Canterbury Tales

Author: Chaucer
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: Chaucer's monumental work is composed of many stories, but what sets it apart is the author's ingenious organization and arrangement, which organically combine all these originally unrelated stories into a unified whole. Although the author was unable to complete the ambitious original plan, the outline of this unity is already clearly presented. In the "General Prologue" of the book, the author introduces the origin of this "storytelling session." It was an evening in April when Chaucer encountered a group of horseback pilgrims arriving at the Tabard Inn for lodging. These twenty-nine people, who were to travel to Canterbury, included both men and women, and their identities, social statuses, and occupations varied. Except for prominent royalty and poor and humble individuals, almost all walks of life were represented, including knights, squires, servants, abbesses, nuns, priors, monks, friars, merchants, Oxford scholars, lawyers, yeomen, seamstresses, carpenters, weavers, dyers, tapestry weavers, cooks, sailors, doctors, skilled women from Bath, rectors, peasants, millers, pantry boys, stewards, church officials, and those selling indulgences. As a result, Chaucer and the innkeeper also joined this pilgrimage group. Canterbury is located in the southeastern corner of England, about sixty to seventy miles from London (which was only one square mile at the time), not far away. However, in the 14th century, the population of England was approximately 2.5 million, with low population density. Traveling in groups was naturally safer and also facilitated mutual support and reduced the loneliness of the journey. Therefore, the innkeeper, who volunteered to be the guide and acted as the leader, proposed that each person should tell four stories during the round trip, which would take four days, and he would serve as the judge. The person whose stories were deemed both "meaningful" and "interesting" would be rewarded with a banquet hosted by the group at the inn upon their return.