What This Collection Is
This collection captures a cross-section of medieval life through a series of interlocking verse tales and independent poems. The primary focus is a group of travelers bound for Canterbury who agree to a storytelling contest to pass the time, resulting in a mix of courtly romance, dirty jokes, and religious sermons. Beyond the pilgrimage, the volume includes the long-form tragedy of Troilus and Cressida, a dream vision where birds hold a legal assembly on Valentine’s Day, and various shorter works like the House of Fame and Chaucer’s A.B.C. It is organized by speaker and theme, shifting from the Knight's nobility to the Miller’s drunken disruption.
Figures & speakers
- Our Host
The judge and travel coordinator of the Canterbury storytelling competition. (in “The General Prologue”)
- The Wife of Bath
A veteran of five marriages who argues for the authority of experience. (in “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”)
- Pandarus
The intermediary facilitating the romance between the two titular Trojan lovers. (in “TROILUS AND CRESSIDA”)
- Satanas
A figure in the Sompnour's vision with a sail-sized tail in hell. (in “The Sompnour’s Tale”)
What it's really about
- Social Friction
- Characters use stories to insult or 'match' their rivals' status.
- The Authority of Experience
- Arguments favoring personal history over ancient religious texts.
Why it's memorable
- A drunken Miller refusing to take off his hood while shouting down the Host.
- Birds gathering in a formal court to debate the merits of different lovers.
Where it lands
The collection concludes with a series of miscellaneous poems, following the expansive sequence of tales and the dream visions presented earlier in the volume.
For your book club
- How the various social classes of the pilgrims use their tales to undermine each other's dignity.
- The contrast between the Knight's noble ideals and the Miller's earthy, physical reality.