The Canterbury Tales: A Selection

Front Cover
Penguin Publishing Group, 2008 - Literary Collections - 585 pages
The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales contains the most vivid and familiar passages from medieval English literature. Chaucer's pilgrims form a complete cross-section of the society of his day from the Monk and Merchant, the Doctor and Lawyer, through to the outrageous Miller and the corrupt Summoner. This illustrated edition of the Prologue features miniatures taken from the Ellesmere manuscript, and closely adheres to the authentic text of Chaucer. End notes provide all the information necessary for a complete understanding of the work. This unique book with its eye-catching and colourful design, celebrates one of the most significant periods in English history.

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Contents

Acknowledgements
vii
Further Reading
xxxix
THE CANTERBURY TALES
l
Copyright

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About the author (2008)

Geoffrey Chaucer, one of England's greatest poets, was born in London about 1340, the son of a wine merchant and deputy to the king's butler and his wife Agnes. Not much is known of Chaucer's early life and education, other than he learned to read French, Latin, and Italian. His experiences as a civil servant and diplomat are said to have developed his fascination with people and his knowledge of English life. In 1359-1360 Chaucer traveled with King Edward III's army to France during the Hundred Years' War and was captured in Ardennes. He returned to England after the Treaty of Bretigny when the King paid his ransom. In 1366 he married Philippa Roet, one of Queen Philippa's ladies, who gave him two sons and two daughters. Chaucer remained in royal service traveling to Flanders, Italy, and Spain. These travels would all have a great influence on his work. His early writing was influenced by the French tradition of courtly love poetry, and his later work by the Italians, especially Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch. Chaucer wrote in Middle English, the form of English used from 1100 to about 1485. He is given the designation of the first English poet to use rhymed couplets in iambic pentameter and to compose successfully in the vernacular. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is a collection of humorous, bawdy, and poignant stories told by a group of fictional pilgrims traveling to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket. It is considered to be among the masterpieces of literature. His works also include The Book of the Duchess, inspired by the death of John Gaunt's first wife; House of Fame, The Parliament of Fowls, and The Legend of Good Women. Troilus and Criseyde, adapted from a love story by Boccaccio, is one of his greatest poems apart from The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer died in London on October 25, 1400. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, in what is now called Poet's Corner. Colin Wilcockson is Emeritus Fellow and Former Director of Studies in English and in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge.

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