Commonplace Book- Chaucer the Pilgrim blog

Autobiography- Chaucer the Pilgrim Instagram

Chaucer the Pilgrim Explanation

                                                   
             ​Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories delivered from the point of view of various characters within the text. In “The General Prologue,” Chaucer introduces the characters as pilgrims embarking on a pilgrimage to visit Thomas Beckett’s grave in Canterbury. The most interesting aspect of The Canterbury Tales is that Chaucer incorporates himself into the story by developing Chaucer the Pilgrim. Chaucer the Pilgrim not only contributes two tales, but he also narrates The Canterbury Tales. He objectively tells the story of the pilgrimage, but he also adds small asides that reveal several of his qualities. Based on the evidence in The Canterbury Tales, today Chaucer creates an Instagram as his autobiography to reveal his artistic, optimistic, and observant views, and he publishes a blog as a commonplace book to share his passionate opinions on “The Miller’s Tale.”
            Chaucer the Pilgrim’s Instagram account reflects his creativity and curiosity. He employs Instagram as a way of cataloging himself through the passage of time. Chaucer’s posts are based on the narrator’s writing style in The Canterbury Tales. Little is spoken in direct language, and most information comes through metaphor and description, as represented by the first line of the tale that states, “what that April with his showres soote, / the droughte of March hath preced to the roote” (Chaucer “General Prologue” 1-2). Chaucer also picks Instagram as a method of cataloguing his pilgrimage because of the potential for both images and words to be shared at once, but also because of the familiarity of the platform. This is a loose modern equivalent of working in Middle English. Chaucer did not write in French or Latin, the languages of the bourgeois or the clergy, but instead in Middle English, the language of the people. The ubiquity of Middle English is comparable to the ubiquity of Instagram.
            Chaucer posts pictures of his interests, such as nature and new experiences on Instagram. In the captions, he writes profound statements that directly correspond to the image. For example, he posts, “Though times may be rocky, there is always a path forward and upward; when the path shifts under you, jump onward,” (Chaucerpilgrimorpoet) as a response to a picture of what seems like an endless incline of rocks. Along with the straightforward captions, Chaucer the Pilgrim employs hash tags. In response to his caption about the rocky hill, he writes, “#quoteworthy #motivation” (Chaucerpilgrimorpoet). The combination of serious posts and casual hash tags exemplifies the complicated tone in The Canterbury Tales: the tone in the story varies between direct and sarcastic. In “The General Prologue,” Chaucer sarcastically reveals the Prioress’s kind nature by explaining, “She wolde weepe if that she saw a mous / Caught in a trappe, if it were deed or bledde,” (Chaucer “General Prologue” 144-145). The narrator’s description of the Prioress reveals the witty tone that is prevalent in The Canterbury Tales.
             Another concept that Chaucer the Pilgrim utilizes in the Instagram is the portrayal of people and circumstances in a positive manner. He portrays many of the pilgrims in a positive light in “The General Prologue,” but many of the pilgrims possess inadequate qualities. For example, Chaucer the Pilgrim describes the squire as “a lovere and a lusty bacheler,” (Chaucer “General Prologue” 80). The narrator describes the squire in a more moderate manner than simply mentioning that the squire is a player. This concept parallels the captions in the Instagram posts. For example, Chaucer the Pilgrim posts a picture of a gray day, yet he comments on the color provided by flowers and nature.
            For the Commonplace Book, Chaucer the Pilgrim posts his opinions in a blog. In this blog, he presents his strong opinions about the content and manner in which the Miller presents his tale. Chaucer addresses the audience as he warns, “Who so shal telle a tale after a man / He moot reherce, as neigh as evere he can, / Everich a word, if it be in his charge, / Al speke he nevere so rudeliche and large,” (Chaucer “General Prologue” 733-736). In this instance, the narrator cautions the audience by describing how he possesses the task of retelling the tales no matter how improper they are. Based on the narrator’s warning, “The Miller’s Tale” does not impress Chaucer the Pilgrim because of the sexual content and immature humor. In the prologue of “The Miller’s Tale,” Chaucer the Pilgrim states, “Deemeth nought, for Goddes love, that I saye / Of yvel entente, but for I moot reherse / Hir tales alle, be they bet or werse,” (Chaucer “Miller’s Prologue and Tale” 64-66). The narrator dramatizes his distress about repeating this improper tale, which Chaucer the Pilgrim represents in his blog.
          The individual blog posts criticize key moments in the text where the Miller employs sexual content or crude humor. For example, in the first blog post, Chaucer the Pilgrim condemns that the Miller demands telling his tale while incredibly drunk. Chaucer the Pilgrim incorporates the Miller’s quote, “"If that I misspeke or saye, / Wite it the ale of Southwerk, I you praye," (Chaucer “Miller’s Prologue and Tale” 31-32) to emphasize that the Miller acknowledges his drunkenness, yet he proceeds to tell his tale. In the third blog post, Chaucer the Pilgrim elicits sympathy toward Absolon, the character madly in love with Alison, because Alison “maketh Absolon hir ape,” (Chaucer “Miller’s Prologue and Tale” 279-281). Because of Alison’s action’s, Chaucer the Pilgrim dramatizes the immaturity of the main characters in “The Miller’s Tale.” In all four blog posts, Chaucer the Pilgrim integrates quotes to support and strengthen his strong and critical opinions of “The Miller’s Tale.”
           The comments in the commonplace book are the way that Chaucer directly confronts the Miller about his opinions on “The Miller’s Tale.” The comments are straightforward about Chaucer the Pilgrim’s strong criticisms of “The Miller’s Tale” based on the warning in the prologue. These comments are substantial because the Miller responds to the blog posts, arguing why Chaucer the Pilgrim is misguided in his criticisms. Not only do the comments provide a witty debate, but they also provide critical insight into the justification of Chaucer's opinions. In this case, Chaucer defends himself in the comments to substantiate his claims in the blog, such as the inconceivability of the excessive gullibility in the Miller’s Tale.
           Chaucer is not a simple man; however, he is open to new ways of thinking. To expose his everyday thoughts, Chaucer the Pilgrim creates an Instagram with different filters and colors without a coherent pattern. This expresses his acceptance to a spectrum of distinctive thinking. Within all of the incoherent patterns, there are words of optimism as well as hash tags that expose Chaucer’s serious and sarcastic tone. To summarize his extensive criticisms of “The Miller’s Tale,” Chaucer the Pilgrim develops a blog with an elegant sepia background paired with ‘in your face’ memes. Chaucer the Pilgrim does not hold back his opinion, but he will never shove it in the audience’s face, which is why the forms of expression he employs prove his points but do not overwhelm the viewers.