CONCLUSION
Canterbury Tales, the
frame story ofijeffri Chaucer,
was 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). The 30 pilgrims on the journey gather across
the Thames from London at the Tabard Inn in Southwark. They agree to participate
in a
story contest while traveling,
and Harry Bailey, Tabard's host,
serves as the
master of ceremonies for the contest. Most of the visitors
are introduced by vivid
brief drawings in the" general preface". Between the 24 fairy tales, short dramatic
scenes (called ties)
present live exchanges, usually involving
the host and one or
more pilgrims. Chaucer did not follow the complete plan of his book: the return trip
from Canterbury is not counted, and some pilgrims do not tell the story.
Canterbury Tales “ general preface”, “Knight's Tale” , “Miller's tale” , “Riv's
tale” , “Cook's tale” , “The Man of the law” , “ bath's wife” , “Rohin's tale” , “the
Summoner's tale ” , “The Tale” and Merchant's tale , Squire's tale , Franklin's Tale ,
second monk's tale , Canon Yeoman's tale , Medicine tale , pardoning tale , Sailor's
tale, Prioress tale , Sir Topas's tale , Melibey's tale The Tale ends with (in prose), the
monk's tale , The Monk's tale , the mansiple's tale, and the Parson's tale (in prose)
and the “retreat of the Chaucer”. Not all fairy tales are complete; several have their
own prefaces or epilogues.
Perhaps influenced by French syllable counting, Chaucer created the ancestor
of a 10 - syllable alternating stress and regular rhyme-rhyme pair for "Canterbury
Tales".