Translating Chaucer into American
Adapted from an essay by Sheila Fisher
In England, Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 - 1400) is acclaimed as the “father of English literature.”
He is widely considered the greatest English poet of the European Middle Ages. Chaucer achieved fame
as a writer, philosopher and astronomer while working as a government administrator, a courtier and a
diplomat. Chaucer, however, is relatively unknown in the United States. With his complex characters,
his highly crafted poetic language and his awareness of the way our world makes us who we are, he
deserves more prominence in this country. Is his American obscurity the result of our need to translate
his works from Middle into Modern English? Or is it because we need Chaucer translated into American?
Or does our modern digital age simply have less patience for complex older works?
Translating Chaucer into modern English can be confusing. Middle English – which Chaucer
spoke and wrote – was a blend of Latin, Anglo-Saxon and French, a mixing that occurred between 1066
and the end of the 16th century. Middle English is the direct ancestor of the language we speak, read, and
write today. Without translation, Chaucer’s works feel antique and can be confusing to read. This is true
for his spelling, syntax and vocabulary. Sometimes, we get lucky, and Chaucer's words are spelled and
mean the same as they do in Modern English. Other times, Chaucer’s Middle English is like a foreign
language because the words are different. Sometimes words look like Modern English, but they aren’t.
These “false cognates” are fascinating because we see Chaucer's language on its way to becoming our
own.
For instance, in Middle English, countrefete means "to counterfeit," as in "to fake," but it also has
the more flattering meaning of "to imitate." Corage has not only the Modern English sense of bravery but
also, frequently, overtones of sexual energy, desire, or potency. Corage takes its roots from the word
coeur, or "heart" in French, and transplants them slightly southward. The same is true for solas, or
"solace." The "comfort," "satisfaction," or "pleasure" of solas is often sexual. Lust might seem to pose no
problem for the modern reader. Yet in the 14th century, the word, spelled as it is today, could mean any
kind of desire or pleasure, though around that time it was beginning to carry a sexual connotation, too.
Sely - or "silly" - often means "blessed" or "innocent," as well as "pitiful" and "foolish. A sentence such as
"The sely man felte for luste for solas" could mean "The pitiful man felt desire for comfort." It could also
mean: "The foolish man felt lust for sex." In Chaucer's hands, it could mean both at once.
Chaucer also needs to be translated for historical and political reasons. His world — its
assumptions, details and patterns — is, in some ways, very different from ours because it is built on rigid
social classes, with unequal political and personal power. In “The General Prologue” of The Canterbury
Tales, Chaucer presents a collection of characters from the three “estates” (nobility, clergy and
commoners). While scholars read the Prologue as satire – it is filled with specific and often very funny
examples of the characters’ faults and virtues – you have to know something about medieval England to
get some of the jokes.
However, our world is not as different from Chaucer’s as we might think. For instance, we share
some ancient character types with Chaucer. Long before a leading television1 preacher resigned from his
ministry because of scandal, Chaucer pointed out a host of corrupt clergy — the Prioress and Monk, the
Friar and Pardoner — in The Canterbury Tales. Long before Sex and the City, Chaucer’s Wife of Bath
reminds us that there are "cougars"2 in every age. Long before the rich old man Alfie marries the buxom
working girl in Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger, Chaucer re-told the old, old tale
about the aptly named January and May and their troubled marriage in "The Merchant's Tale."
Despite these translation difficulties, Chaucer deserves our attention. The father of an English
poetic tradition that eventually produced William Shakespeare, Chaucer saw through the stereotypes and
the rigid social classes. Like Shakespeare, he created individualized characters. Chaucer loved to display
the quirky individual emerging from the tension between social, political and personal reality. He gave
each pilgrim a voice and a chance to tell a story. The saintly Clerk preaches patience but gets angry with
the Wife of Bath. The dainty Prioress feeds her lap dogs white bread and weeps at the sight of a trapped
mouse, yet she tells a bloodcurdling tale about a little boy who sings hymns after his throat has been slit.
Chaucer laughs at us across the gap of time. There is also much that is modern and American in
Chaucer. In his "Notice" at the start of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain wrote: "Persons
attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it
will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot." In his Prologue to "The Miller's
Tale," Chaucer wrote: "And eek men shal nat maken ernest of game", which has been translated as "And
why be serious about a game?"
Giving voice to individuals who defy stereotypes and challenging your readers to dig for meaning
while you tell them to sit back and have fun — you can't get more modern or American than this. Yes,
reading Chaucer requires some effort, but his work is worth it.
Instructions for the writing sample
You will read and discuss this essay during the first few weeks of class. Take notes, ask questions, discuss
the topic and the writing prompt. Your instructor will ask you to write an essay in response to the
1
The reference is to Jimmy Swaggart who, in 1988, resigned his television ministry because he had an on-going
relation with a prostitute.
2
Cougar: literally a mountain lion, but the word is used in slang to refer to a woman who dates younger men.
question posed below and will evaluate your essay as if it were a PE — a Proficiency Exam - on the basis
of how well you do the following:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the topic presented in the reading material.
2. Present your argument(s) clearly.
3. Use examples to support and define your thesis. These examples should be drawn from the
reading material and from your experience and/or observation.
4. Show that you know the mechanics of attribution, i.e. that you can quote or paraphrase from the
reading material.
5. Demonstrate a grasp of sentence and paragraph logic.
6. Use correct grammar and spelling.
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Question: Fisher’s essay is a defense of studying pre-modern art –whether literary, visual or performing.
Do you agree or disagree that, despite the language and cultural changes that prevent immediate
understanding, pre-modern artists and writers such as da Vinci. Michelangelo, Homer, Chaucer and
Shakespeare – or others you have encountered in your home countries - are still worth reading? Should
we continue to preserve such works in libraries, in museums and in educational curriculum? What
personal, artistic or classroom experiences do you have to support your viewpoint?