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Essay Archive - Summary of The Canterbury Tales
Summary of The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories set within a framing
story of a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral, the shrine of Saint Thomas à
Becket. The poet joins a band of pilgrims, vividly described in the General
Prologue, who assemble at the Tabard Inn outside London for the journey to
Canterbury. Ranging in status from a Knight to a humble Plowman, they are a
microcosm of 14th- century English society.
The Host proposes a storytelling contest to pass the time; each of the
30 or so pilgrims (the exact number is unclear) is to tell four t....
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