Canterbury Tales

Author: None
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1995-06-01
Features: Most of The Canterbury Tales is written in rhyming verse. The entire work includes one general prologue and 23 stories, with two in prose and the rest in poetry. It depicts about 30 pilgrims—knights, squires, priests, scholars, merchants, and yeomen—traveling to Canterbury and telling stories in turn. The tales reveal the different characteristics of pilgrims from various social classes. The characters from different strata are portrayed with a humorous tone, satirizing the evils of feudal society, exposing the corruption of the Church, opposing asceticism, and advocating worldly pleasures. Short dramatic scenes are interwoven to connect the stories, with their content and style varying to suit each storyteller's identity. The Canterbury Tales vividly portrays the social life of 14th-century England, reflecting the humanist thought that opposed feudalism.