English Literature

Unit II: The Medieval Period

Week 6
Please read:

Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales:

• Read the introductory material, and read the sample Middle English passage aloud (p. 96).
• The General Prologue, pp. 97-111.
  I would like particularly to concentrate in class discussion on some of the questions under the characterization section at the top of p. 113. Please think about these carefully.
  Those who would like to examine Chaucer's General Prologue in Middle English can click here; a fairly wide general bibliography and collection of texts is also offered at the Luminarium site, including several links to full texts of the Canterbury Tales.
• The Pardoner's Prologue, pp. 114-116.
• The Pardoner's Tale, pp. 116-120.

Among the other things you consider about the Canterbury Tales as you read them, reflect in particular on what kind of picture Chaucer paints of himself.

Notes on the history of the fourteenth century as they apply specifically to Chaucer are provided here.

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