Canterbury Tales

Author: Zhu Cuihua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London around 1340, when London was already the capital of England. However, England was in social turmoil at that time, with the entire country still under the influence of medieval conventions but standing at the threshold of the modern world. Chaucer may have started writing around 1360, while also engaging in the translation of Latin and French works. In 1385, he began writing The Canterbury Tales, but he never completed it. He wrote in medieval English, and of the 23 stories, all but two were in poetic form. These stories came from all over Europe, with some even originating from the East. His great creative inspiration seems to have primarily come from Boccaccio's The Decameron and The Romance of the Rose. The Canterbury Tales follows a group of pilgrims from various social classes telling stories on their religious journey, clearly showing us the life of that era. Chaucer died in 1400 and was buried in Westminster Abbey, becoming one of the writers buried in that famous Poet's Corner.