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fact, critics have praised it for being more of a historical
document than a poem.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).
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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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