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.
Order.
| Fragment | Group | Tales |
|---|---|---|
| Fragment VI | C | The Physician’s Tale The Pardoner’s Tale |
How long is the General Prologue?
Synopsis. The frame story of the poem, as set out in the 858 lines of Middle English which make up the General Prologue, is of a religious pilgrimage.
How many stories are in Canterbury?
24
Chaucer’s original plan was for over 100 stories, but only 24 were completed, some of which had already been written for earlier works.
What is the structure of the General Prologue?
The structure of the General Prologue is a simple one. After an elaborate introduction in lines 1 – 34, the narrator begins the series of portraits (lines 35 – 719). These are followed by a report of the Host’s suggestion of a tale-telling contest and its acceptance (lines 720 – 821).
How many characters are in the General Prologue of Canterbury Tales?
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.
What is the theme of the General Prologue?
Social Satire
The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales is an estates satire. In the Host’s portraits of the pilgrims, he sets out the functions of each estate and satirizes how members of the estates – particularly those of the Church – fail to meet their duties.
What happens in the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales?
Summary: General Prologue
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.
What are the 24 stories in The Canterbury Tales?
The Canterbury Tales consists of the General Prologue, The Knight’s Tale, The Miller’s Tale, The Reeve’s Tale, The Cook’s Tale, The Man of Law’s Tale, The Wife of Bath’s Tale, The Friar’s Tale, The Summoner’s Tale, The Clerk’s Tale, The Merchant’s Tale, The Squire’s Tale, The Franklin’s Tale, The Second Nun’s Tale, The
What is the shortest story in Canterbury Tales?
The shortest story in the collection is Physician’s Tale, which only consists of more or less two thousand words. Physician’s Tale narrates the story of Virginia who consents to her own death, asking her father Virginius to kill her before the villain Apius can take her virginity.
Who are the 31 pilgrims in Canterbury Tales?
The Pilgrims
- The Narrator. The narrator makes it quite clear that he is also a character in his book.
- The Knight. The first pilgrim Chaucer describes in the General Prologue, and the teller of the first tale.
- The Wife of Bath.
- The Pardoner.
- The Miller.
- The Prioress.
- The Monk.
- The Friar.
How many pilgrims are in the General Prologue?
In line 24 Chaucer says firmly that there are “nine and twenty pilgrims”, but only 28 are described in the Prologue.
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.
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.
Why are there only 24 stories in Canterbury Tales?
Sadly, The Canterbury Tales remained unfinished at Chaucer’s death in 1400. Due to this, only 24 of the pilgrims’ stories were completed and the return journey from Canterbury is not included in the work (“The Canterbury Tales”).
Who are the 29 pilgrims in Canterbury Tales?
The pilgrims are identified, from left to right, as “Reeve, Chaucer, Clerk of Oxenford, Cook, Miller, Wife of Bath, Merchant, Parson, Man of Law, Plowman, Physician, Franklin, 2 Citizens, Shipman, The Host, Sompnour, Manciple, Pardoner, Monk, Friar, a Citizen, Lady Abbess, Nun, 3 Priests, Squires Yeoman, Knight, [and]
Why is the General Prologue important?
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 are 3 themes found in The Canterbury Tales?
Class, lies, and religion are prominent themes in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a fifteenth-century English poem considered one of the most important books in English literature.
Who is speaking in the General Prologue?
Thomas à Becket. Chaucer, the narrator, who is preparing to go on pilgrimage, is staying at the Tabard Inn, a tavern in Southwark. A diverse company of twenty-nine other pilgrims enter the inn, and the narrator joins their group.
Why is the Knight first in the General Prologue?
Why is the Knight first in the General Prologue and first to tell a tale? The Knight is first to be described in the General Prologue because he is the highest on the social scale, being closest to belonging to the highest estate, the aristocracy.
How many tales did Pilgrim tell?
He lays out his plan: each of the pilgrims will tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two more on the way back. Whomever the Host decides has told the most meaningful and comforting stories will receive a meal paid for by the rest of the pilgrims upon their return.
What happens in the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales quizlet?
What is Chaucer’s main objective in the whole of “The General Prologue”? Chaucers main objectige is to give a general introduction to each of the pilgrims and the setting of the canterbury tales. Uses satire to expalin each of the pilgrims and there personlities.