![]() ![]() Taken together, the tales offer a fascinating insight into English life during the late 14th century.Ĭhaucer began the tales in 1387 and continued working on them until his death in 1400. The tone of their tales ranges from pious to comic, with humour veering between erudite wit and good honest vulgarity. Chaucer mixes satire and realism in lively characterisations of his pilgrims. This literary device gives Chaucer the opportunity to paint a series of vivid word portraits of a cross section of his society, from a knight and prioress, to a carpenter and cook a much-married wife of Bath, to a bawdy miller – an occupation regarded in Chaucer’s day as shifty and dishonest. ![]() The best storyteller is to be rewarded with a free supper on their return. The host at the inn suggests each pilgrim tell two tales on the way out and two on the way home to help while away their time on the road. Chaucer’s long poem follows the journey of a group of pilgrims, 31 including Chaucer himself, from the Tabard Inn in Southwark to St Thomas à Becket’s shrine at Canterbury Cathedral. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |