The Canterbury Tales

THE CANTERBURY TALES












What makes it Chaucer’s most important work.









































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THE CANTERBURY TALES







This epic poem is considered to be one of the
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greatest works in literature. Not because of its



length (Chaucer died before he could complete


it) or that it was one of the first popular poems in



English; but because of its sheer complexity,



variety, subject matter and styles. There are so



many different stories, styles, subjects,



characters that there has never been any work


that rivals its complexity. In today’s lesson we will



examine some of the works unique qualities.









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Setting of the poem







The poem is set in a inn/ hotel. A group of pilgrims have
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gathered there and they are on their way to Canterbury.


In Canterbury lies the sacred shrine of the saint, St


Thomas Beckett. The pilgrims are on a pilgrimage to his


shrine. The owner of the hotel joins this group of


pilgrims and he offers them a game to play. Each of the


pilgrims will tell two stories; one on the way to


Canterbury and one on the way back. Whoever tells the


best story will be given free treat at the owners inn. The


owner himself will judge whose story is the best.


Chaucer, the poet, is also part of this pilgrimage.


(You may remember this from the 1 semester poem ‘The General
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Prologue: The Friar’)




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The Pilgrims







This is the first unique part of Chaucer’s poem;



the group of pilgrims. This is no ordinary group.



The group represents all sections of middle


English society. First is the Knight, he represents



the upper class, serious and noble. Then we have



the religious order, Monks, Friars, Nuns. This, as



you know from the introduction to the Friar, is a



problematic class; they are religious but also very


corrupt. Then we have the middle class; the



merchants, the lawyers, the students, the



business class and last we have the Plowman,





the daily labourer who works on a farms. 4 / 10

The Pilgrims: A Reflection of Society






Thus, this work has been praised on this point; that it
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accurately represents what society at that time looked like. In


fact, critics have praised it for being more of a historical

document than a poem. Chaucer gives us the minor details for


each member of society and this is the unique part of this


poem. For example Chaucer describes the dents in the


knight’s armour and which battle he got it in, what the Friar

carries in his hood, the food they eat, their health and so


many other details that add to this detailed picture that


Chaucer paints of society at that time.




● Even the social rules and etiquettes and even rivalries among

different social classes are described in the poem. For


example the Knight by being the highest in the order of social


status tells the first story.

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The General Prologue: A Masterpiece in Introductions





● Chaucer gave an introduction to each of the pilgrims and this is

known as the General Prologue (Prologue means Introduction).

st
We had studied this in the 1 semester with the introduction to

the Friar.





● Now the General Prologue achieves two things; the first as you
know the use of satire and irony to expose the corruption of


the characters. There is the use of humour and comedy.


Chaucer made witty satirical jokes about nearly all the pilgrims.




● The second thing the General Prologue achieves is

characterization, adding some unique quality to his pilgrims.


Eg The friar is not nameless, he does not represent all friars. He


is unique, an individual, he has a name, his name is Hubert. Yes

he corrupts and cheats. He also sings well and plays music.





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The Stories: The Essence of Canterbury Tales




Each pilgrim tells a story. There are three things to keep in mind. One is
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that the stories fit the social status of the character. The noble knight


tells a story of noble knights and some members of the religious class

tell stories that have a moral. So the stories fit the social class and each

character uses a different style to tell their story.




Second the stories are used as weapons of wit. The friar doesn't like the
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summoner (a person who summons people to court) so he tells a story

where the summoner lands into trouble and vice versa. This can be


found with many other characters who use the stories as a way to attack

each other. They can’t criticise their social superior in public so they do


in in the form of stories. The stories become a way to challenge social

status.



Some of the stories in The Canterbury Tales are notorious. They are not
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moral, dignified or polite. They are vulgar, immoral, disgusting. In fact

some stories are so bad that they cannot be taught or read in public.


However, Chaucer uses Comedy to present these stories. This aspect will
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be important later on.

The Canterbury Tales: A Few Tales Summarized






● The Knights Tale: Two knights Palamon and Arcite fall in love

with the maiden Emelye. The knights are sworn brothers but


their love for her has made them enemies. King Theseus

declares a tournament between Palamon and Arcite to decide


who will marry Emelye. Before the tournament, Emelye goes


to the shrine of Diana, goddess of purity, to ask her to


postpone the tournament. She receives an answer; it cannot


be done. Then later Palamon goes to the shrine of Venus,

goddess of love, to beseech her to help him win Emelye’s hand


in marriage and then later Arcite prays to the shrine of Mars,


god of war, to ask for victory in the tournament . On the day of

the tournament, Arcite defeats Palamon; he wins the battle


but as he rides towards Emelye, he falls from his horse and is


crushed to death. Before he dies he gives Emelye permission


to marry Palamon.
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The Nun’s Priest Tale







This tale is a beast fable and has a moral in keeping with
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the Nun’s religious status. In the story there is a rooster


and a fox. The rooster is proud of his loud morning


crowing and the fox tricks him into crowing very loudly.


As the rooster is crowing loudly with eyes closed, the fox


grabs him and runs off into the forest. The farmer and


the villagers run after the fox but he is too fast. The


rooster declares that the tricky fox has won and he can



now shout out his victory. The proud fox opens his


mouth to shout out his victory and as he does so the


rooster flies off and sits safely on a tree waiting for his


master. The fox tries to make him come down but the


rooster states he will never make the same mistake


twice.
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The Pardoner’s Tale (A pardoner is one who sells



certificates of forgiveness to sinners)



While the Pardoner corrupt and swindler, he tells moral tale.
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Three men, sitting bar drinking and gambling, receive the news that one
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of their friends has been taken by Death; he has died. In drunken and

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spirited moment, they set out seek and kill Death who took their friend. As
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they go about their mission, they meet an old man who tells them that they
will find Death sitting under tree on top hill. When they reach the spot,
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they do not find Death. Instead they find hidden treasure of gold and





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diamonds. Since quite late in the night, they decide to stay by the
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treasure hoard and move the morning. The three men draw straws see
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who among them should fetch wine and food while the other two wait under



the tree. The youngest of the three men draws the shortest straw and













departs; while he away, the remaining two plan to kill him on his return.




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However, the one who leaves for town plots kill the other two: he poisons
the wine with rat poison. When he returns with the food and drink, the other



two stab and kill him and then drink the poisoned wine. They die slow and



painful deaths.
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