The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 – 1400)
1. Overview & Narrative Structure
The Pilgrimage
Route: The Tabard Inn (Southwark, London) ➔ Shrine of St. Thomas Becket (Canterbury Cathedral).
Season: April (Spring). This symbolizes spiritual rebirth and physical awakening (“Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages”).
The Contest Rules
- Host/Judge: Harry Bailey (Innkeeper of the Tabard).
- Task: 4 tales per pilgrim (2 on the way there, 2 on the way back).
- Judging Criteria: Tales must provide “Sentence and Solaas” (Meaning/Instruction and Pleasure/Entertainment).
- Penalty: Anyone who argues with the Host must pay for everyone’s travel expenses.
📝 Examination Toolkit: High-Yield MCQ Data
A Key Numbers & Stats
- Pilgrims in Prologue: 29 (“wel nine and twenty”)
- Total Travelers: 31 (29 + Chaucer + Host)
- Canon’s Yeoman: Joins late (at Boughton-under-Blean)
- Verse Form: Heroic Couplet (aa, bb, cc)
- Stanzaic Forms: Rhyme Royal (Prioress, Man of Law)
B Genre Cheat Sheet
- Fabliau (Plural: Fabliaux)
- A short, comical, often bawdy/obscene tale involving trickery and the lower classes.
Examples: Miller, Reeve, Merchant, Shipman. - Breton Lai
- A short romance involving magic, knights, and courtly love, originally from Brittany.
Examples: Franklin, Wife of Bath. - Beast Fable
- Animals behave like humans to teach a moral.
Example: Nun’s Priest’s Tale.
Factsheet C: Pilgrim Identification Guide
| Identifying Trait/Object | Pilgrim | Analysis/Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Gap-toothed (gat-tothed) | Wife of Bath | Medieval physiognomy suggested this indicated a lustful nature and a fondness for travel. |
| Ulcer (mormal) on shin | The Cook | Juxtaposition of his skill (making delicious blancmange) with his unsanitary, rotting wound. |
| Golden Brooch “Amor Vincit Omnia” | The Prioress | “Love Conquers All.” Ambiguous: refers to divine love (Caritas) or courtly/romantic love (Amor)? |
| Hairy wart on nose | The Miller | Red hair (associated with treachery/foxes) and the wart suggest a beast-like, shameless nature. |
| “Gelding or a mare” (Eunuch?) | The Pardoner | Smooth face, high voice, waxy hair. Suggests spiritual sterility and sexual ambiguity. |
| Red face & Carbunkles (pimples) | The Summoner | Scary appearance; children are afraid of him. His outer disease reflects his inner corruption. |
Factsheet D: Animal Metaphors (Common MCQ Topic)
“Headed like a sow” (pig) or a fox (shovel beard). Spade-like beard.
“Eyen… as an hare.” Voice like a goat. Prey animals or lecherous symbols.
“He sleep namore than dooth a nightingale.” Symbol of lover’s insomnia.
2. Social Context: Estates & Class
Chaucer wrote during a time of social upheaval (post-Black Death). The strict feudal hierarchy was breaking down.
Nobility (Bellatores)
Role: To fight and rule.
- The Knight: The ideal. Not satirized.
- The Squire: The Knight’s son. Curled hair, embroidered clothes. Represents the decline into vanity.
Clergy (Oratores)
Role: To pray and save souls.
- Most Corrupt Group: Monk (hunts), Friar (begs for profit), Pardoner (sells lies).
- Exception: The Parson (the only holy man).
Peasantry (Laboratores)
Role: To work and feed.
- The Plowman: Parson’s brother. Ideal worker. Hauls dung for free.
- The Miller/Reeve: Represent the cunning/stealing peasant.
The Rising Middle Class
Role: Merchants & Professionals. The disruption to the system.
- Merchant: Focused on profit/debt.
- Man of Law: Wealthy lawyer.
- Wife of Bath: Cloth maker (businesswoman).
3. Deep Dive Summaries
Click sections to expand full analysis.
Fragment I (The Opening)
⚔️ The Knight’s Tale Chivalric Romance
Key Characters
- Theseus: Duke of Athens (Order/Law).
- Palamon: Knight (servant of Venus).
- Arcite: Knight (servant of Mars).
- Emily: The prize/object of affection.
Detailed Plot
Palamon and Arcite are imprisoned in a tower. They see Emily walking in the garden and become bitter rivals for her love. Arcite is released but banished; Palamon escapes years later. They meet in a grove and fight. Theseus stops them and orders a grand tournament 50 weeks later.
The Temples: Theseus builds a stadium with 3 temples. Palamon prays to Venus to win Emily. Arcite prays to Mars to win the battle. Emily prays to Diana to remain a maiden (denied).
Resolution: Arcite wins the battle, but Saturn sends an earthquake/fury; Arcite is thrown from his horse and dies. After a period of mourning, Palamon marries Emily, fulfilling both prayers (Arcite won the war; Palamon won the girl).
🍺 The Miller’s Tale Fabliau
Key Characters
- John: Old, jealous carpenter.
