The Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer
Background of these tales


Geoffrey Chaucer
wrote this story in
the late 1300’s but
never finished it.
He wrote in the
native language or
vernacular of the
Medieval period in
Britain called
Middle English.
•Called “Father of English Literature”
•second only to Shakespeare
•in 1359, he fought in France
•he was an esquire to Edward III
•visited France as a diplomat
•worked as a controller of customs
Therefore, well-rounded—knew all levels of society
from working class to aristocracy.
Three distinct periods in his writing:
•French period—to 1372 (Book of Duchess)
•Italian period—1372-1385 (Troilus & Criseyde)
•English period—1385 (Canterbury Tales)
Changes that Chaucer brought about:
•Medieval tales were meant for minstrel recital; Chaucer was
meant to be read, not necessarily aloud
•Medieval authors were objective and anonymous; Chaucer’s
presence as an observer—more personal
•Folk beliefs, myth ritual—Chaucer takes from folk tales, but
with a “let’s pretend” attitude; consciously uses literary
sources, but makes significant changes
•Medieval, more allegory & symbolism; Chaucer less
symbolism/allegory
Canterbury Tales written in HEROIC
COUPLET:
• Rhymed pairs of iambic pentameter
U/ U/ U/ U/ U/
U/ U/ U/ U/ U/
Chaucer one of the first to use this; it
won’t be popular again for about 300
years with Alexander Pope & John
Chaucer knew all types of people:
•From a middle-class family—father a merchant
•Worked in various levels of society
•Fought in battle
Therefore, he gives us a clear representation of all
walks of life in CT
Chaucer knew what people were supposed to
be AND what they really were.
He knew that life was not just a simple matter
of black/white; right/wrong;
Therefore, he gives us varying degrees of
goodness:
He recognized the ideal, but accepted the
real
Represents the pilgrims as they were: a
panorama of human types
Five main types of tales:
•Courtly Romance (or Courtly Love)—Ideal of courtesy &
chivalry; example—“The Knight’s Tale”
•Fabliau (plural, fabliaux)—humorous tale that satirizes
human foibles; example—the Miller & Reeve’s Tales
•Beast Fable—animals become human & the story has a
moral; example—“The Nun’s Priest’s Tale”
•Exemplum—part of a sermon to illustrate a moral;
example—“The Pardoner’s Tale”
•Breton Lay—a romance recounting a love story that includes
supernatural elements
CT = a “journey of life” motif—celebration of spring,
exuberance of life
All the characters are on a pilgrimage to Canterbury; not all
are necessarily religious
Chaucer had planned that each pilgrim would tell 4 tales;
30 pilgrims (counting Chaucer as narrator); therefore, he
intended 120 tales.
Actually wrote only 24—4 unfinished (these were
written towards the end of his life; he believed
he lost the ability to write shortly before his
death.
The Story

Twenty nine people
that represent all
aspects of Medieval
society go on a
pilgrimage to the
cathedral at
Canterbury in
southeast England.

The cathedral at
Canterbury is the
main cathedral of
the Church of
England. The
shrine to the
martyr Saint
Thomas a Becket is
located at this
cathedral.
The story format

Chaucer’s
characters are
going to pay
respects to this
shrine as a part of
a religious
pilgrimage. They
all meet at a
tavern to begin
their journey.

Saint Thomas a Becket was the
archbishop of Canterbury, and in 1170 he
was martyred by some knights of the king
of England, Henry II, who was overheard
complaining about Becket’s loyalty to the
church at Rome over his loyalty to his
king.
Some of the characters

The host of the tavern
or innkeeper is the
man who suggests
that the pilgrims each
tell a story on the way
to entertain the
group. Chaucer
intended for each to
tell 2 stories, but he
only got to write one
apiece.
The following characters are the wife of Bath
and the pardoner
The following characters are the priest and
the miller
And two more familiar characters are the
knight and his squire
Format of the poetry

The Canterbury
Tales are called a
frame story,
meaning that there
are many stories
“framed” in the
larger story of the
pilgrimage to
Canterbury.
The arrangement & order that the pilgrims are
presented: (within each group, usually move down
either the social or moral scale)
Five groups of pilgrims:
•Group 1—Military Class
3 pilgrims: Knight, squire, yeoman
•Group 2—Clergy
3 pilgrims: Prioress, Monk, Friar
•Group 3—Middle-class (largest group)
Non-military, country gentlemen, representatives
of commercial classes, learned professionals
12 pilgrims: Merchant, Clerk (cleric), Sergeant at
Law, Franklin, The Guildsman (haberdasher, dyer,
carpenter, weaver, carpet-maker), cook, doctor
(physician), Wife of Bath (woman from Bath city)
•Group 4—Humble Virtue (smallest group)
2 pilgrims—The Parson, & the Plowman
(these two are the climax of virtue & humility—
the best of the bunch, we hear about them right
before the worst of the bunch, group 5)
•Group 5—Churls & Rascals
6 pilgrims—Miller, Manciple, Reeve, Summoner,
Pardoner, & Chaucer includes himself in the
narrator persona
Chaucer’s devices for revealing character:
•Attention to clothing
•Physical appearance
•Physiognomy—belief in certain physical
characteristics revealing character
•Selection of seemingly unimportant details, such as
how the person is addressed or a description of his
horse to illustrate the difference between what is &
what should be (keep this in mind as we look at each
pilgrim’s portrait.)
1: Whan that aprill with his shoures soote
2: The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,
3: And bathed every veyne in swich licour
4: Of which vertu engendred is 8: Hath in the ram his
halve cours yronne,
9: And smale foweles maken melodye,
10: That slepen al the nyght with open ye
11: (so priketh hem nature in hir corages);
12: Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
13: And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
14: To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
15: And specially from every shires ende
16: Of engelond to caunterbury they wende,
17: The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
18: That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.
19: Bifil that in that seson on a day,
20: In southwerk at the tabard as I lay
21: Redy to wenden on my pilgrymage
22: To caunterbury with ful devout corage,
23: At nyght was come into that hostelrye
24: Wel nyne and twenty in a compaignye,
25: Of sondry folk, by aventure yfalle
26: In felaweshipe, and pilgrimes were they alle,
27: That toward caunterbury wolden ryde.
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Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
When April with its sweet-smelling showers
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
Has pierced the drought of March to the root,
And bathed every veyne in swich licour
And bathed every vein (of the plants) in such liquid
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
By which power the flower is created;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
When the West Wind also with its sweet breath,
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
In every wood and field has breathed life into
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
The tender new leaves, and the young sun
Hath in the Ram his half cours yronne,
Has run half its course in Aries,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
And small fowls make melody,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye
Those that sleep all the night with open eyes
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages),
(So Nature incites them in their hearts),
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
Then folk long to go on pilgrimages,
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
And professional pilgrims to seek foreign shores,
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
To distant shrines, known in various lands;
And specially from every shires ende
And specially from every shire's end
Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende,
Of England to Canterbury they travel,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
To seek the holy blessed martyr,
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.