CHAPTER 7
The Medieval narrative poem
Collections of stories were very popular in the middle ages and their purpose was to
entertain and instruct. Narrative poems told stories in verse, the greatest example of it
is Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbuy Tales, a long poem framed by a General prologue
where each tale has meaning in relation to the character of its teller and to the other
characters in the poem, who make up the audience. Through the tales Chaucer offered
a variety of styles and provided examples of how medieval imagination worked by
ending every tale with a wisdom.
The narrative poem contains a variety of narrative elements, such as the setting in
time and place, the use of a narrator or the description of characters.
It shows links with the moral views of time.
It provides an insight into individual characters regarding their lifestyles, their
psychology and their experiences
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