The life and work of Geoffrey Chaucer, and understanding the contradictory nature of his writing. Before there was Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer was considered the father of English literature. Born in 1343, Chaucer was a prominent member of the royal courts of both Edward III and Richard II, however, he was most well known for his writing, with his most celebrated work being The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer began writing fiction in the late 1360s and pioneered in a new literary style. He introduced a new poetic structure, more similar to the European style than his Anglo-Saxon predecessors. This was presumably inspired by his time in France, where he was a prisoner of war, and this style went on to inspire Shakespeare’s […]