Explain what it means that "Chaucer is the intellectual and social biographer of his age" in relation to his various works.

Answering this question requires determining
how Chaucer might be considered a biographer to start with, as he wrote no biographies. It is
also necessary to identify some of his major works as most people are familiar with only
.

Let's start by exploring what an "intellectual
biographer" is. It might mean someone who reveals the intellectual climate of an age.
Chaucer's works do reveal intellectual trends. For instance, his emulation of the dream vision
structure of the French classic Roman de la Rose by Guillaume de Lorris
(which Chaucer translated as Romaunt of the Rose) is evident in his first
great work, The , written for his patron John of Gaunt to commemorate the
1368 death of Blanche of Lancaster, Gaunt's wife.

Another prominent
intellectual trend that Chaucer reveals and emulates is the interest in the work of Italian
authors Boccaccio and Petrarch, who is of sonnet fame as he wrote the sonnet cycle
Astrophil and Stella. Bocaccio's influence is seen clearly in
House of Fame, a dream vision in which an eagle guides the dreamer through
the House of Fame to contemplate the qualities of fame and the trustworthiness of the famed.
Boccaccio's Il Filostrato is recognized as the source for this work, though
Chaucer attributed to another work. Petrarach's influence is seen clearly in
as Troilus laments his woes in sonnet form. Intellectual interest in the
structure of Greekis also revealed in Troilus because it is structured like
a Greek tragedy.

Being a social biographer might mean revealing social
conventions and society types. The Canterbury Tales is the prime example of
biography of social convention and type. The pilgrims all represent various strata of society
and various classes of social convention. Most of these tales, though, complain against
religion's inauthentic and hypocritical practices or instruct on the fine points of love.
"" is an example of this that also emulates Boccaccio's work,
Teseida.

 This gentil duc doun from
his courser sterte
95    With herte pitous, whan he herde hem speke;
    Hym
thoughte that his herte wolde breke,
    [...]
100    And hem conforteth in
ful good entente,
    And swoor his ooth, as he was trewe knyght,
    He wolde
doon so ferforthly his myght
    Upon the tiraunt Creon hem to wreke, ("The
Knight's Tale," Chaucer)

Social examination and
comment is strong in the dream vision, The , in which Nature summons birds
to an "parlement" to select their mates. When eagles have a disagreement about the
selection of a particular formel eagle, Nature calls off the debate the other birds have
initiated and allows the formel eagle to wait another year. The situation and debate expose
social issues of significance to Chaucer's age. The Book of the Duchess has
a complex structure that is a dream vision coupled with a story from a book being read by the
narrator/dreamer. The social habits of kings and nobility are set out in this work, including
illumination on the value of an poet's patronage at court. 

44       So whan I saw I might not slepe,
45     Til now late, this other
night,
46     Upon my bedde I sat upright
47     And bad oon reche me a
book,
48     A romaunce, and he hit me took
49     To rede and dryve the night
away;
50     ...
52       And in this boke were writen fables
53    
... put in ryme
55     To rede, and for to be in minde
(The Book of
the Duchess, Chaucer)