The Myth of an Oral Style in Chaucer’s Poetry

Abstract

Geoffrey Chaucer is generally recognized as a specifically literary author; he is called the “father of English poetry” and seen as the first of the holy trinity of English literature, comprised also of William Shakespeare and John Milton. However, Chaucer (like Shakespeare) wrote his poetry not for literary readers, but for oral performance in front of a hearing audience. This historical fact, although acknowledged, has been largely ignored in studies of Chaucer’s style, which is seen as containing a type of oral residue or as an affectation of speech as Chaucer ambitiously looks forward to a future of readers silently reading his poetry. In this article I argue that, since all of Chaucer’s works were written for hearing audiences, it is anachronistic to assume that he made any distinction whatsoever between the reading and hearing of his literary works, and that his style is best understood as a versatile adaptation of language to suit both silent and vocalized readings of his texts.