Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" ( A Critical Evaluation) || By Dr. Anukriti Sharma

The Canterbury Tales is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. 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.

1. Geoffrey Chaucer 1340-1400 The Canterbury Tales (A Critical Evaluation) By- Dr. Anukriti Sharma

2. Chaucer’s Life in A Glance Geoffrey Chaucer, the son of John Chaucer, a wine merchant of London, was born about 1340. His father was connected with the royal family perhaps as purveyor of wine and Chaucer himself became at seventeen a page to the page to the wife of the Duke of Clarence, third son of Edward III. Two years later he went to the French wars where he was taken prisoner and was ransomed by the King himself. After his return he was appointed Valet of the King’s chamber. He married to Philippa and had a son named Lewis to whom he dedicated his Treatise on the Astrolabe. Edward III

3. Chaucer’s Life in A Glance Not much is known of his wife, Philippa, who is believed to have been sister to the wife of John of Lancaster , his great patron. Philippa is said to have died in 1387. From about 1370 when he was thirty to 1378 he was employed on diplomatic missions to France and Italy. About this time he was a member of Parliament for Kent and also held the office of comptroller of Customs in the port of London. In addition he was granted a pension and was generally prosperous throughout life except for a brief spell during the disgrace of John of Gaunt under Richard II. He died in 1400 and was buried in Poet’s corner Westminster Abbey . Philippa Roet Richard II. Westminster Abbey

4. Father of English Literature Geoffrey Chaucer, the first national poet of England, had the rare distinction of having lived through the reigns of three English monarchs. Geoffrey Chaucer widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages, he is best known for “The Canterbury Tales”. He has been called the "father of English literature" , or, alternatively, the " father of English poetry" . 

5. The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, the masterpiece by Geoffrey Chaucer, reveals the he was much more than a man of letters and a student. He had served himself in war and diplomacy. He was a courtier and official, and a politician. In the course of his life he had opportunity to come in contact with men of all classes and in several countries. The result of this varied experience can be seen in his ‘The Canterbury Tales’.

6. Geoffrey Chaucer;  The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer, from the 15th-century Ellesmere manuscript of  The Canterbury Tales . Canterbury Tales is written in Middle English. It was written around 1386-1395. The original copies of Canterbury Tales were printed in 1477 . Chaucer was supposed to write 120 tales , but he only wrote 20 tales . The pilgrimage happened in the late fourteenth century. Including Chaucer they were 31 pilgrims . Some facts about Canterbury Tales

7. The main purpose of the pilgrims was to visit the Canterbury Cathedral where the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket was located. The winning prize for the story telling contest among the group of the pilgrims to get a free meal at Tabard Inn at Southwark. Some facts about Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Cathedral ,Shrine of Saint Thomas Becket The Tabard ( Tablot ) Inn at Southwark, London

8. The Narrator is an anonymous member of the pilgrimage. Each of the characters express different views of reality. It is written in the past tense . Some facts about Canterbury Tales John Lydgate The tales of Chaucer were praised John Lydgate and Thomas Occleve . Both of them were considered as the first critics of Chaucer’s works.

9. The Prologue has rightly been called a “ portrait-gallery”.

10. The Knight’s Tale ,  The Miller’s Tale ,   The Reeve’s Tale ,  The Cook’s Tale ,  The Man of Law’s Tale ,   The Wife of Bath’s Tale ,  The Friar’s Tale ,   The Summoner’s Tale ,  The Clerk’s Tale ,  The Merchant’s Tale ,    The Squire’s Tale ,  The Canterbury Tales  The Manciple’s Tale, and The Parson’s Tale (in prose), and ends with “Chaucer’s Retraction.” Not all the tales are complete; several contain their own prologues or epilogues. The Franklin’s Tale ,  The Second Nun’s Tale , The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale,  The Physician’s Tale,  The Pardoner’s Tale,  The Shipman’s Tale,  The Prioress’s Tale,  The Rime of Sir Thopas ,  The Tale of Melibeus  (in prose),  The Monk’s Tale,  The Nun’s Priest’s Tale, 

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