The Canterbury tales

Description

A collection of stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. The tales (mostly in verse, although some are in prose) are told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. In a long list of works, including Troilus and Criseyde, House of Fame, and Parliament of Fowls, The Canterbury Tales was Chaucer's magnum opus. He uses the tales and the descriptions of the characters to paint an ironic and critical portrait of English society at the time, and particularly of the Church. Structurally, the collection bears the influence of The Decameron, which Chaucer is said to have come across during his first diplomatic mission to Italy in 1372. However, Chaucer peoples his tales with 'sondry folk' rather than Boccaccio's fleeing nobles.

Subjects

Genres

• Poetry

Other Editions

• The Canterbury tales: completeHoughton Mifflin2000-01-01
• Canterbury talesW. Pickering1822-01-01
• A six-text print of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in parallel columns from the following MSS: 1, The Ellesmere;2, The Hengwrt 154; 3, The Cambridge Univ. Libr. Gg.4.27; 4, The Corpus Christi Coll., Oxford;5, The Petworth; 6, The Lansdowne851N. Trubner for the Chaucer Society1868-01-01
• The Canterbury talesT. Y. Crowell & company1903-01-01
• The squire's taleMacmillan1921-01-01
• Canterbury talesH. Holt and Company1928-01-01