Geoffrey Chaucer



Geoffrey Chaucer (Galfridus Chaucer, El Jefe, L.L. Cool Geoff) (c. 1343 – 25 October 1400) was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales. Sometimes called the "father of English literature", Chaucer is widely credited as first demonstrating the artistic legitimacy of the vernacular English language, rather than French or Latin. Chaucer's works were among the earliest printed in English, which did much to establish his southern dialect as "correct" written English. He is buried in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. He is in fact the reason it is called the Poet's Corner. Of course he owed his Westminster Abbey grave to his services to the crown not his literary eminence.

As a character, Chaucer appears in A Knight's Tale, where he is played by Paul Bettany.

He hath a blog, too.

Works by Geoffrey Chaucer with their own trope page:

 * The Canterbury Tales


 * Creepy Uncle: Pandarus in Troilus and Criseyde
 * Let's Just Be Friends: In Troilus and Criseyde, Criseyde says this to Troilus after she dumps him for Diomede.
 * Name and Name: Troilus and Criseyde
 * The Trojan War: The setting of Troilus and Criseyde.
 * You Bastard: In Troilus and Criseyde, Pandarus contrives various tricks and deceptions in order to bring the two lovers together, which is what the readers (with whom he's conflated -- he sits around reading a romance during one scene) wants to see happen.