{"product_id":"the-canterbury-tales","title":"THE CANTERBURY TALES","description":"During his life, Geoffrey Chaucer (born\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e c.1340) was courtier, diplomat, revenue collector, administrator, negotiator,\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e overseer of building projects, landowner and knight of the shire. He was servant, retainer, husband, friend and\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e father, but is now mainly known as a poet and 'the father of English\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e literature', a postion to which he was raised by other writers in the\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e generation after his death. It was\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Boccaccio's Decameron which inspired\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Chaucer, in the 1390s, to begin work on The\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Canterbury Tales, which was still unfinished at his death in October 1400.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e It tells the story of a group of 30 pilgrims who meet at the Tabard Inn in\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Southwark, on the south bank of the Thames opposite the city of London, and\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e travel together to visit the then famous shrine of St Thomas Becket in\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Canterbury cathedral. The tavern host,\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e who accompanies them, suggests that they amuse one another along the way by\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e telling stories, with the best storyteller awarded a meal in the tavern (paid\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e for by all the others) on their return. \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e The stories told by the pilgrims range from bawdy comedies through\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e saints' lives and moral tracts to courtly romances, always delivered with a\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e generous helping of Chaucer's own sly wit and ironic humour. Although basing\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e his characters on the stereotypes of 'estates satire', Chaucer succeeds in his\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e aim of producing an overview of his times and their culture, for posterity, in\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e the manner of Italian, proto-Renaissance, writers.This transcription and edition is taken\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e from British Library MS Harley 7334, produced within ten years of Chaucer's\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e death. The on-page notes and glosses aim\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e to enable readers with little or no previous experience of medieva","brand":"Readers Paradise Book Shop Wexford","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42452455686315,"sku":"","price":7.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0538\/7105\/0923\/products\/5_539f893c-3a9f-444d-b592-dcf32144a5f7.jpg?v=1674215810","url":"https:\/\/readersparadise.ie\/products\/the-canterbury-tales","provider":"ReadersParadise","version":"1.0","type":"link"}