(Part 1) "Beowulf" is in Old English. It was written down about the year 1000. It is so old that a modern English speaker cannot make any sense of it at all, and probably would not recognize it as English at all if they did not know about it. It is truly a foreign language. Hwæt! We Gardena in geardagum, þeodcyninga, þrym gefrunon, hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are in Middle English. They were written in the late 1300s. A modern speaker can recognize it as English, and recognize words here and there, but cannot really read it with any comfort or comprehension. It needs to be translated. Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licour Of which vertu engendred is the flour... You can figure out that this means When April with its showers sweet The drought of March has pierced to the root, And bathed every vein in such liquid As has the virtue of growing flowers... But you still need to figure out what _that_ means!

(Part 2) Shakespeare's plays are written in English. He wrote in the late 1600s and early 1700s. It's outdated, old-fashioned English. It's full of unfamiliar words and grammar--but it's English. In the United States high school students are expected to read Shakespeare, with the help of footnotes to explain the unfamiliar words and cultural details. Do Brazilian students read Camoens? How hard is it? In Shakespeare, many lines and passages are perfectly easy to understand: Doctor: When was it she last walked? Gentlewoman: Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her night-gown upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon't, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep. It only takes a few small changes to smooth over the archaic language: Doctor: When was the last time she sleepwalked? Gentlewoman: Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen her rise from her bed, throw on her nightgown, unlock her closet, take out paper, fold it, write on it, read it, afterwards seal it, and go back to bed--fast asleep all the time.

Chaucer and Shakespeare were English writers. Chaucer wrote in Middle English. Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon poem. The author remains unknown.

They all played a significant role in the development of the modern English that we speak today. There is no actual relationship as such