Other editions of book CANTERBURY TALES

One spring day, the Narrator of The Canterbury Tales rents a room at the Tabard Inn before he recommences his journey to Canterbury. That evening, a group of people arrive at the inn, all of whom are also going to Canterbury to receive the blessings of "the holy blissful martyr," St. Thomas à Becket. Calling themselves "pilgrims" because of their destination, they accept the Narrator into their company. The Narrator describes his newfound traveling companions.The Host at the inn, Harry Bailey, suggests that, to make the trip to Canterbury pass more pleasantly, each member of the party tell two tales on the journey to Canterbury and two more tales on the journey back. The person who tells the best story will be rewarded with a sumptuous dinner paid for by the other members of the party. The Host decides to accompany the pilgrims to Canterbury and serve as the judge of the tales. (non illustrated)

The Canterbury Tales (Middle English: Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of over 20 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century, during the time of the Hundred Years' War. The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return. After a long list of works written earlier in his career, including Troilus and Criseyde, House of Fame, and "Parliament of Fowls", The Canterbury Tales is near-unanimously seen as Chaucer's magnum opus. He uses the tales and the descriptions of its characters to paint an ironic and critical portrait of English society at the time, and particularly of the Church. Structurally, the collection resembles The Decameron, which Chaucer may have read during his first diplomatic mission to Italy in 1372. It is sometimes argued that the greatest contribution The Canterbury Tales made to English literature was in popularising the literary use of vernacular, English, rather than French or Latin. English had, however, been used as a literary language centuries before Chaucer's time, and several of Chaucer's contemporaries—John Gower, William Langland, the Pearl Poet, and Julian of Norwich—also wrote major literary works in English. It is unclear to what extent Chaucer was responsible for starting a trend as opposed to simply being part of it. While Chaucer clearly states the addressees of many of his poems, the intended audience of The Canterbury Tales is more difficult to determine. Chaucer was a courtier, leading some to believe that he was mainly a court poet who wrote exclusively for nobility.

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer from Coterie Classics All Coterie Classics have been formatted for ereaders and devices and include a bonus link to the free audio book. “Then you compared a woman's love to Hell, To barren land where water will not dwell, And you compared it to a quenchless fire, The more it burns the more is its desire To burn up everything that burnt can be. You say that just as worms destroy a tree A wife destroys her husband and contrives, As husbands know, the ruin of their lives. ” ― Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales are collection of stories by Chaucer, each attributed to a fictional medieval pilgrim.

The Canterbury Tales recounts the stories told by pilgrims to one another as they make their way from London to Canterbury Cathedral. This volume contains the introduction to those tales by describing the characters who are embarking upon that pilgrimage. The facing page contains Chaucer’s original text as it was written in fourteenth century Middle English. Alongside, there is room in the wide outer margins for students to write their own notes on The General Prologue, or perhaps, to define unfamiliar key words. The reverse side of each page contains a new translation into modern English. The translation into modern English differs only slightly from those found elsewhere. Here, the key difference is that lines are translated separately, thereby avoiding the problem seen in some translations that words are borrowed from adjacent lines to help maintain Chaucer’s rhyming structure. Accordingly, this translation adheres more closely to Chaucer’s own words; although, in doing so, it may occasionally contain rather more descriptive explanations than is usual in translated works. Nevertheless, this ‘word for word’ approach will greatly assist those new to Chaucer’s middle English. Parents will be pleased that The General Prologue contains no lewdness or vulgarity as can be found in some of the other Canterbury Tales. In this regard, it may appropriately be studied at Middle School level. This volume contains the complete and unabridged text (with line numbers), a helpful translation and a personal study notebook - which means it offers excellent value for money. This revised edition contains several textual and stylistic modifications to improve the accessibility of the text for all readers, but without sacrificing its academic integrity. The translator was educated at St Chad’s College Durham, Warwick, Exeter and De Montfort Universities. Lately, he was both a Hardwicke and Sir Thomas More scholar of Lincoln’s Inn, London. His publications include works on English law and literature.

Geoffrey Chaucer created this book in 1387. At that time the religion was the most important thing for European people. It was very popular to go on pilgrimages. It means travelling to famous Christian cities to be near to God. People said their prayers and asked for well-being or repented about something and supplicated for help. A group of people went on a pilgrimage to Canterbury, a town in England. Their aim was Canterbury Cathedral. At the beginning of their journey one member of the group suggested a game to entertain everybody. All of them had to tell one story. The best story would win a prize at the end of the journey. Everyone had something he wanted to share. The stories were very different. You'll hear much interesting from a Knight, a Clerk, a Merchant, a Franklin and a Pardoner.

The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.

Four Canterbury Tales: For venturesome readers only All in the original Middle English made reader-friendly with modern spelling and every possible aid right on the page. Not for those afraid of a little mental work or a lot of hearty laughter. The Miller's Tale: Bawdy, well-plotted, uproariously funny. The first great short story in English. The Pardoner's Tale: A professional televangelist before TV, the most dubious character on the pilgrimage boasts of his confidence tricks but tells a powerful tale of greed and treachery. The Wife of Bath's Tale: The first and funniest feminist manifesto and handbook in English. How to marry money and manage men for fun and profit. The Wife shows: 1. How to marry wealthy older men and how to deny them sex and overwhelm them with it in turn. 2. When they die of starvation or exhaustion, how to get new "husbands meeke, young and fresh a-bed". Your tutor: Alison Masterman, the Wife of Bath, veteran of five marriages and no divorces. The Nun's Priest's Tale: The delightful barnyard fable by that merry preacher the Nun's Priest will set you cheering as it does Harry Bailly, host of the tale-telling contest & Host of the Tabard Inn. About the Editor: Michael Murphy, Professor Emeritus at the City University of New York, has edited several editions of Chaucer.

Playaway is the easiest way to listen to a book on the go. An all-in-one format, the player and content are combined in one 2 ounce unit and it comes with everything you need to start listening immediately. No separate player needed, no CDs, no downloads – just press play! "Translated by J. U. Nicolson At the Tabard Inn, thirty travelers of widely varying classes and occupations are gathering to make the annual pilgrimage to Becket’s shrine at Canterbury. It is agreed that each traveler will tell four tales to help pass the time and that the host of the inn will judge the tales and reward the best storyteller with a free supper upon their return. Thus we hear, translated into modern English, twenty-some tales, told in the voices of knight and merchant, wife and miller, squire and nun, and many more. Some are bawdy, some spiritual, some romantic, some mysterious, some chivalrous. Between the stories, the travelers converse, joke, and argue, revealing much of their individual outlooks upon life as well as what life was like in late fourteenth-century England."