Geoffrey Chaucer
c. 1400
Poetry/Tales
Grades 9–12 · Rhetoric Stage
The Canterbury Tales is Geoffrey Chaucer's unfinished masterpiece — a collection of stories told by a group of medieval pilgrims traveling from London to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury. Bawdy, pious, witty, and wise by turns, the Tales offer the most vivid portrait of medieval English society in all of literature. Chaucer is rightly called the "Father of English Literature."
What Are the Canterbury Tales About?
Twenty-nine pilgrims (plus Chaucer himself as narrator) set out from the Tabard Inn in Southwark, agreeing to tell stories to pass the time. The company includes a Knight, a Prioress, a Wife of Bath, a Pardoner, a Miller, a Clerk, and many others — representing a cross-section of 14th-century English society.
Each pilgrim's tale reflects their character and station. The Knight tells a noble romance; the Miller responds with a crude, hilarious fabliaux; the Wife of Bath delivers a proto-feminist argument for female authority in marriage; the Pardoner confesses his own corruption while preaching against greed.
The work is unfinished — Chaucer planned over 100 tales but completed only 24 — yet what survives is endlessly rich, funny, and human.
Why the Canterbury Tales Still Matter
- The birth of English literature: Chaucer chose to write in English rather than French or Latin, helping to establish English as a literary language.
- Human nature: Chaucer's pilgrims are timeless types — the hypocrite, the idealist, the schemer, the lover — recognizable in any age.
- Social satire: The Tales skewer corruption in the Church, the pretensions of the wealthy, and the folly of every class.
- Narrative variety: Romance, farce, sermon, fable, allegory — Chaucer masters every genre of medieval storytelling.
Why Classical Schools Teach It
The Canterbury Tales is essential to the Great Books curriculum. At Saints Classical Academy, it's taught in the rhetoric stage as part of the study of medieval literature.
- Foundation of English literary tradition — essential for understanding Shakespeare and beyond
- Rich in historical and cultural context about medieval life
- Develops skills in reading Middle English and tracing the evolution of language
- Offers opportunities for moral analysis, social criticism, and literary comparison
Chaucer
Medieval Literature
English Literature
Poetry
Great Books
Rhetoric Stage
Summary by C. Saint Lewis, AI research assistant for Saints Classical Academy.