Other editions of book The Canterbury Tales

This edition of the Canterbury Tales, complete and unabridged, was specially prepared for Everyman's Library by Professor A. C. Cawley. Since its first publication in 1958 it has been acclaimed by critics throughout the English-speaking world, and has become a standard textbook among students everywhere. The text is not modernized; it is based partly on that of the Ellesmere manuscript, an early fifteenth-century copy of all the ten separate fragments in which Chaucer left the Tales at his death in 1400. This beautifully decorated volume, now in the Huntington Library, California, is the work of the very best professional copyists of the immediate pre-printing era, and is therefore of the highest textual authority. Professor Cawley provides marginal glosses and footnotes, which enable readers unfamiliar with Middle English to understand even the most difficult passages without having to turn the page in search of explanatory material.

A group of English men and women from all walks of life gather at the Tabard Inn atSouthwark and proceed on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Before they leave, their host proposes a contest: whichever of them can tell the best story during the ride to Canterbury will be given a free dinner at the Tabard upon the group's return to London. And as courtlyromances are answered by filthy fabliaux, and proto-feminist exempla lead to heated debates about marriage, the pilgrims provide modern readers with an alternately touching and riotous look at life in medieval England. Highlights include: "The Miller's Tale": a bawdytale of a romantic quadrangle between a poor scholar, a parish clerk, a carpenter, and the carpenter's beautiful wife. "The Reeve's Tale": After being cuckolded by a thieving miller, the students John and Aleyn concoct a delicious revenge in this freewheeling sex farce. "The Wife of Bath's Tale": Prefaced by the Wife's lengthy autobiography, this is the story of a knight convicted of rape - who must, as penance, discover what it is that women most desire. "The Summoner's Tale": A delightful if indelicate tale about the unusual donation a parishioner makes to his local monastery. "The Pardoner's Tale": The story of three rioters who go on a drunken quest to find Death - and succeed. "Sir Thopas": Chaucer's hilarious self-parody, in which he represents an absurd piece of fake minstrel-verse as "the best rhyme I know." "The Nun's Priest's Tale": An amusing fable about a rooster, his favorite wife, and the fox who wanted to eat them.

GEOFFREY CHAUCER (1343-1400), was the son of John Chaucer, a London vintner. In 1357 he served with Lionel, duke of Clarence. In 1359 he was in France with Edward III´s invading army, was taken prisoner, and ransomed. He married Philippa, the daughter of Sir Paon Roet of Hainault and the sister of John of Gaunt´s thirt wife, Katherine Swynford. Chaucer enjoyed Gaunt´s patronage throughout his life. He held a number of positions at court and in the king´s service, and he travelled abroad on numerous occasions on diplomatic missions to France, Genoa and Florence. He was appointed controller of customs in the port of London, and was knight of the shire for Kent. His last official position was deputy forester in the King´s Forest at Petherton in Somerset. “The Canterbury Tales” (1386-1400), Chaucer´s most celebrated work, extending to 17.000 lines in prose and verse of various metres. The General Prologue describes the meeting of 29 pilgrims in the Tabard Inn in Southwark. The host proposes that the pilgrims should shorten the road by telling four stories each, two on the way to Canterbury and two on the way back.

Geoffrey Chaucer is widely considered to be the father of English literature. Having achieved fame in the Middle Ages as a writer of both prose and poetry, as well as through his scientific and philosophical knowledge, Chaucer became the first poet to be buried in Poets’ Corner at Westminster Abbey. Some of his most renowned works include The House of Fame, The Book of the Duchess and The Legend of Good Women.What Chaucer is known for the most today, however, is his authorship of The Canterbury Tales. This is a series of 24 delightful and insightful stories, written both in verse and in prose, that were presented initially as part of a storytelling contest by pilgrims traveling together to Canterbury.The stories are written in Middle English, and are included inside the frame tale of the pilgrims’ journey, as they seek to reach the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket found at the Canterbury Cathedral. Their themes vary greatly, from love and romance to tales of wisdom about avarice and greed. The characters and the narratives themselves hold remarkable cultural and historic value, while still remaining some of the most intriguing and well-presented works of fiction even more than six centuries after they were first published.The Canterbury Tales are oftentimes lively and sometimes even surprisingly humorous. An undisputed work of genius written by a man well ahead of his time, they will enchant you through the vivid portrayal of situations, places and characters that have inspired many other writers of prose and poetry throughout the centuries to come.Whether you have an interest for medieval society and its cultural values, are more drawn to the beauty and enchanting quality of the folklore and understanding of those times, or you just want to enjoy a few vibrant, fast-paced tales in Middle English, The Canterbury Tales will bring you what you seek.