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Résumé :
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The Canterbury Tales were published in 1387, and the first known book edition that bundles them all dates back to 1478. This work, a collection of 24 stories, is considered the greatest work of Geoffrey Chaucer, an accomplished (middle) English poet and prose writer and one of the finest storytellers in the English language. He was never able to finish his masterpiece which tells the story of 30 pilgrims on their way to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. To pass the time, they tell each other stories. The pilgrims come from different ways of life so the stories are very diverse as well. Through the stories told, the entire medieval society passes the revue. The Canterbury Tales are mostly written in verse, although some are written in prose.
The prologue is written as a satire, mocking the class system of the Middle Ages in England. Each of the characters represents a certain group of people and the way they are portrayed and the stories they tell only solidify this. Chaucer adds a group of people that don’t fit into either of the 3 classes, a kind of middle class that have come to be through industry and commerce. He also writes a few female characters, though they are mostly defined as mothers or a very selfish, sexual being. The stories are linked together by a satirical narrator who leaves judgement up to the readers.
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