Summary Of The Canterbury Tales Essay

The Canterbury Tales were written by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. This masterpiece is one of the greatest classics of English Literature, it was and continues to be still very popular. Many manuscripts survived and it was the first work to be printed by William Caxton. It is a story about pilgrims travelling together, who tell stories on their journey to Canterbury, to pay tribute to Saint Thomas Becket. As it is a collection of tales, it varies in genre (there is beast fables, romances, fabliaux, saints’ lives…), subject, mood, length (some tales are 80-page long whereas some are much shorter), form (in verse –several verse-form are also found- or in prose). For this

In the late 1300s Geoffrey Chaucer began wrote The Canterbury Tales, a story which follows the religious journey of twenty-nine people, who represent many aspects of Medieval society, to the Canterbury Cathedral in southeast England. While on the pilgrimage the host of the tavern, where all the pilgrims meet, suggests that the pilgrims each tell a story for the group’s entertainment. Chaucer intended for all the voyagers to tell two stories, but he unfortunately died before he could finish the book and only got to write one story apiece. However, the goal of the storytelling contest is to tell the most moral story possible, and the one who wins receives a free meal, which the rest of the pilgrims will pay for. Although some of the other stories have good moral messages, “The Pardoner’s Tale” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” are on different ends of the moral spectrum. “The Pardoner’s Tale” focuses on a pardoner who preaches against greed. While “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” exemplifies what all women want in their relationships: power. Although both “The Pardoner’s Tale” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” demonstrate the value of the opinion of elders, the stories differ in their moral values and their storyteller’s values.

to her father as a shining example of a good, clean, Christian man. Although her sisters and

and then she never came back - That's how the man got the boy. The man doesn't know

Her son felt ashamed her because was a mere washwoman, when he was wealthy and she did not need to work. Even though her son was ashamed of her, she went to the chapel where his wedding was being held just to see his bride enter the church. She respected his wish for her not to be there even it hurt her. She was always on time except for the last time when she was ill. Her loss was her son because of her pride, and her life was to fulfill her

In "The Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer has some religious characters who break the vows they pledge for, to get a place in the Church. Many characters in the story seem to have an awkward characteristic that the writer did not notice. Why do the religious characters break the vow? How do they break it? For example, the monk was a primary part of the church, but as you keep reading, the characters start to change in ways you could never imagine. Some character do not interact with each other depending upon their social class level. The vows that the religious characters break are the Vow of Poverty, the Vow of Chastity, the Vow of Obedience, and the Vow of Stability.

to the dead and she had asked her to speak to her dead babies and out

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales became one of the first ever works that began to approach the standards of modern literature. It was probably one of the first books to offer the readers entertainment, and not just another set of boring morals. However, the morals, cleverly disguised, are present in almost every story. Besides, the book offers the descriptions of the most common aspects of the human nature. The books points out both the good and the bad qualities of the people, however, the most obvious descriptions are those of the sinful flaws of humans, such as greed and lust.

door for her master. Worse yet, as a royal widow she was quite a prize for a man

The Canterbury Tales is a story that incorporates a multitude of stories told by a multitude of characters. Written by Geoffrey Chaucer, he devises a novel in which each character has to narrate a total of four stories as part of a competition; on their way to visit Saint Thomas Becket, the characters would tell two stories going and two stories returning from the journey. The perspective changes through each story, and each story is introduced by a general, opening, third person prologue. Though many of the characters got to share some ideas, Chaucer unfortunately passed away before his story’s entirety. As a result, a winner was never officially clarified. Needless to say, it is evident that the clear winner would be the Miller’s Tale.

       The characters introduced in the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales each represent a stereotype of a kind of person that Chaucer would have been familiar with in 14th Century England. Each character is unique, yet embodies many physical and behavioral traits that would have been common for someone in their profession. In preparing the reader for the tales, Chaucer first sets the mood by providing an overall idea of the type of character who is telling the tale, then allows that character to introduce themselves through a personal prologue and finally, the pilgrim tells their tale. Through providing the reader with insight about the physical and personal traits of

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.

Well, after he was called out for his sin, he rushed home to tell her not to take her

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

In Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, there are 29 pilgrims making their way to Canterbury to see the shrine to Thomas A’Becket, who was martyred there. They are accompanied by Chaucer, the narrator, and Harry Bailey, the host. The host proposes a storytelling contest to help pass the time. The Host is the sole judge of the contest, and each story is judged on its entertainment and moral factors. The winner will receive a free meal, paid for by all the other pilgrims upon their arrival back at the inn. Each Pilgrim was to tell two stories on the way there, and two on the way back. The pilgrims’ stories covered a large spectrum of subjects and morals along the way. The wide variety of the stories, in a way, makes it easier for the judge to judge the stories, but also harder. A good example of two very contrasting stories in the contest are the Miller’s Tale and the Man at Law’s Tale. The Man at Law’s Tale would have won the contest. Even though it is not in the same rhyme scheme, has a confusing storyline and some evil characters, it is far more clean, moral, and appropriate than the adultery, lies, and scandal of the Miller’s Tale.