The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales are stories from the 14th century, written by Geoffrey Chaucer around from 1387. Two of them are in prose, the other written in verse.
The stories, not all of which are considered to be original, are integrated into a framework for action, which is about a group of pilgrims on their way from Southwark, a suburb of London, to Canterbury, where they will visit the tomb of Thomas Becket in the cathedral - which was later destroyed by King Henry VIII. The host of the Tabard Inn suggests the thirty pilgrims before to tell on the outward and return journey each two stories, and promises the best price narrator as a free lunch.
The themes of the tales vary, act of courtly love, betrayal and greed. The genres also vary, there are romances, Breton Lai ( short rhythmic narratives ), sermons and fables. The characters introduced in the prologue, telling stories of the highest cultural relevance.
The stories in detail
The stories are structured as follows:
1 fragment
- The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales ( The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales )
- The Knight 's Tale ( The story of the knight )
- The Miller's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and tale of the miller )
- The Reeve 's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and narrative of the bailiff )
- The Cook 's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and tale of the cook )
Second fragment
- The Man of Law's Introduction, Prologue and Tale (introduction, prologue and story of lawyer )
3 fragment
- The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and story of the woman from Bath )
- The Friar's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and tale of Friar )
- The Summoner 's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and narrative of the church bailiff )
4 fragment
- The Clerk 's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and narrative of the scholars )
- The Merchant 's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and tale of the merchant )
5 fragment
- The Squire 's Introduction and Tale ( introduction and story of the miners )
- The Franklin 's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and story of the landowner )
6 fragment
- The Physician 's Tale ( The story of the doctor )
- The Pardoner 's Introduction, Prologue and Tale (introduction, prologue and story of the drain Chandler )
7 fragment
- The Shipman 's Tale and Epilogue ( narrative and epilogue of the ship Lord)
- The Prioress 's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and tale the Prioress )
- The Prologue, Tale and Epilogue of Sir Topas ( prologue and epilogue story about Sir Topas )
- The Tale of Melibee ( The story of Melibeus )
- The Monk's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and tale of the monk )
- The Nun 's Priest's Prologue, Tale and Epilogue ( prologue and epilogue of the story nuns priest )
8 fragment
- The Second Nun's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and narration of the second nun )
- The Canon 's Yeoman 's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and narrative of the service man of the pen Lord)
9 fragment
- The Manciple 's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and tale of the administrator)
10 fragment
- The Parson's Prologue and Tale ( prologue and tale of the priest )
- Chaucer 's Retraction ( Chaucer's revocation )
Some of these stories are humorous, some serious, but all are very accurate in the description of human nature. Misuse of religion is a major theme. Another important element of the narratives is their focus on the three-piece of estates: nobility, clergy, peasants. The work is not complete, there were 120 stories originally intended four per participant, but in Chaucer's death were only 21 finished.
The biggest contribution of this work on English literature is the use of the vernacular instead of the French ( Anglo -Norman ) or Latin, which were commonly used for literary works. The structure of the Canterbury Tales can be found in other contemporary works again, for example, in Boccaccio's Decameron, which is considered one of Chaucer's main sources.
Printing and art history wrote the edition of the graphic artist and pioneer of Art Nouveau, William Morris, who appeared in his founded in 1891 " Kelmscott Press ". There, handcrafted and richly illustrated bibliophile works were written after the mass products of the 19th century again.
The Canterbury Tales today
The title of the work has become a common term in the English language, the name was often adapted and adopted, for example in the British film A Canterbury Tale. Some time ago, some of the stories produced for television. The original version was written in Middle English, but there are also translations into modern English and in Welsh.
The evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins used The Canterbury Tales as a template for his book "Tales from the origin of life: A journey to Darwin's footsteps ," in which he represents the way of living beings through the evolutionary tree as a pilgrimage and the individual pilgrims can tell their evolutionary history.