Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories by Geoffrey Chaucer (1342-1400), written between 1387 and 1400 [1]. It concerns a group of thirty pilgrims traveling to Canterbury in England. The pilgrims, who come from all layers of society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they travel to Canterbury. In the General Prologue to the work, Chaucer states as his intention that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the way back. [2]
This project was left incomplete at his death in 1400, and even those tales which were then completed had not been not finally revised. Partially as a result of this, and partially due to the fact that the printing press had yet to be invented when Chaucer wrote his works, and therefore The Canterbury Tales was passed down in several handwritten manuscripts, scholars are uncertain about the intended order of the tales.
In the tales, pilgrims are given distinct personalities and characters, and the work is considered to be one of the precursors of the modern novel. Many of the tales are ribald and earthy, and full of humor. Some of the more notable tales are [3]:
- The Knight’s Tale: this is the first tale, and is a story rich in love, rivalry and chivalry. Two men fall in love with the same beautiful young girl.
- The Miller’s Tale: A bawdy but humorous tale, telling a rather different story of love.
- The Wife of Bath’s Tale: A woman who has had five husbands tells a thoughtful tale which poses the question: ‘What is it that every woman desires?’ Her romantic tale is set in the time of King Arthur.
- The Nun’s Priest’s Tale: An animated farmyard tale of a cockerel, a hen and a wily old fox…
- The Pardoner’s Tale: A thrilling tale of death and trickery and one which will leave you with a slight tingle down your spine. The tale has an unexpected ending.
Chaucer wrote in Middle English, a form of English that is so archaic that it can be difficult to understand without a glossary or explanatory notes. Most modern English readers prefer to read it in translation.
References
- ↑ http://www.librarius.com/cantales.htm
- ↑ To this end Chaucer's text reads: "This is the poynt, to speken short and pleyn, That ech of yow, to shorte with oure weye, In this viage shal telle tales tweye To Caunterbury-ward, I mene it so, And homward he shal tellen othere two, Of aventures that whilom han bifalle."
- ↑ For a full account of all the tales see: http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/cantales.html
