1380-1392.
During 1380-1392, he wrote the “General Prologue” and some of Canterbury Tales. By the year 1400, he had completed the Canterbury Tales, perhaps the most famous poem in medieval English!
Where and when does the General Prologue take place?
The General Prologue is the first part of The Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer. The play starts at a tavern outside London. A group of pilgrims are present there to prepare for their journey to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury.
What is the purpose of Chaucer General Prologue?
The General Prologue is, arguably, the most familiar part of the Canterbury Tales. It frames the longer story collection by setting the season, describing the pilgrims who will narrate the tales, and laying the ground rules of the storytelling contest.
What time of year is it when the General Prologue opens?
spring
The narrator opens the General Prologue with a description of the return of spring. He describes the April rains, the burgeoning flowers and leaves, and the chirping birds. Around this time of year, the narrator says, people begin to feel the desire to go on a pilgrimage.
When did Chaucer write The Canterbury Tales?
1387
The Canterbury Tales was one of the first major works in literature written in English. Chaucer began the tales in 1387 and continued until his death in 1400.
What kind of poem is the General Prologue?
Chaucer wrote his poem in rhyming couplets with every two lines rhyming with each other. Though they are divided into stanzas, it is structured with the lines of iambic pentameter, with five pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables.
What is the setting of the General Prologue?
A tavern and on a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury, England in the late 14th century.
How many characters are there in the General Prologue?
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, 32 characters make the trip to Canterbury. 29 of these are mentioned in line 24 of the “General Prologue.” The narrator joins this group (making 30). The host, Harry Bailey, makes 31. The Canon’s yeoman, who joins the group later, makes 32.
How many characters are mentioned in Chaucer prologue?
29 characters
These characters include the pilgrims, the owner of the Tabard inn, and the narrator himself. Out of these characters, the General Prologue of the work mentions only 29 characters.
Who is the narrator of the Prologue?
Each of these is described briefly in the Prologue, which is narrated by the author and places him in the narrative as one of the pilgrims.
How many stories are in the General Prologue?
In the General Prologue, some 30 pilgrims are introduced. According to the Prologue, Chaucer’s intention was to write four stories from the perspective of each pilgrim, two each on the way to and from their ultimate destination, St. Thomas Becket’s shrine (making for a total of about 120 stories).
During what month does the General Prologue take place?
We have chosen this date as it is falls exactly between two critical dates: 3rd May 1389 and 12 July 1389. On the first of these days, 3rd of May 1389, occurred one of the most dramatic events in medieval English history.
Who was the first Pilgrim introduced in the Prologue?
The Knight
The Knight
The first pilgrim Chaucer describes in the General Prologue, and the teller of the first tale. The Knight represents the ideal of a medieval Christian man-at-arms. He has participated in no less than fifteen of the great crusades of his era. Brave, experienced, and prudent, the narrator greatly admires him.
What is the most famous Canterbury Tale?
Perhaps the most famous – and best-loved – of all of the tales in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, ‘The Miller’s Tale‘ is told as a comic corrective following the sonorous seriousness of the Knight’s tale.
Who is known as the father of English poetry?
>Geoffrey Chaucer. >’The Father of English Poetry’
Why is it called Canterbury Tales?
The Canterbury Tales, frame story by Geoffrey Chaucer, written in Middle English in 1387–1400. The framing device for the collection of stories is a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury, Kent.
Is the General Prologue an epic?
The General Prologue as an Epic Poem
They have a social breadth and a narrative scope which provide a much wider and all-inclusive canvas than an ordinary fiction. In reading them, we are exploring, not simply particular characters in a particular setting, but an entire cultural moment.
Who is the host in the General Prologue Canterbury Tales?
Harry Bailly
Harry Bailly, Bailly also spelled Bailey, fictional character, the genial and outspoken host of the Tabard Inn who accompanies the group of pilgrims to Canterbury in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (c. 1387–1400).
What is the first line of Canterbury Tales?
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende, The hooly blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.
Why is it called the prologue?
A prologue (from the Greek prologos, meaning “spoken before”) is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, or else throws light on the main story.
Who is the main character in Canterbury Tales?
The Canterbury TalesCharacters