people their culture morality success and failure of their life are all seen in Chaucer s poem Again Chaucer presents the bond of love in a very beautiful way These are important features of the English novel which Chaucer wrote before How subtly Chaucer represents human life is found here She leet no morsel from hir lippes falle Ne wette hir fyngres in hir sauce depe Wel koude she carie a morsel and wel kepe Th t no drope ne fille upon hire brist First Narrative Artist Chaucer is the first narrative artist in English literature No writer had written a poem with a full description before him Chaucer s poem gives a complete picture of a person or someone s life In The Canterbury Tales The General Prologue Chaucer describes pilgrims very delicately That is why Gearson and Smith say about Chaucer s pilgrims They are all with us today though some of them have changed their names These characteristics were absent in Chaucer s contemporary writers Chaucer describes an event so perfectly that no modern novel can surpass it Chaucer has described his themes in his poems in simple language The plot of the poem its characters dilemmas humor and irony which are only available in novels are beautifully depicted by Chaucer So Chaucer has been rightly declared the first pioneer of the English novel A Writer of Modern Fiction Chaucer s Troilus and Criseyde is a remarkable example of modern fiction Although the novel depicts real life many fictional elements complete the novel The General Prologue is also called a modern fiction There are many characters each with a clear description They include The Knight the Square the Monk the Wife of Bath the Prioress the Miller and so on Again his art of characterization and the poem's actions hold the reader's attention from beginning to end The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales holds the reader s attention from start to end Here the Squire s fairy tale complements the modern novel among the pilgrims' tales Although it is known as fiction in the end it feels like Jane Austen and Robert Frost s reality was in his story And for such an appeal Chaucer s Troilus and Criseyde is called a novel in verse First Great Character Painter Chaucer is the first great character painter He introduces about characters in his The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales He described each of the characters very skillfully Reading The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales feels like its characters are still alive Again in Troilus and Criseyde he delicately presents their pathos humor and psychological insight It has all the characteristics of a modern novel The way of life of the medieval people and their mentality is well revealed here Chaucer is often called the painter of the Middle Ages as he painted a society through his characters His way of portraying things is very unique He says about the Knight A Knyght ther was and that a worthy man That fro the tyme that he first bigan When we study a character a proper sketch of that character appears in our minds and stands in front of us in the form of a painting that s why The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales is also called the art gallery of the Middle Ages Plot construction Most of his poems have a plot development They are designed with a proper beginning middle and end They have action organization of events conflict proper setting and character analysis which are normally seen in drama and novels but not in poetry In summary it is clear that Chaucer has sown the seeds of the modern novel Gradually these elements developed more and more and using these elements of Chaucer Henry Fielding became the father of the English novel Chaucer has the sweetness of Goldsmith the realistic approach of Henry Fielding and the highly chivalrous tone of Sir Walter Scott That is why famous literary critic S W Pollard analyzing Chaucer s poem says Chaucer was a compound of of Goldsmith of Henry Fielding and of Sir Walter Scott