The Canterbury Tales General Prologue Video

The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, was written in the late 1300s, soon after the bubonic plague killed millions of people in England and throughout Europe. Chaucer was one of the first English poets to write in the vernacular of Middle English, popularizing the language of his day.

The poem is a collection of 24 stories built around a frame narrative about a group of pilgrims making their journey to Canterbury. Chaucer’s work addresses gender relations, religion, and sexual immorality within English society. He critiques members of the nobility, clergy, and peasantry, who were often in conflict with each other, and uses satire to call attention to the pilgrims’ hypocrisy. Chaucer unveils the vast spectacle of human failings by exposing the pilgrims’ preoccupation with worldly endeavors while on a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral.

The Canterbury Tales begins with the famous words, "When April comes with his sweet, fragrant showers, which pierce the dry ground of March, and bathe every root of every plant in sweet liquid....Then people desire to go on pilgrimages." The narrator, who is meant to be a version of Chaucer himself, is staying at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, just outside the gates of London, when the company of twenty-nine pilgrims descend.

The inn’s owner and host, Harry Bailly, sets up a challenge: each pilgrim should tell four tales on their journey—two on the way to the shrine of martyr Saint Thomas à Becket at Canterbury Cathedral, and two on their way back to London. The host will accompany them so he can judge the best story and the other pilgrims will pay for the winner’s supper upon their return.

The narrator then introduces the pilgrims, starting with the Knight who has the highest status and drew the shortest lot for the right to tell the first tale.

The Knight is a chivalrous nobleman who has fought in the Crusades in numerous countries in defense of Christendom; he is honored for his worthiness and courtesy. The Knight’s 'Fustian' tunic, made of coarse cloth, has rust stains from his coat of chainmail.

The Knight’s son, the Squire, accompanies him. At twenty years old, the Squire is a lover and a lusty bachelor, wearing clothes embroidered with red and white flowers. He constantly sings or plays the flute and is the only pilgrim, other than Chaucer himself, who explicitly has literary ambitions.

The Yeoman (a freeborn servant) also travels with the Knight, clad in a coat and a hood of green. He carries arrows made of peacock feathers, a bracer (an arm guard), a sword, a buckler, and a dagger as sharp as a spear. He wears an image of St. Christopher on his breast.

The narrator then moves on to the clergy. The Prioress, called 'Madame Eglantine' (or Mrs. Sweetbriar) sweetly sings religious services, speaks French and has excellent table manners. She would weep if she saw a mouse caught in a trap, and she has small dogs with her. She wears a brooch with the inscription 'Amor vincit omnia' ('Love conquers all').

The Prioress travels with the Second Nun who serves as her secretary, as well as three priests.

The Monk is next—a modern man who prefers to hunt hare with his greyhounds rather than read books in a cloister. The Monk is well-fed, fat, and his eyes gleam like a furnace in his head.

The Friar, named Huberd, is wanton and merry, and is licensed to beg in certain districts. Franklins (or landowners) love him as do worthy women all over town. He hears confession and gives absolution and is an excellent beggar.

The Merchant wears a forked beard, motley clothes and sits high upon his horse. He gives his opinion solemnly, and does excellent business, never being in any debt. But the narrator ominously remarks that he—the narrator—doesn’t know what other men think of the Merchant.

Next is the Clerk. A scholar of Oxford University, he would rather have twenty books by Aristotle than rich clothes or musical instruments, and thus is dressed in a threadbare short coat. He only has a little gold, which he spends on books and learning.

The Man of Law or “sergeant of the law,” is judicious and dignified, or at least seems to be. No one can find a flaw in his legal writings. Despite his high standing, the Man of Law rides in a homely, multi-colored coat.

A Franklin travels with the Man of Law. He has a beard as white as a daisy, and is of the “sanguine humour” (dominated by his blood). He lives for culinary delight and his house is always full of meat pie, fish and more meat.

The five guildsmen include a haberdasher, carpenter, weaver, dyer, and tapester. Representing an emerging middle class, all of them are clothed in the same distinctive guildsman's dress. None tells a tale.

Roger the Cook accompanies the five tradesmen to boil the chicken with marrow bones and spices for them, but he also knows how to discern a good London ale. He can also roast, simmer, boil, fry, stew, and bake a good pie. However, it is a great pity that he has an ulcer on his shin.

A Shipman from Dartmouth is next—tanned brown from the hot summer sun, riding upon a carthorse, and wearing a gown of coarse woolen cloth which reaches to his knees. The Shipman has, many times, drawn a secret draught of wine on board their ships, while the merchant was asleep. The Shipman has weathered many storms, and knows the locations of all the harbors from Gotland to Cape Finistere. His ship is called 'the Maudelayne'.

A Doctor of Medicine is clad in red and blue, and speaks with great authority about medicine and surgery. He knows the cause of every illness, what humour engenders them, and how to cure them. He is well-read in the standard medical authorities but has not studied the Bible.

The Wife of Bath named Alisoun is a little deaf. She is adept at making cloth that surpasses even the cloth-making capitals of Chaucer's world, Ypres and Ghent. The Wife of Bath wears linen coverings for her head which—the narrator assumes—must weigh ten pounds. She has married five husbands in the church, and has been to Jerusalem, Rome, and Boulogne on pilgrimage. She is gap-toothed and knows all the tricks of the trade when it comes to love.

A good religious man, the Parson of a Town, is poor in goods, but rich in holiness. He travels on foot to visit all his parishioners, carrying a staff in his hand, calling them his “sheep.” A noble example to his flock, he acts first, and preaches second.

A Plowman travels with the parson. He has hauled many cartloads of dung in his time and is a good, hard-working man, who lives in peace and charity.

A Miller comes next in this final group of pilgrims—those of the lowest social status. He always wins the prize in wrestling matches; he can lift any door off its hinges or break it by running at it head-first. He has black, wide nostrils, carries a sword and a buckler (shield) by his side, and has a mouth like a great furnace. He steals corn and takes payment for it three times. But then, Chaucer implies, there are no honest millers.

Next is a noble Manciple, a business agent, purchaser of religious provisions and a savvy financial operator trained in the law. The narrator ominously tells us that the Manciple would “deceive” even a “heep of lerned men.”

The Reeve is a slender, choleric man, long-legged and lean. He knows exactly how much grain he has and is an excellent keeper of his granary. The Reeve is an accountant who knows secrets about everyone—bailiffs, herdsmen, and servants—and all live in fear of him.

The Summoner is next, his face fire-red and pimpled, with narrow eyes. He has a skin disease across his black brows and his beard, which has hair falling out of it. He is lecherous. There is no cure to remove his pimples. He loves drinking wine and eating leeks, onions, and garlic. He summons people to appear in court.

Travelling with the Summoner is a noble Pardoner, his friend and his companion and the last pilgrim the narrator describes. He sings loudly 'Come hither, love, to me', and has hair as yellow as wax. He carries a wallet full of fake pardons in his lap from Rome. With a thin, boyish voice, the Pardoner is sexually ambiguous.

Finally, Chaucer describes Harry Bailly, as the outspoken and merry Host of the Tabard Inn. He is large and bold with bright eyes.

Then the narrator concludes that he has told us now of the estate (the class), the array (the clothing), and the number of pilgrims assembled in this company. Now their journey begins.