by Geoffrey Chaucer
Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims (1810) by William Blake.
Engraving.

The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer
Chaucer used the East Midland dialect of Middle English.
This dialect was the most common colloquial language at the time and became the basis for modern English.

The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer
Chaucer used several metrical forms and some prose in
The Canterbury Tales, but the dominant meter is based on ten syllables, with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. We call this meter iambic pentameter. It is a rhythm that most closely matches the way English is spoken. You might hear this rhythm if you read aloud this line in Middle
English. (Bathed is pronounced with two syllables; swich means “sweet.”
U / U / U / U / U /
And bathed every veyne in swich licour

The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer
Twenty-nine pilgrims are on their way to the shrine of
Saint Thomas à Becket in Canterbury.
The time is April, and the place is the Tabard Inn in Southwark
(SUTH erk), just outside
London.
London
Canterbury

The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
Literary Focus: Characterization
Chaucer uses indirect characterization when he tells how each character
• looks and dresses
This yeoman wore a coat and hood of green,
And peacock-feathered arrows, bright and keen
• speaks and acts
Her greatest oath was only “By St. Loy!”
• thinks and feels
And gladly would he learn, and gladly teach.

The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
Literary Focus: Characterization
Chaucer also uses direct characterization , when he comes right out and tells us what a character’s nature is—virtuous, vain, clever, and so on.
There was a Friar, a wanton one and merry,
A Limiter, a very festive fellow.
In all Four Orders there was none so mellow,
So glib with gallant phrase and well-turned speech.

King
Ruling Class
Knight
Squire
Trade Class
Clergy Class
Middle Class
Monk
Prioress
Friar
Parson
Summoner
Merchant
Pardoner
Reeve
Franklin Doctor Sergeant at Law
Oxford Student Wife of Bath
Cook Guildsmen
Manciple
Peasant
Class
Miller Skipper Plowman Yeoman

The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
Literary Focus: Frame Story
A frame story is a literary device that binds together several different narratives. It is a story (or stories)
within a story.
• In The Canterbury Tales, the pilgrims’ journey is the outer story.
• The tales the pilgrims tell are stories within a story.
• The tales themselves also have thematic unity.

The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
Reading Skills: Analyzing Style: Key Details
Chaucer had twenty-nine characters to introduce, so he couldn’t develop any one character at great length. Instead, he provided a few well-chosen details that would make each character stand out vividly.

The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
Reading Skills: Analyzing Style: Key Details
As you read the Prologue, pay close attention to any details that help give you an immediate impression of a character.
• Keep a pen and notebook handy to jot down key details of dress, appearance, and behavior.
• Note that some details contradict what the characters think of themselves (or want others to think of them).

Character Personality
Traits
Outward
Appearance
Writer’s
Attitude
About the
Character
Knight
Squire
Yeoman
Nun
Monk

Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral from the southwest on a stormy November day

Canterbury Cathedral
The 15th-century Gothic nave of
Canterbury Cathedral, looking east

Canterbury Cathedral
Stairs to the south ambulatory, worn down by pilgrim feet and knees

Canterbury Cathedral
The Trinity Chapel, former site of the Shrine of St. Thomas Becket http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/canterbury-cathedral

Trinity Chapel

The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
Vocabulary
Previewing the Vocabulary agility n.: ability to move quickly and easily.
eminent adj.: high-standing; great.
accrue v.: increase over time.
arbitrate v.: settle or decide by listening to both sides of an argument.
benign adj.: kind; gracious.
guile n.: sly dealings; skill in deceiving.

The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
Vocabulary
Previewing the Vocabulary obstinate adj.: unreasonably stubborn.
frugal adj.: thrifty; careful with money.
duress n.: pressure.

The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Activity: Sentence Completion
Fill in the blanks with the correct vocabulary words. frugal arbitrate guile accrue duress obstinate
1 . It was difficult to _________ the disagreement because Anna savings over time.

The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
Meet the Writer
Geoffrey Chaucer had two careers: He was not only a writer but also an important government official. Chaucer was so important, in fact, that when he was captured in
France while serving as a soldier during the Hundred
Years’ War, the king himself contributed to the ransom.
More About the Writer