Canterbury Tales: "General Prologue", "Knight's Tale", "Miller's Prologue and Tale", "Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
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Canterbury Tales: "General Prologue", "Knight's Tale", "Miller's Prologue and Tale", "Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer
At the Tabard Inn in Southwark, in the London of the late 1300s, a band of men and women from all walks of life have gathered to begin a pilgrimage to the shrine of Thomas à Becket at Canterbury. To relieve the tedium of the journey, the host of the inn proposes that each of the pilgrims tell a favorite story, promising that the best storyteller will be treated to a fi ne dinner on the group's return to Southwark.
So begins one of the earliest masterpieces of English literature, a collection of stories as much prized for the portraits of its story tellers as for the stories they tell -- portraits that reveal much of the rich social fabric of 14th-century England. Now three of the most popular tales -- along with the charming General Prologue have been selected for this edition: The Knight's Tale, The Miller's Prologue and Tale, and The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale.
Animated by Chaucer's sly humor, flair for characterization and wise humanity, the stories have been recast into modern verse that captures the lively spirit of the originals. Highly entertaining, they represent an excellent entree to the rest of The Canterbury Tales and to the pleasures of medieval poetry in general. A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London in around 1342, the son of a wine merchant, and his life was spent in royal government service, therefore his career is particularly extensively documented. By 1357, Chaucer had become a page to the bride of Prince Lionel, Edward III's second son, and it was while in the prince's service that Chaucer was ransomed when he was arrested in France in 1359-60. Philippa, Chaucer's wife, whom he married around. Katherine Swynford, the mistress (c. 1365), was her sister. 1370) and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster's third wife (1396), whose first wife Blanche (d.
The Book of the Duchess, Chaucer's ealrist great poem, is dedicated to her. From 1366 and 1378, Chaucer worked as a customs controller on wool in the port of London, although he also traveled overseas on official business, including two visits to Italy in 1372-3 and 1378. The effect of Chaucer's interaction with Italian literature may be felt in the late 1370s and early 1380s poetry he created, such as The House of Fame, The Parliament of Fowls, and a version of The Knight's Tale, and it reaches its pinnacle in Troilus and Criseyde. Chaucer was a member of parliament for Kent in 1386, but he resigned his customs job the following year, while he was appointed Clerk of the King's Works in 1389 (resigning in 1391).
After finishing Troilus and translating Boethius' De consolatione philosophiae into English prose, Chaucer began his Legend of Good Ladies. He worked on his most ambitious effort, The Canterbury Tales, in the 1390s, but it remained unfinished when he died. Chaucer rented a residence in the Westminster Abbey grounds in 1399, but died in 1400 and was buried there.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780486282411 |
| ISBN 10 | 0486282414 |
| Title | Canterbury Tales: "General Prologue", "Knight's Tale", "Miller's Prologue and Tale", "Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale |
| Author | Geoffrey Chaucer |
| Series | Thrift Editions |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Dover Publications Inc. |
| Year published | 2000-02-01 |
| Number of pages | 144 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |