LoveReading Says
I haven't read all 24 stories from The Canterbury Tales, however I did study a number at A Level, and all these years later they are still with me. I initially marched over the words, puzzled the meaning, took the structure apart, but, but… Then the moment arrived when it all became clear! I actually saw five of the tales performed in a play using traditional language and a vivid, vibrant clarity appeared and gave meaning. From then on I would read the stories out loud and I could understand the pattern, the feel, the thoughts, the greed, corruption and saucy moments. These are wondrous tales, let yourself fall into them as they come to life in a way that could well open your eyes, they certainly opened mine.
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The Canterbury Tales Synopsis
Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales between 1387 and 1400, as a series of stories told by a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury. The pilgrims come from every part of society, tell each other tales to pass the tile while they travel, offering romance, farce, philosophy, religion and satire in a ribald reflection of humankind.
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About Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400), born in London, England, is often considered the greatest English poet of the middle ages and the 'father of English literature'. Throughout his life, Chaucer maintained a successful career in the civil service, including roles as a noblewoman's page, a courtier and a diplomat, and later achieved fame for his extensive body of poetry and philosophy. Perhaps the best known of these is his unfinished work The Canterbury Tales, a collection of stories told by 24 fictional pilgrims in a story-telling competition as they journey to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket.
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