Chaucer, Geoffrey,---1400--Canterbury tales

Musical allusions and references abound in The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer uses music, the most cultivated art form of Christianity in the fourteenth century, to characterize the moral nature of his settings, themes, and characters. In addition, he employs music as a great film director would to heighten the intensity of certain scenes and enrich the structure of the plot. Chaucer took many ideas from medieval philosophic tradition for granted and expected his readers to share them. His conscious application of these ideas makes The Canterbury Tales more profound and clearly more exciting and enjoyable for those who are able to "hear" the music.

Harry Bailly, the Host figure in the Canterbury Tales, is used by
Chaucer as an artistic device to bridge the gap between the worlds of
reality and fiction. His existence is central to the believability of
the entire poem; as he developes as a convincing character, his interaction
with the pilgrims reveals aspects of their characters also.
This investigation examines Chaucer's method of using Harry Bailly an
an "authenticating device" to create an illusion of reality in his
poem, beginning in the first chapter with a review of the background
scholarship concerning Harry Bailly's functions throughout the
narrative. The secon1 chapter considers the Host's interaction with
various pilgrims, as seen in his regular appearances in the frame.
Finally, the third chapter is devoted to two views of Harry Bailly
which serve to depict him at his most real, in his confrontation with
the Pardoner and in his comments on his own marriage.