| Plot Summary of The Canterbury Tales |
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"This is the famous Canterbury Tales. Basically, thirty people decide to go on a pilgrimage to Canterbury in England. They decide to have a contest to see who can tell the best story. After that, there are the thirty stories of each of the thirty pilgrims, among which are a knight, a miller, a monk, a friar, a good wife, etc. It is written in Middle English, which is difficult, but by no means impossible, to master. It's one of the gems of early, early English literature, and has plenty of sex and foul language for today's TV watcher (which is too much for me)."
David J. Peterson, Resident Scholar
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"Geoffrey Chaucer, the "Father of English Literature," creates the "mother of all literature" in his widely read and studied "Canterbury Tales." These tales, originally intended to be 124 altogether, amount to only 23, as Chaucer never finished this work. The basic idea is that 29 pilgrims plus the innkeeper of the Tabard Inn and Chaucer himself agree that on their way to Canterbury, each will tell two stories going and two on the return, with the winner getting a free meal, paid for by the others. Each of these classic stories deal with important social, religious, and royal issues of 14th century England, and each of the stories carries a moral. Who can forget the Knight, the Wife of Bath, the Pardoner, and my favorite, the Summoner! Most Americans are familiar with Chaucer's work, as it's usually been difficult to get through senior English without reading these tales--which are at times hilarious, sad, bawdy, and mischevious! While originally written in Middle English, it's easy to get the modern "translation"!"
Bill Hobbs, Resident Scholar
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"It was very eventful. Full of love, hate, and war. "
Trinae JAmerson, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of The Canterbury Tales |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of story
- distant past/middle ages
Inside culture (main char)
- Eastern European
Culture clash?
- visiting a culture in other country
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Outside culture (society)
- European
Ethnic/regional/gender life
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 1 ()
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Style
Weird Victorian/Shakespearean English?
Yes
Unusual Style:
- a lot of play on words
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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