FRINGE REVIEW: Canterbury Tales a fun retelling of the Chaucer work (2024)

FAQs

Is The Canterbury Tales a good read? ›

But it is a good giant poem/tale that I'd recommend to everyone who's studying english literature or, failing that, medieval literature.

The Canterbury Tales is written in the type of English that most ordinary people used in Chaucer's day. Chaucer was one of the first authors (writers) who wrote stories in English. Before, stories were written in Latin or French. Some other writers of Chaucer's time also wrote in English.

No one knows the real reason why Chaucer never finished The Canterbury Tales or if he intended to complete the collection. The scope of the project as envisioned was vast, involving thirty-one pilgrims each telling four tales. It may be that Chaucer simply realized the manuscript was too ambitious.

Chaucer Did Not Finish The Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer spent over a decade writing The Canterbury Tales, from the late 1380s until his death in 1400. His original plan was to write over 100 stories as part of the collection of ''tales'' but only wrote 24.

While reading the original text may seem daunting, readers can easily get the hang of it within two weeks. Jackson recommended using The Riverside Chaucer, which contains all of the poet's works as well as pronunciation guides and scholarly notes, and the Penguin edition of The Canterbury Tales, edited by Jill Mann.

One of the main lessons throughout all of the tales and main story is that honor and honesty is valued. In stories like the Physician's Tale, we see that the lying Appius who lusts after a young girl, is eventually caught for his lies and thrown in jail where he kills himself.

The premise of The Canterbury Tales is a tale-telling competition between pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. In the General Prologue, the Host introduces the structure: each pilgrim will tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two on the way home. Many of the tales that the pilgrims tell are about competition.

The Tabard Inn was a real place and was owned by Harry Bailey, a friend of Geoffrey Chaucer's. Harry becomes the character known as the Host. He is the only real person described in the story. The other characters are probably a combination of other people Chaucer saw around him.

The characters in The Canterbury Tales represent a cross-section of medieval society that provide valuable historical insight into gender roles, political issues, and the impact of major historical events like the Black Death on the lives of ordinary people.

Lesson Summary

The tales could be described both as social realism and as estates satire. At the same time that Chaucer takes care to honestly show the perspective of each of his characters, he also aims to critique the hypocrisy of the church and the social problems posed by Medieval politics and social custom.

What is the conclusion of The Canterbury Tales? ›

The Canterbury Tales ends with Chaucer's Retraction, in which he begs readers' forgiveness for his work's scandalous content, including that found in The Canterbury Tales and other past works.

The Canterbury Tales expose the social problems plaguing medieval England. The problems include exploitation of the poor, abuse of power and position by the clergy, and rampant theft by and unprofessionalism of the professionals. The Canterbury Tales also show the limitations placed on women in that society.

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1476)

The stories follow a group of pilgrims making up tales on their way to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket, and are filled with sexual innuendo, swearing and perceived criticism of the church.

Chaucer's Retraction is the final section of The Canterbury Tales. It is written as an apology, where Geoffrey Chaucer asks for forgiveness for the vulgar and unworthy parts of this and other past works, and seeks absolution for his sins.

Chaucer was buried in Westminster Abbey in London, as was his right owing to his status as a tenant of the Abbey's close. In 1556, his remains were transferred to a more ornate tomb, making him the first writer interred in the area now known as Poets' Corner.

The Canterbury Tales is important for several reasons. It is a great resource for learning about Middle English; it paved the way for later writers like William Shakespeare; and it provides a lot of insight into life in medieval England.

The Canterbury Tales is considered Chaucer's masterpiece and is among the most important works of medieval literature for many reasons besides its poetic power and entertainment value, notably its depiction of the different social classes of the 14th century CE as well as clothing worn, pastimes enjoyed, and language/ ...

It also highlighted how people who worked for the church were con artists and abused their positions for profit. In addition, there were social biases and prejudices about the different professions and classes. Chaucer highlights the positive and negative portrayals of the laity, church, and military estates.

Once a student begins to read the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer himself will solve many reading motivation problems with his lively, detailed window not only into the Middle Ages, but also into the minds of characters whose connections to us are apparent and irresistible.