The Canterbury Tales

By Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales

Is there a place that you would go as a pilgrimage, a place that is holy and sacred to you? Would it be sacred to anyone else? Explain what this place means to you and why.

Ellesmere Manuscript

Frame Tale: A PilgrimageTo the shrine of St. Thomas BecketMartyred in 1170Pilgrimage begins in LondonAt the Tabard InnHost proposes each pilgrim tell 4 tales2 en route to Canterbury, 2 back

Twenty-nine pilgrims in allMembers of church are most numerousMembers of emerging middle classMembers of aristocracy

Literary Heritage of CT’sChaucer writes in

European literary tradition

Familiar with A Thousand and One Nights and

Boccaccio’s Decameron

Cross section of Medieval Society

Knight is highest in rankMany professions related to churchEmerging Middle classChaucer is the narratorHost will judge the tales

Other works by ChaucerParlement of FowlesBook of the DuchessTroilus and Criseyde

Influence of Boccaccio, Petrarch and Dante

Chaucer’s Middle EnglishKnown as the London dialectPronunciation misunderstood at firstAll syllables pronounced yonge=yong-eInfluence of FrenchChaucer knew French and ItalianChoose to write in vernacular

Literary Genres’ in CT’sRomance-tale of courtly virtueFabliaux-bawdy storyAnimal fable Exemplum-moral tale to teachSaint’s lives

Canterbury Tales incompleteChaucer died in 1400Only finished 24 talesHad planned for 124Buried in Poet’s Corner of Westminster AbbeyOften called “Father of English Poetry”

Shrine to St. Thomas BecketShrine to St. Thomas

has been restored after precious stones and

metals were taken during Henry VIII’s reign

Canterbury Cathedral Nave and ChoirHistoric and literary siteSeat of Archbishop of CanterburyHead of Anglican Church and Worldwide Anglican Communion

Poets Corner—Westminster

Chaucer’s TombPresent monument 1556