Geoffrey Chaucer, General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

Michael Delahoyde (Washington State University)

Ed. by Richard Utz, Georgia Institute of Technology
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.02: English Writing and Culture: High and Late Medieval, 1066-1485.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Rory Critten (Université de Lausanne), David Fuller (University of Durham), Natalie Hanna (University of Liverpool), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast), Jamie McKinstry (University of Durham), Sarah Peverley (University of Liverpool), Sebastian Sobecki (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1387

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)
Story

Resources

The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales justifies Chaucer’s traditional title as “father of English poetry”. In couplets of iambic pentameter, the General Prologue introduces a wide range of characters from various occupations and social strata, and contextualizes these pilgrims with a realism not encountered previously in English poetry.

Chaucer seems to have struck on the idea of The Canterbury Tales in the mid- or late-1380s, and 1387 works best as a hypothetical date for the fictional pilgrimage to have taken place (based on internal temporal and geographical references, and, externally, on the ramifications of Holy Week and Easter falling variously within the relevant years). For the source of s…

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

2481 words

Citation: Delahoyde, Michael. "General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 August 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=19964, accessed 22 November 2024.]

Save this article