The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century. It is a narrative work that tells the story of a group of pilgrims who are traveling to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The pilgrims come from various social backgrounds and professions, and each one tells a story on the journey to Canterbury. The stories told by the pilgrims range from romance to satire, and they provide a unique glimpse into the social and cultural norms of medieval England.
The Canterbury Tales is structured as a frame narrative, meaning that it is a story within a story. The frame narrative follows the journey of the pilgrims from London to Canterbury, and each pilgrim tells a story along the way. The stories themselves are diverse and cover a wide range of subjects, including love, religion, and social commentary.
One of the most notable features of The Canterbury Tales is its use of language. Chaucer wrote in Middle English, a form of the English language that was spoken and written during the Middle Ages. The language used in The Canterbury Tales is rich and varied, and it reflects the diverse backgrounds and professions of the pilgrims.
Despite being written over 700 years ago, The Canterbury Tales continues to be a popular and enduring work of literature. Its depiction of the lives and struggles of ordinary people, as well as its use of humor and satire, have made it a timeless classic that continues to resonate with readers today.
The Canterbury Tales: Essay Topics & Samples
There are clear sign of unrealistic attitude, ideas and opinions of the narrator. Contemporary social mobility is vividly represented by this jostling for position as some of the pilgrims try to take each other down. The combination of the awakening physical landscape with the desire to go on pilgrimage mixes bodily lust with religious zeal. He is the man who facilitates the flow of the tales. That night, the group slept at the Tabard, and woke up early the next morning to set off on their journey. His table is always full of goods and the best wine one could ever find. The nobility, not represented in the General Prologue, traditionally derives its title and privileges from military duties and service, so it is considered part of the military estate.
The Canterbury Tales The General Prologue Summary & Analysis
Many devout English pilgrims set off to visit shrines in distant holy lands, but even more choose to travel to Canterbury to visit the relics of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, where they thank the martyr for having helped them when they were in need. Money means nothing to him except as far as it helps him to acquire more books. He uses false flattery to make fools of both priests and laypeople. He is a rich man with no conscience at all. The seventeenth-century poet John Dryden called Chaucer the father of English poetry, but though Chaucer was much imitated by poets in the fifteenth century, he did not change the English language quite as much as he is credited with doing. Yet the fact that he wrote in English, not high-status Latin or French, and that he was considered a major poet by fifteenth-century writers was significant in helping to create a sense of prestige for the English language and an enlargement of its literary possibilities. He carves the meat at the table when dining.
Introduction to the General Prologue to Canterbury Tales
The Summoner He is a summoner of the church who collects fines or summons people to the church if they violate a law or commit any sin. Pilgrims traveled to visit the remains of Saint Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, who was murdered in 1170 by knights of King Henry II. These tales included various lessons on morality, human struggles and humorous fares. His characters are lively, complex, and fallible human beings, interacting with each other in some way. The Host decides that he will ride with the pilgrims, at his own cost, to serve as their guide in this merriment.
The Canterbury Tales General Prologue: Introduction Summary & Analysis
The Friar has arranged and paid for many marriages of young ladies. Being able to trick them, he feels a sense of pride that even after he is an illiterate, he can easily cheat the educated lawyers. His haircut is short, and his face is brown in color. This particular reeve has a sharp eye, which misses nothing. The pose of being extremely busy is to impress clients and enable the Man of Law to extract more in terms of robes and fees.
On her way to Sunday mass, she wraps her head in scarves that the narrator says must weigh ten pounds. The Reeve is a slender, choleric man with a closely cropped beard and stick-thin legs. The Squire Chaucer very successfully and beautifully, has drawn the character of the Squire. He would rather have books than fine clothes or money. He is a good man who has strong faith in God and lives strictly by the rules.
Short Introduction to 29 Pilgrims in Canterbury Tales
These lively interactions give the illusion of spontaneously generating the tales and their order, as if Chaucer the author had nothing to do with it. The Franklin He is an old man with no rules and restrictions of society. She knows how to sing the divine service well, beautifully intoned in a nasal voice. It shows how uncanny and unfaithful his nature is. Writing poetry was not his day job. He is not shy of anything and tells stories only suitable for adults. She possesses a compassionate nature, which drives her to help people in need.
He is heavy set and muscular. As Chaucer portrayed the characters unevenly, there were few characters from poor class; less inclined and firm, than the characters linked by knight, squire or certain other churchmen. He has thin yellow hair that he loops over his shoulders in long, elaborate strands, and to show it off, he rides bareheaded. Many a man is so hard of heart, says the narrator, that he cannot weep for his sins: instead of tears and prayers, these men give silver to poor friars. He was also well versed in astronomy besides medicine and, uses this knowledge to heal his patients according to the movements of the planets. The next morning, the Host, like a rooster, wakes up all the pilgrims and gathers them together.
He is willing to do anything for wine. The Physician bases his medical practice on principles of astronomy and diagnoses the cause of every malady based on the four humors: hot, cold, moist, and dry. Explain how all the pilgrims manage to find common ground despite all their differences. He hears the confessions most courteously, and the absolution he grants is pleasant. He wrote Canterbury Tales in Middle English language.
He spends considerable time characterizing the group members according to their social positions. His comments underscore the fact that he is writing some time after the events of his story, and that he is describing the characters from memory. The Monk scoffs at the notion that monks cannot be holy if they go hunting and scorns the text that claims that a monk out of his cloister is not worth an oyster. He loves and courts so ardently that he sleeps no more at night than a nightingale. Saint Francis, the founder of the Order of Friars, famously spent his life treating lepers and beggars.
