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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 tales
on the round trip. Chaucer com....
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