The free peasant could own their own business such as a blacksmith, carpenter, or baker. The life of the peasant was very challenging, working long days for six days a week, usually with an insufficient amount of food. The lifespan of a peasant was only about 30 years (TimeRef.com, 2015).
The Canterbury Tales.
Chaucer wrote stories about kingdoms, life, and the adventures of travelers on a pilgrimage, all the while highlighting the social structures of the times. He gives the reader an in-depth and detailed view of life and the differences in social structure in the "The Canterbury Tales (Crossref, 2013). This is not a single tale but a collection of tales from several characters that fall within different classes of the social structure. The characters are going on a pilgrimage, all traveling together. Each traveler takes a turn in sharing a story, giving the reader a view of their social station, their unique experiences, their level of education, their language, and their perspective on life at the time (Crossref, 2013). Even though Chaucer used the Anglo-Saxon 14th-century dialect, the words he chooses to use for the different travelers stories tells much about their social station. In "The Wife of Bath", the peasants relate vulgar tales that incorporate pronouns such as thine and thee. An example of this use of familiar language is found when the Wife of Bath states, "Thou hast yhad five housbondes,' quod he,/ 'And that like man that now hath thee/Is nat thyn housbonde" (Greenblatt, 2012, p. 283). However, the travelers of higher social standing use pronouns such as yor and ye (Crossref, 2013).
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Even though the writer of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is unknown, the story contains a common theme of the literature of the time. It is a story of heroic adventure. The story also shows the power of those at the top of the social structure, the king and the nobility.
