The action begins at a tavern just outside of London, circa 1390, where a group of pilgrims have gathered in preparation for their journey to visit the shrine of St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The narrator, Chaucer, encounters them there and becomes one of their company.
Where did Canterbury Tales start?
south London
The pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales start their journey together in south London and aim for Canterbury Cathedral, roughly seventy miles away. The Canterbury Cathedral houses the shrine of an English saint: Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was martyred in the 1100s.
How do The Canterbury Tales begin?
The Canterbury Tales begins with a Prologue (which means “a few words to begin”). In the prologue Chaucer describes the time of year, which is April, when the weather begins to get warmer after winter. He says that it is at this time that people begin to go on pilgrimage.
At what inn does The Canterbury Tales begin?
And the antiquities in Southwark included the Tabard Inn, which was famous in the 17th century, and in Shakespeare’s day, and earlier, because it was the place where Geoffrey Chaucer had set the opening of his famous Canterbury Tales.
Where does the prologue of The Canterbury Tales take place?
Southwark
The Prologue describes the various pilgrims who are ready to go on the journey to Canterbury. They are gathered at an inn called The Tabard, located in Southwark.
Where did the pilgrims begin their journey to Canterbury?
Pilgrims first started making the journey from AD1172 from Winchester to Canterbury, where Thomas Becket was buried after his martyrdom two years before.
What is the route of The Canterbury Tales?
The Pilgrims’ Way (also Pilgrim’s Way or Pilgrims Way) is the historical route supposedly taken by pilgrims from Winchester in Hampshire, England, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in Kent.
When and where is The Canterbury Tales set?
A tavern and on a pilgrimage from London to Canterbury, England in the late 14th century. Chaucer likely wrote The Canterbury Tales in the late 1380s and early 1390s, after his retirement from life as a civil servant, and this is when he sets the action. This was a time of great social upheaval in England.
When and where did The Canterbury Tales take place?
The Canterbury Tales takes place in late fourteenth-century England, around the time that Chaucer wrote the work. He began working on the text sometime between 1386 and 1389 and continued to work on it throughout the 1390s.
What is the main theme of Canterbury Tales?
Social Class. One present theme throughout The Canterbury Tales is the importance of social status during Chaucer’s time. For example, the Prioress and the Parson are opposite characters in their regard for social status. The Parson is more concerned with his religious devotion than his class.
Where does the journey start and end in The Canterbury Tales?
What is The Canterbury Tales about? Chaucer’s long poem follows the journey of a group of pilgrims, 31 including Chaucer himself, from the Tabard Inn in Southwark to St Thomas à Becket’s shrine at Canterbury Cathedral.
Who tells the first tale in Canterbury Tales?
The Reeve’s Prologue and Tale
The Reeve tells the story of two students, John and Alayn, who go to the mill to watch the miller grind their corn, so that he won’t have a chance to steal any. But the miller unties their horse, and while they chase it, he steals some of the flour he has just ground for them.
Where and when does the General Prologue take place in The Canterbury Tales?
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.
Is the prologue the beginning?
You’ll always find the prologue at the beginning of a literary work. It is before the first chapter and is separate from the main story.
Is the prologue beginning or end?
A prologue is a piece of writing found at the beginning of a literary work, before the first chapter and separate from the main story.
What is the first part of The Canterbury Tales that begins the book?
In The General Prologue, the characters agree to tell two stories going to Canterbury and two coming back to the Tabard Inn at Southwark where they started from, totaling 120 tales.
Where does the Pilgrims Way start and finish?
The Pilgrims’ Way is an ancient 141-mile route from Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire to Canterbury Cathedral in Kent.
Where did the story of the Pilgrims begin?
The group that set out from Plymouth, in southwestern England, in September 1620 included 35 members of a radical Puritan faction known as the English Separatist Church.
Where did the Pilgrims actually land first?
Provincetown Harbor
They first anchored in Provincetown Harbor. The Pilgrims — or separatists, as they called themselves — were headed to the Colony of Virginia to begin their new settlement, but ended up in Provincetown when they encountered dangerous shoals trying to make it around Cape Cod.
How far is it from London to Canterbury in The Canterbury Tales?
about fifty-five miles
In The Canterbury Tales, the pilgrims are meant to travel from London to Canterbury. This is a distance of about fifty-five miles; if their horses could walk eight hours a day at about four miles per hour, the pilgrims could reach their destination in two days.
How long is The Canterbury Tales journey?
The Canterbury Tales and Pilgrimages
Another popular pilgrimage site for English Christians was Canterbury, about sixty miles southeast of London, or about a week-long journey.