Thoughts on Chaucer

Like Alice, I have always felt rather smug that I have avoided The Canterbury Tales, until now... At first glance I found the language really difficult to understand and was thinking it would be difficult to get pupils interested in learning about Chaucer as I was prejudiced by my own fear.
I found it really interesting learning about the historical context and how Chaucer fits into Middle English although I was less enthusiastic about reading The Canterbury Tales. I liked the idea of us acting out different parts of the Pardoner’s Tale as it made it more fun and accessible.
After reading about the Pardoner’s Tale I feel I have a deeper understanding of Chaucer’s intentions and more of an appreciation of the themes he has explored. It was interesting to think of the Pardoner in a different light and maybe feel some sympathy for him as an outcast. Looking at the psychological motivations of the characters implies that Chaucer has captured something true with his characters in that they resemble real life and real people of that time, which is still relevant today (especially the idea that people show their true colours after a drink). From this perspective studying The Canterbury Tales would be useful from a historical and social perspective as Chaucer has depicted what people were like in his day, especially as the Pardoner has been compared to a salesman or politician of the modern day.
When first listening to the extract from The Canterbury Tales I could barely understand any of it, although after a few listens it began to make more sense. It was useful to hear how it should sound but I think I understood more of it when reading it, maybe the accent threw me! Still, listening to it being read aloud is helpful in gaining an appreciation of the rhythm without getting bogged down with the language.
I haven’t read The Wife of Bath but she seems like a really good character and the story sounds like it would appeal to students because of the contemporary issues it discusses. Thinking of The Canterbury Tales as a ‘road trip’ would be useful in gaining pupils’ attention and helping them to see the text as one that is relevant to them. I think it would be important to explore Middle English prior to diving right into Chaucer as the language can be quite intimidating, by learning about the features of the language and reading it aloud to each other pupils would begin to make sense of it. Learning about the antifeminist views of the time would help pupils to think of The Wife of Bath in the social context in which it was written, which would make it a more powerful statement; asking questions to guide their reading would be helpful in achieving comprehension of the text.
The lesson ideas seem useful but I think maybe there is too much of a focus on reading and responding; it would probably hold pupils’ attention more if it was more interactive and perhaps included elements of drama. I like the idea of preparing an oral response to one of the questions; pupils could work in groups to make this activity more collaborative and fun.