Key Facts

Set III: MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE

English Literature I

ELT - IES Belén

FULL TITLE

• The Canterbury Tales

AUTHOR

• Geoffrey Chaucer

TYPE OF WORK

• Narrative Poetry– Narrative collection

of poems; character portraits; parody; estates satire; romance; fabliau

• There are two tales in prose: – the Tale of Melibee – the Parson’s Tale

TIME & PLACE OF WRITINGTIME

• Around 1386–1395

PLACE

• England

PUBLICATION

DATE OF FIRST PUBLICATION

• Sometime in the early fifteenth century

PUBLISHER

• Originally circulated in hand-copied manuscripts

• The first printing by Caxton in 1478, with a second corrected edition following in 1484

STRUCTURE

Intro

• The General Prologue

Body

• Twenty-four Tales

Closure

• Retraction

THE GENERAL PROLOGUELines Summary

1-18 Description of time and place

19-34In Southwark, the Narrator meets a group of pilgrims at the

Tabard

35-42The Narrator establishes the purpose and the information he will

state about each pilgrim

43-78 Description of the Knight

79-100 Description of the Squire

101-117: Description of The Yeoman

THE GENERAL PROLOGUELines Summary

118-162 Description of The Prioress

163-164 Introduction of The Second Nun and Three Priests

165-207 Description of The Monk

208-271 Description of The Friar

272-286 Description of The Merchant

287-310 Description of The Clerk

THE GENERAL PROLOGUELines Summary

311-332 Description of The Sergeant of the Law

333-362 Description of The Franklin

363-380Introduction of The Haberdasher, Carpenter, Arras-maker, Dyer

and Weaver

 381-389 Description of The Cook

390-412 Description of The Shipman

413-446 Description of The Physician

THE GENERAL PROLOGUELines Summary

447-478 Description of The Wife of Bath

479-530 Description of The Parson

531-543 Description of The Plowman

544-546Introduction of The Reeve, Miller, Summoner, Manciple and

Pardoner, beside The Narrator

547-568 Description of The Miller

569-588 Description of The Manciple

THE GENERAL PROLOGUELines Summary

589-624 Description of The Reeve

625-670 Description of The Summoner

671-716 Description of The Pardoner

717-785 The proposal of the Host

786-811 The rules of the game

812-823 The agreement

824-860 Drawing of lots

THE PILGRIMS

“The General Prologue” NARRATOR

SITUATION

• 1st Person– an anonymous, naïve

member of the pilgrimage, who does not describe himself

POSITION

• Objective – describes each one of

the pilgrims as they appear to him

SETTINGTIME

• The late fourteenth century, after 1381

PLACE

• The Tabard Inn• The road to Canterbury

Image Credits

The Canterbury Tales First Page: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ew2IAn1hQQI/Tfvi8OZjpmI/AAAAAAAAIfs/vcKrhKvmP40/s1600/14_02.jpg

Chaucer’s Portrait: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/Geoffrey_Chaucer_-_Illustration_from_Cassell%27s_History_of_England_-

_Century_Edition_-_published_circa_1902.jpg/488px-Geoffrey_Chaucer_-_Illustration_from_Cassell%27s_History_of_England_-_Century_Edition_-_published_circa_1902.jpg

The Pilgrims: http://www.heritage-history.com/books/tappan/chaucer/front1.gif

The Characters Map: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/c/the-canterbury-tales/~/media/7C547E3EDE514597B9C4351C0662FCFD.ashx

The Road to Canterbury:http://www.picresize.com/dl.php?i=rsz_road_to_canterbury_map.jpg

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Prof. Dante R. ACOSTA