the source of the English vernacular tradition, in addition to the "father" of modern English literature. Holding a position as the source of such an enormous development, surely this author continues to be majorly prominent. In multiple parts of Europe, this achievement for the language usually is observed as part of a typical historical trend approaching the creation of a vernacular literature. This feat is very important since the vernacular is the basis of multiple works-not just in England or during Chaucer's time, but of all major and influential works throughout history. Although being much more similar to Modern English than the text of "Beowulf", Chaucer's language (unlike Beowulf's) may be comprehended by a Modern English-speaker with a great vocabulary of archaic words. This can be considered proof that the work laid down a foundation for Modern English, making it very important.
The poetry of Chaucer is partly credited with assisting to standardize the London Dialect of the Middle English language, which had come from a combination of the Kentish and Midlands dialects. Acceptable, alkali, altercation, amble, angrily, annex, annoyance, approaching, arc, artillery and aspect are just a few of the innumerable English words first attested in Chaucer. These are words that are part of today's English vocabulary, and avid ones at that, so without Chaucer modern people wouldn't have these words today. Abiding as the author who was the probable source of the English vernacular tradition and the "father" of modern English literature, Geoffrey remains as a very prominent contributor to Medieval writing. The author even wrote the "first true English novel" (Historylearningsite.co.uk/Geoffrey-chaucer.) "Troilus and Criseyde" utilized many forms of the language on which he had influence. Including Chaucer, poets in the 14th century promulgated and popularized the Midland form of the English language. Therefore, the works of Chaucer appended to the prominence of the East Midland dialect. This was substantial due to its being a source to the development of the East Midland dialect into modern Standard English.
Furthermore, Chaucer also translated such important works as Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy and The Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris. However, while multiple scholars claim that Chaucer did translate a portion of the text of Roman de la Rose as The Romaunt of the Rose, others affirm that this has been disproved. Whatever the case is, without his work, the important documents would not have been translated as early as they had been. In addition, another significant invention of Chaucer's is "Treatise on the Astrolabe." The work describes the form and
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