- Alisoun: Young, wild wife.
- Nicholas: Clever clerk/student (boarder).
- Absolon: Effeminate parish clerk.
Detailed Plot
Nicholas convinces gullible John a second Noah’s Flood is coming. He makes John hang tubs in the rafters to sleep in. While John sleeps, Nicholas and Alisoun have sex in the bed below.
The Prank: Absolon comes to the window begging for a kiss. Alisoun presents her rear end in the dark. Furious, Absolon returns with a hot iron. Nicholas tries the same joke, farts “like a thunder-clap,” and Absolon brands him. Nicholas screams “Water!” waking John, who cuts the tub cord thinking the flood is here, falling and breaking his arm.
🌾 The Reeve’s Tale Fabliau
Key Characters
- Symkyn: Dishonest Miller.
- John & Aleyn: Students (Cambridge).
Detailed Plot
The students go to the mill to watch their corn ground so Symkyn can’t steal it. He unties their horse; they chase it until dark. Forced to stay the night in the miller’s single room, they take revenge. Aleyn sleeps with the daughter (Malyne); John moves the cradle to the foot of his bed, tricking the miller’s wife into climbing in with him. Symkyn is beaten by the clerks.
🍳 The Cook’s Tale Fragment
Detailed Plot: A fragment about Perkin Reveller, an apprentice who loves gambling, dancing, and drinking. He is fired by his master and moves in with a friend whose wife is a prostitute. The story ends abruptly.
Fragment II
⚖️ The Man of Law’s Tale Religious Romance / Hagiography
Key Characters
- Custance: Christian Roman princess.
- Sultan: Syrian ruler (converts).
- King Alla: Northumbrian king.
Detailed Plot
Custance marries the Sultan on condition he converts. His evil mother murders him and the Christians at the wedding feast. Custance is set adrift on a rudderless boat. She lands in Northumberland and converts King Alla. Alla’s evil mother frames her for giving birth to a monster. She is set adrift again. Eventually, she reunites with Alla and her father in Rome.
Fragment III (The Marriage Group)
💍 The Wife of Bath’s Tale Arthurian Romance
The Prologue (Crucial Analysis)
Her prologue is a massive autobiographical defense of women’s sovereignty. She details her 5 husbands: #1-3 were “good” (rich/old) and she dominated them; #4 was a reveler (she made him jealous); #5 (Jankyn) was a scholar who beat her. She gained sovereignty over Jankyn after he struck her deaf for tearing pages out of his “Book of Wicked Wives,” and he felt guilty.
The Tale
A rapist knight must answer: “What do women most desire?” An ugly Hag gives him the answer: “Sovereignty” (Maistrie) over their husbands. He marries her but is miserable. She lectures him on “Gentilesse” (nobility comes from behavior, not birth). She offers him a choice: be ugly & faithful OR fair & risky. He gives the choice to her. Having won sovereignty, she becomes both fair and faithful.
🕍 The Friar’s Tale Exemplum
Detailed Plot: A corrupt Summoner meets a Yeoman who reveals he is a demon. They agree to share winnings. They see a Carter curse his horses (“Devil take you!”), but the Demon says the curse isn’t sincere. The Summoner then tries to extort a poor widow for a fake “pan.” She sincerely damns him to Hell. The Demon takes the Summoner to Hell instantly.
📜 The Summoner’s Tale Fabliau / Satire
Detailed Plot: A greedy Friar lectures a sick man, Thomas, for money. Annoyed, Thomas says he has a gift hidden in his seat. The Friar reaches down; Thomas farts on his hand. The Friar is humiliated. A squire later solves the mathematical problem of how to divide a fart equally among twelve friars (using a cartwheel’s spokes).
Fragment IV
📚 The Clerk’s Tale Folk Tale / Allegory
Detailed Plot: Marquis Walter marries peasant Griselda. He tests her “patience” cruelly: he takes her daughter and son (pretending to kill them) and then “divorces” her to marry a new wife (who is actually the daughter). Griselda accepts all without complaint. Walter reveals it was a test and restores her family.
💰 The Merchant’s Tale Fabliau
Detailed Plot: Old knight January marries young May. He goes blind. May signals her lover, squire Damian, to climb a pear tree. She climbs up for “fruit” and has sex with Damian. Pluto restores January’s sight. Proserpina gives May the wit to excuse herself (she claims she struggled with a man to cure January’s blindness).
Fragment V
🛡️ The Squire’s Tale Romance (Fragment)
Detailed Plot: Set in the court of Tartary (Genghis Khan). A knight brings four magical gifts: a brass horse (teleportation), a mirror (truth/danger detection), a ring (animal speech), and a sword (healing/wounding). Princess Canacee uses the ring to hear a falcon’s story of betrayal by a tercel.
🌊 The Franklin’s Tale Breton Lai
Detailed Plot: Dorigen and Arveragus have a marriage of equality. While Arveragus is away, Aurelius courts Dorigen. She jokes she’ll love him if he removes the coastal rocks. He hires a magician to create an illusion that the rocks are gone. Dorigen is distraught. Arveragus tells her she must keep her word (“Trouthe”). Aurelius, moved by this honor, releases her. The magician releases Aurelius from his debt.
