Medieval Women

     During the middle ages women had little to no control of their lives. They could not decide who or when they would marry, what jobs they would have, or how much they would be paid. The society during Medieval times was completely controlled by men. Women had to do as they were told and stay in their "place". Though all women had it hard during this time, how hard they had it depended upon whether or not they were rich or poor. All women had chores or jobs but the poor women would have more than the rich. The main duty of women during this time was to maintain their household. It was very important that they take care of the men in the house. Furthermore, it was vital for the women to birth a baby boy so that he can take control of the land and businesses once his father passed. Because of this most women were impregnated frequently. Since most poor women worked in rich households they would have to take care of both their duties and the rich women's children as well. Rich women were also able to marry earlier than poor women because they were not needed as much for field work. Women during the Middle Ages were greatly relied on but treated as though they were not greatly cared for.

Source: www.historylearningsite.co.uk

Introduction to Geoffrey Chaucer

     Geoffrey Chaucer was a popular and admired poet during the Medieval England era. Chaucer is credited for creating iambic pentameter of sonnet, blank verse, and heroic couplet. He is also falsely credited for creating English literature overall. Chaucer was known as a Gothic artist because of his way of writing. He mixed things that opposed each other, such as naturalistic with symbolic and everyday with supernatural. His three sources for his poems was Latin, French, and Italian and he was well known for having mastered art poetical. Chaucer's work was often left unfinished and all of his stories had a naïve narrator which is why Chaucer's attitude toward his poems was often unknown. Each story had two characters with opposing lessons or opinions which created irony within the stories and left the readers with different conclusions of the stories. The Canterbury Tales is credited to be the most imaginative framed collection of stories ever created, though the collection was never finished. The structure of the tales creates the sense of unity with diversity. Each tale may have a different plot, however they all have a connection in some way or form. The collection overall is supposed to be a comedy, but there is tragedy and drama within it as well. Geoffrey Chaucer left a big impression on everyone because of his ability to merge teaching with entertainment, and open the minds of all his readers.