Canterbury Tales Research Paper

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author from the medieval era. In Chaucer's best-known work, The Canterbury Tales – a collection of twenty-four short stories as told by a group of pilgrims travelling to Canterbury – we gain access to the complex cultural landscape of his time. Chaucer's cast of characters, taken together, form a broad portrait of the social world he was a part of. This essay will argue that The Canterbury Tales' wide array of protagonists offers us an insight into the social divisions of medieval England, the high and low, old and young, learned and ignorant, rogue and righteous.

When Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales, the social structure of his world was changing rapidly.  Chaucer himself was a prime example of new social mobility being granted to members of the emerging middle class.  He had opportunities to come into contact not only with earthy characters from varied ports of call, but with the wealthy nobility.  He was also married to a knight's  daughter, someone of higher birth than himself, a clear demonstration of a more lenient class structure (pp. 76 - 77*).  As a member of this changing society, Chaucer had a keen perception of the attitudes and philosophies which were emerging and shaping the roles specific to people's lives.

Literature is the light that guides us into the insight of a person's secrecy and deepest thoughts. In a world that is always evolving, it is important to reflect upon the literature to create a better idea of the culture. During the time period of 1340-1400, a man named Chaucer created the Canterbury Tales. These tales encompassed the life and perspectives of the everyday people up to the king. Moreover, it can be argued that in the specific Tale, The Wife of Bath’s Tale, Chaucer is able to depict the British society during these difficult time giving the reader insight into the negatives and positive attributes given by characters.

Written in the 1380’s, The Canterbury Tales is considered one of the greatest works of English literature. Chaucer joins a group of 29 pilgrims on a journey to the Cathedral in Canterbury, England. Along the way, readers learn the life of each pilgrim along with interesting stories. The story begins with the General Prologue and continues with the tales told by each pilgrim on the pilgrimage. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is an intriguing story that displays a uniqueness in the way that it is written, the audience it is written to, and the theme that the story focuses on.

The Canterbury Tales is strongly considered one of the greatest works in medieval literature. An admirer of Chaucer, and the author of Chaucer and the Fifteenth Century, H.S. Bennett describes Chaucer’s unique style as, “No detail was too small for him to observe, and from it he could frequently draw, or suggest, conclusions which would have escaped many.” While The Canterbury Tales was originally intended to be an epic poem consisting of over 120 short stories, Chaucer’s death came much sooner and he was only able to finish 24. Even with a small fraction of his original goal completed, Chaucer’s unique sense of language and ability to identify and establish common stereotypes was second to none. The three characters I choose, The Knight, The Pardoner and The Parson all exemplify Bennett’s quote and demonstrate Chaucer’s incredible ability to express every detail, while adding humor and irony.

The Canterbury Tales provides a unique take on medieval culture that is unmatched by any other literary work. Geoffrey Chaucer creates a world filled with astounding characters which range from the vilest creatures to the most respectful individuals in the land. His unique stories keep the reader intrigued to find out exactly what will happen next. These exhilarating tales convey messages and examples were often made out of the characters that Chaucer deemed evil or disgraceful to mankind. In The Canterbury Tales, it is apparent that Geoffrey Chaucer is appalled by many people in the merchant and religious class, admires the Knight, Oxford Cleric, Wife of Bath, and Parson, and has a negative outlook on mankind as a whole.

At the beginning of Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales,” he opens with a description of twenty-nine characters who are going on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Each character in the story represent a stereotype of a kind of person that would be seen in England during the Fourteenth Century. Every single character is unique, but also embodies physical and behavioral traits that would be common for someone in their profession. He writes each character so they have realistic qualities. However, when viewed more closely, a reader can determine which of these characters have a convincing or questionable personality. Chaucer first sets the mood by providing an overall idea of each character before they tell their stories. The physical and

     Chaucer lived in a time dictated by religion and religious ideas in which he uses The Canterbury Tales to show some of his views. Religion played a significant role in fourteenth-century England and also in Chaucer’s writing. His ideas of the Church are first seen in “The Prologue,'; and he uses seven religious persons to show the influence of the religion in his writing. Although many of his characters appear to portray part of the corruption in the Church, he does give a small example in which one can conclude that he is speaking in praise.

