The Canterbury tales

Carolina Cordova

Geoffrey Chaucer

About The Canterbury Tales:

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories in a frame story, between 1387 and 1400. It is the story of a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury (England). The pilgrims, who come from all layers of society, tell stories to each other to kill time while they travel to Canterbury. If we trust the General Prologue, Chaucer intended that each pilgrim should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two tales on the way back. He never finished his enormous project and even the completed tales were not finally revised. Scholars are uncertain about the order of the tales. As the printing press had yet to be invented when Chaucer wrote his works, The Canterbury Tales has been passed down in several handwritten manuscripts.

Fragment

Group

Tales

Fragment I Fragment II Fragment III Fragment IV Fragment V Fragment VI Fragment VII Fragment VIII Fragment IX Fragment X

A B1 D E F C B2 G H I

General Prologue, Knight, Miller, Reeve, Cook Man of Law Wife of Bath, Friar, Summoner Clerk, Merchant Squire, Franklin Physician, Pardoner Shipman, Prioress, Sir Thopas, Melibee, Monk, Nun's Priest Second Nun, Canon's Yeoman Manciple Parson

'Wepyng and waylyng, care and oother sorweI knowe ynogh, on even and amorwe,'Quod the Marchant, 'and so doon oother moThat wedded been.

wep and wail karand or srw i knu nox n vn and amrw kwd martant and s don or m at wddd ben [11]

'Weeping and wailing, care and other sorrowI know enough, in the evening and in the morning,'said the Merchant, 'and so does many anotherwho has been married.'