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- Set in medieval England, The Canterbury Tales provides a vivid depiction of the social and cultural aspects of the time. The characters, drawn from different classes and occupations, offer a cross-section of medieval society, allowing Chaucer to satirize and comment on the moral and social conditions of the period.
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Jul 29, 2024 · The Canterbury Tales, frame story by Geoffrey Chaucer, written in Middle English in 1387–1400. The framing device for the collection of stories is a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury, Kent. Learn more about The Canterbury Tales in this article.
- The Pardoner's Tale
The Pardoner’s Tale, one of the 24 stories in The Canterbury...
- The Clerk's Tale
The Clerk’s Tale, one of the 24 stories in The Canterbury...
- The Monk's Tale
The Monk’s Tale, one of the 24 stories in The Canterbury...
- The Summoner's Tale
The Summoner’s Tale, one of the 24 stories in The Canterbury...
- The Wife of Bath's Tale
The Wife of Bath’s Tale, one of the 24 stories in The...
- The Miller's Tale
The Miller’s Tale, one of the 24 stories in The Canterbury...
- The Prioress's Tale
The Prioress’s Tale, one of the 24 stories in The Canterbury...
- The Friar's Tale
The Friar’s Tale, one of the 24 stories in The Canterbury...
- The Tale of Sir Thopas
The Tale of Sir Thopas, one of the 24 stories in The...
- The Second Nun's Tale
The Second Nun’s Tale, one of the 24 stories in The...
- The Pardoner's Tale
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The Canterbury Tales (Middle English: Tales of Caunterbury) [2] is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. [3] It is widely regarded as Chaucer's magnum opus.
In The Canterbury Tales, a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury Cathedral compete in a storytelling contest. This overarching plot, or frame, provides a reason for the pilgrims to tell their stories, which reflect the concerns sparked by the social upheavals of late medieval England.
- General Prologue
- The Knight’s Tale
- The Miller’s Prologue and Tale
- The Reeve’s Prologue and Tale
- The Cook’s Prologue and Tale
- The Man of Law’s Introduction, Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue
- The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale
- The Friar’s Prologue and Tale
- The Summoner’s Prologue and Tale
- The Clerk’S Prologue and Tale
At the Tabard Inn, a tavern in Southwark, near London, the narrator joins a company of twenty-nine pilgrims. The pilgrims, like the narrator, are traveling to the shrine of the martyr Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The narrator gives a descriptive account of twenty-seven of these pilgrims, including a Knight, Squire, Yeoman, Prioress, Monk, Fri...
Theseus, duke of Athens, imprisons Arcite and Palamon, two knights from Thebes (another city in ancient Greece). From their prison, the knights see and fall in love with Theseus’s sister-in-law, Emelye. Through the intervention of a friend, Arcite is freed, but he is banished from Athens. He returns in disguise and becomes a page in Emelye’s chambe...
The Host asks the Monk to tell the next tale, but the drunken Millerinterrupts and insists that his tale should be the next. He tells the story of an impoverished student named Nicholas, who persuades his landlord’s sexy young wife, Alisoun, to spend the night with him. He convinces his landlord, a carpenter named John, that the second flood is com...
Because he also does carpentry, the Reeve takes offense at the Miller’s tale of a stupid carpenter, and counters with his own tale of a dishonest miller. The Reeve tells the story of two students, John and Alayn, who go to the mill to watch the miller grind their corn, so that he won’t have a chance to steal any. But the miller unties their horse, ...
The Cook particularly enjoys the Reeve’s Tale, and offers to tell another funny tale. The tale concerns an apprentice named Perkyn who drinks and dances so much that he is called “Perkyn Reveler.” Finally, Perkyn’s master decides that he would rather his apprentice leave to revel than stay home and corrupt the other servants. Perkyn arranges to sta...
The Host reminds his fellow pilgrims to waste no time, because lost time cannot be regained. He asks the Man of Law to tell the next tale. The Man of Law agrees, apologizing that he cannot tell any suitable tale that Chaucer has not already told—Chaucer may be unskilled as a poet, says the Man of Law, but he has told more stories of lovers than Ovi...
The Wife of Bathgives a lengthy account of her feelings about marriage. Quoting from the Bible, the Wife argues against those who believe it is wrong to marry more than once, and she explains how she dominated and controlled each of her five husbands. She married her fifth husband, Jankyn, for love instead of money. After the Wife has rambled on fo...
The Friar speaks approvingly of the Wife of Bath’s Tale, and offers to lighten things up for the company by telling a funny story about a lecherous summoner. The Summoner does not object, but he promises to pay the Friar back in his own tale. The Friar tells of an archdeacon who carries out the law without mercy, especially to lechers. The archdeac...
The Summoner, furious at the Friar’s Tale, asks the company to let him tell the next tale. First, he tells the company that there is little difference between friars and fiends, and that when an angel took a friar down to hell to show him the torments there, the friar asked why there were no friars in hell; the angel then pulled up Satan’s tail and...
The Host asks the Clerk to cheer up and tell a merry tale, and the Clerk agrees to tell a tale by the Italian poet Petrarch. Griselde is a hardworking peasant who marries into the aristocracy. Her husband tests her fortitude in several ways, including pretending to kill her children and divorcing her. He punishes her one final time by forcing her t...
The Canterbury Tales remains a significant work in English literature, celebrated for its investigation of human nature, its social commentary, and its influence on the development of the English language. Its portrayal of the complexities of human behavior and the rich tapestry of medieval society continues to captivate readers and scholars alike.
The Canterbury Tales, Collection of stories by Geoffrey Chaucer, written in Middle English in 1387–1400. The collection’s framing device is a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury, Kent.
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