The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, was written in the late 1300s, soon after the bubonic

plague killed millions of people in England and throughout Europe. Chaucer was one of the first
English poets to write in the vernacular of Middle English, popularizing the language of his day.

The poem is a collection of 24 stories built around a frame narrative about a group of pilgrims
making their journey to Canterbury. Chaucer’s work addresses gender relations, religion, and sexual
immorality within English society. He critiques members of the nobility, clergy, and peasantry, who
were often in conflict with each other, and uses satire to call attention to the pilgrims’ hypocrisy.
Chaucer unveils the vast spectacle of human failings by exposing the pilgrims’ preoccupation with
worldly endeavors while on a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral.

The Canterbury Tales begins with the famous words, "When April comes with his sweet, fragrant
showers, which pierce the dry ground of March, and bathe every root of every plant in sweet
liquid….Then people desire to go on pilgrimages." The narrator, who is meant to be a version of
Chaucer himself, is staying at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, just outside the gates of London, when
the company of twenty-nine pilgrims descend.

The inn’s owner and host, Harry Bailly, sets up a challenge: each pilgrim should tell four tales on their
journey—two on the way to the shrine of martyr Saint Thomas à Becket at Canterbury Cathedral,
and two on their way back to London. The host will accompany them so he can judge the best story
and the other pilgrims will pay for the winner’s supper upon their return.

The narrator then introduces the pilgrims, starting with the Knight who has the highest status and
drew the shortest lot for the right to tell the first tale. The Knight is a chivalrous nobleman who has
fought in the Crusades in numerous countries in defense of Christendom; he is honored for his
worthiness and courtesy. The Knight’s 'Fustian' tunic, made of coarse cloth, has rust stains from his
coat of chainmail.

The Knight’s son, the Squire, accompanies him. At twenty years old, the Squire is a lover and a lusty
bachelor, wearing clothes embroidered with red and white flowers. He constantly sings or plays the
flute and is the only pilgrim, other than Chaucer himself, who explicitly has literary ambitions.