The Canterbury tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

It would be impossible to exaggerate the influence, popularity, and prestige of The Canterbury Tales. Considered one the English language's most masterful works, Geoffrey Chaucer's series of tales has managed to stay relevant and prominent for more than six hundred years. by combining sharp wit with an acute awareness of human nature, Chaucer produces some of literature's most unforgettable characters, such as the Wife of Bath, the Knight, the Miller, and the Prioress. Though he intended to give each of his thirty characters four tales, Chaucer left his great work largely unfinished. Nevertheless, the twenty-four narratives that make up The Canterbury Tales stand complete as an artful array of stories that critique and satirize fourteenth-century English society. Accessible to first-time readers and Chaucerians alike, this volume provides an enjoyable approach to the complexities of The Canterbury Tales, with expert discussions of the stories that have enraptured, stunned, and enlightened six centuries of readers. Edited and with an introduction by Jack Lynch, Associate Professor of English at Rutgers University, it presents original essays along with classic and contemporary criticism to provide a unique insight into Chaucer's richly layered tales.