The Canterbury Tales: In Modern English (Penguin Classics) - Softcover

Chaucer, Geoffrey

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140440224 ISBN 13: 9780140440225

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2000

Synopsis

Here are tales told by members from all parts of English society of the 14th century, reflecting on life as they travel the road from Southwark to Canterbury.

About this title

Review

On a spring day in April--sometime in the waning years of the 14th century--29 travelers set out for Canterbury on a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Thomas Beckett. Among them is a knight, a monk, a prioress, a plowman, a miller, a merchant, a clerk, and an oft-widowed wife from Bath. Travel is arduous and wearing; to maintain their spirits, this band of pilgrims entertains each other with a series of tall tales that span the spectrum of literary genres. Five hundred years later, people are still reading Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. If you haven't yet made the acquaintance of the Franklin, the Pardoner, or the Squire because you never learned Middle English, take heart: this edition of the Tales has been translated into modern idiom.

From the heroic romance of "The Knight's Tale" to the low farce embodied in the stories of the Miller, the Reeve, and the Merchant, Chaucer treated such universal subjects as love, sex, and death in poetry that is simultaneously witty, insightful, and poignant. The Canterbury Tales is a grand tour of 14th-century English mores and morals--one that modern-day readers will enjoy.

Book Description

This textbook series provides concise and lucid introductions to major works of literature, from classical antiquity to the twentieth century. Each book provides close reading of the text, as well as giving a full account of its historical, cultural and intellectual background, a discussion of its influence, and further reading.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0140440224
• ISBN 13: 9780140440225
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 528