Fragment VI
⚕️ The Physician’s Tale Moral Tragedy
Detailed Plot: Corrupt judge Apius lusts after the beautiful Virginia. He hires a churl to claim she is his runaway slave. To save her from shame/rape, her father Virginius cuts off her head. The townspeople revolt and imprison the judge.
☠️ The Pardoner’s Tale Exemplum
Detailed Plot: Three drunk rioters seek to kill “Death.” They meet a mysterious Old Man (symbolizing Death or the Wandering Jew) who points them to a tree. They find gold florins. One goes to town for wine (and poisons it). The other two plot to stab him. They kill him, drink the wine, and die. They found Death.
Fragment VII
⚓ The Shipman’s Tale Fabliau
Detailed Plot: A monk (Daun John) borrows money from a merchant to lend to the merchant’s wife in exchange for sex. When the merchant asks for repayment, the monk says he gave it to the wife. The wife tells the husband she spent it on clothes and will pay him back in bed.
📿 The Prioress’s Tale Miracle of the Virgin
Detailed Plot: A young “clergeon” (schoolboy) sings “O Alma Redemptoris” through a Jewish ghetto. He is murdered and thrown in a privy. He continues to sing after death due to a magical grain placed on his tongue by Mary, allowing his body to be found.
🃏 Chaucer’s Tales (Thopas & Melibee) Parody / Prose
Sir Thopas: A parody of bad knightly romances with terrible “drasty” rhymes and a pointless plot about an elf-queen. The Host stops him.
Melibee: A long, serious prose debate where Dame Prudence counsels her husband Melibee against violent revenge.
🦁 The Monk’s Tale Tragedy
Detailed Plot: A catalogue of 17 tragedies describing the fall of famous figures (Lucifer, Adam, Samson, Hercules, Nero, etc.) from high prosperity to misery due to the turning of Fortune’s Wheel.
🐓 The Nun’s Priest’s Tale Beast Fable / Mock Heroic
Detailed Plot: Rooster Chauntecleer has a nightmare about a beast. His wife Pertelote mocks him, citing medical reasons (indigestion). Chauntecleer argues dreams are prophetic (citing Cato/Macrobius). A fox (Daun Russell) flatters Chauntecleer into singing with his eyes closed, then snatches him. Chauntecleer tricks the Fox into opening his mouth to taunt pursuers, and escapes.
Fragments VIII, IX, X
⛪ The Second Nun’s Tale Hagiography
Detailed Plot: The life and martyrdom of Saint Cecilia. She converts her husband Valerian and his brother. She preaches until arrested. She survives being boiled in a bath. The executioner strikes her neck three times but cannot decapitate her; she preaches for three days before dying.
🧪 The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale Confession
Detailed Plot: A Canon and his Yeoman join the group late. The Yeoman exposes his master’s fraudulent alchemy. The Canon flees. The Yeoman tells stories of how alchemists use scientific terms to trick people into thinking they can turn lead to gold, while losing all their own money.
🦅 The Manciple’s Tale Mythology
Detailed Plot: Phoebus Apollo has a white crow that can speak. The crow tells Apollo that his wife is cheating on him. In a rage, Apollo kills his wife. He immediately regrets it, blames the crow, turns its feathers black, removes its ability to sing/speak, and curses all crows.
🙏 The Parson’s Tale Sermon
Context: The sun sets. The storytelling game ends. The Parson refuses to tell a fable (“drafty stuff”) and offers “knitting up” the feast.
Content: A prose treatise on the Three Parts of Penance (Contrition, Confession, Satisfaction) and the Seven Deadly Sins. It is followed by “Chaucer’s Retraction,” where the author apologizes for his “vulgar” works.
4. Major Themes
1. Authority vs. Experience
Central debate, especially in the Wife of Bath’s Prologue. Who has the right to speak truth? “Auctoritee” (Books, Church Fathers, Men) or “Experience” (Life, Suffering, Women)? The Wife argues her life experience outweighs scholarly texts.
2. Gender & Power (Sovereignty)
The “Marriage Group” tales (Wife of Bath, Clerk, Merchant, Franklin) explore who should rule in a marriage. The Wife argues for female dominance; the Clerk for female submission; the Franklin for mutual equality (“Love will not be constrained by mastery”).
3. Fortune & Providence
The Knight’s Tale relies heavily on the “Wheel of Fortune.” Are events random (Fortune) or part of a Divine Plan (Providence)? The characters often feel like pawns of the gods/stars.
4. Corruption of the Church
The holiest characters (Pardoner, Summoner, Friar) are the most morally bankrupt. Chaucer attacks the institution and its greed, while respecting the humble faith of the Parson.
Notable Quotes (Middle English)
“Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote…”
— The General Prologue (Opening lines)
“Radix malorum est cupiditas.”
— The Pardoner’s Motto (“Greed is the root of evil”)
“Trouthe is the hyeste thyng that man may kepe.”
— The Franklin’s Tale (Theme of Integrity)
