Knowra The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales is an unfinished collection of stories by Geoffrey Chaucer, framed as a storytelling contest among pilgrims traveling to Canterbury.
Geoffrey Chaucer : Geoffrey Chaucer was a late-medieval English poet and court official, best known for The Canterbury Tales. He composed the collection and appears as a fictional pilgrim within its frame.
The Knight's Tale : The Knight's Tale is a romance about Palamon and Arcite, two cousins who compete for Emelye. Its elevated style opens the storytelling sequence with aristocratic romance.
The Wife of Bath : The Wife of Bath is a prosperous, outspoken pilgrim who recounts five marriages and argues for women's authority in marriage. Her prologue and tale make her one of the collection’s most self-assertive narrators.
Thomas Becket : Thomas Becket was the archbishop of Canterbury murdered in 1170 and later venerated as a saint. The pilgrims’ destination is his shrine at Canterbury Cathedral.
English literature : English literature is writing composed in English, including poetry, drama, fiction, and nonfiction. Chaucer’s major vernacular poem became a landmark in the literary tradition.
Middle English : Middle English is the form of English spoken and written in England from about 1100 to 1500. Chaucer wrote the tales in the vernacular language of his period.
The Miller's Tale : The Miller's Tale is a comic fabliau about a carpenter, his young wife, and a student who deceives him. It answers the Knight’s lofty romance with bawdy social comedy.
The Pardoner : The Pardoner is a church official who sells pardons and relics, and openly admits to preaching for profit. His tale gains force from the contrast between its moral lesson and his admitted fraud.
Canterbury Cathedral : Canterbury Cathedral is an English cathedral that became a major shrine and pilgrimage destination after Becket’s death. It is the destination that gives the collection its pilgrimage frame.
Chaucerian stanza : The Chaucerian stanza is a seven-line poetic form, usually rhyming ababbcc, also called rhyme royal. Several tales use this stanza to achieve a controlled, courtly narrative voice.
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