Throughout the “General Prologue,” Chaucer creates a challenge for the pilgrims as they embark on their expedition to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at the Canterbury Cathedral as a way to provide entertainment. For this tale-telling contest, each pilgrim would tell four tales: two on the way to the Canterbury Cathedral and two on the return home. Upon their return, the best storyteller would receive a free meal at the Tabard Inn, courtesy of the other pilgrims, as a reward. “The device of a springtime pilgrimage provided Chaucer with a diverse range of characters and experiences, with him being both a narrator and an observer” (123HelpMe). Chaucer gives vivid detail of each member of the pilgrimage in order to set a “frame” for the tales that follow.

The Canterbury Tales; written by Geoffery Chaucer in the middle ages stands out as one of the key pieces of poetry from the time. The Canterbury tales consist of many tales told by pilgrims on their way to The Cathedral of St. Thomas A. Becket in Canterbury. Thirty pilgrims gathered for the voyage to the cathedral and all agreed to tell two tales there and two on the way back. The pilgrims on the trip all come from different background and all have different professions that will make each of their tales’ unique. The Friar’s tale carries unique components and lessons. The Friar’s prologue and tale will be elaborated in the most detail here.

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a number of stories put together. The narrator is the author himself. The stories are told by pilgrims who are headed to Canterbury to visit the remains of Thomas a’ Becket. The character the Host insists that everyone tells two stories. One on the way there and one on the way back to make the trip less tiresome. There are some important details to understand when reading the poem. The first one is the values of the people in the middle ages. The people’s values consist of chivalry, feudalism, Thomas Becket and religion. Next is the influence and expansion of Christianity throughout. The author uses the characters to portray different messages. And lastly the author’s characterization plays a major

In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer comments on moral corruption within the Roman Catholic Church. He criticizes many high-ranking members of the Church and describes a lack of morality in medieval society; yet in the “Retraction,” Chaucer recants much of his work and pledges to be true to Christianity. Seemingly opposite views exist within the “Retraction” and The Canterbury Tales. However, this contradiction does not weaken Chaucer’s social commentary. Rather, the “Retraction” emphasizes Chaucer’s criticism of the Church and society in The Canterbury Tales by reinforcing the risk inherent in doing so.

Fables and myths constitute the foundation of nearly every culture, and are passed down through generations, never losing their meaning and allure. Many factors make a story special, including its plot, essence, and characters, but only the storyteller holds within themselves the potential to deliver a narration that will inspire their audience and leave a lasting mark. In a quaint example of metafiction, many novels have been published with a central theme of storytelling. Two such examples following this concept is The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1478, and Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley 1818. Three characters in The

The Canterbury Tales, penned by Geoffrey Chaucer gives its audiences insight on the corruption that exists to this day in humanity. As you read through the chapters Chaucer reveals the dark sides to supposedly respectable people such as the Summoner, along with people he favors like the Knight, the Wife of Bath, and women in general. His comical descriptions and stories that coincide with each character express his thoughts on real people in his society.

Understanding the sources for a particular work is an important task for literary critics, because it ultimately leads to a better understanding and appreciation of the work itself. Sometimes similarities are so weak as to strain the credulity of theories propounding influence. At other times, the ties are so strong that influence is near certain. However, regardless of the strength of such ties, the alterations made to an original source are very potent cues as to authorial intention. In composing The Canterbury Tales, there is a broad diversity of tales told by a wide range of narrators. This indicates that Chaucer likely used a wide variety of sources. The alterations made by Chaucer to the source material for the Clerk’s Tale, including Boccaccio’s Decameron X, or “The Story of Griselda,” indicate Chaucer’s motive to examine issues such as marriage as was found in Renaissance Italy, and to explore the state of mind of the Marquis, as well as Griselda. Chaucer not only layers psychological depth to Boccaccio’s tale, but also adds to its traditional veneration of the obedient and tractable wife a genuine admiration for women in general.