The Canterbury Tales is Chaucer's most famous poetic work. He did not compose the poem in a short period of time, but seems to have designed it around 1387. Until his death he worked on the tales leaving them in a fragmentary state.

In the General Prologue thirty-two pilgrims meet at Southwark to take up their way to Canterbury. They agree to tell two stories each on their way to and back from Canterbury. Only twenty-three of them, however, tell a tale. Although many tales are linked by verbal exchanges between the pilgrims, the exact order is not very certain. Most modern editions follow the arrangement of the Ellesmere Manuscript which offers twenty-three miniatures of the pilgrims.

The General Prologue The Clerk' Tale The Tale of Melibee The Knight's Tale The Merchant's Tale The Monk's Tale The Miller's Tale The Squire's Tale The Nun's Priest's Tale The Reeve's Tale The Franklin's Tale The Second Nun's Tale The Cook's Tale The Physician's Tale The Canon's Yeoman's Tale The Man of Law's Tale The Pardoner's Tale The Manciple's Tale The Wife of Bath's Tale The Shipman's Tale The Parson's Tale The Friar's Tale The Prioress's Tale Chaucer's Retractions The Summoner's Tale The Tale of Sir Thopas

Click here to see who tells which story in The Canterbury Tales.

Home > Navigation > Authors > Geoffrey Chaucer > Works > The Canterbury Tales > The Tales