The Canterbury Tales From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For
other uses, see The Canterbury Tales (disambiguation). A woodcut
from William Caxton's second edition of the Canterbury Tales
printed in 1483. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories
written in Middle Englishby Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the
14th century. The tales (mostly written in verse although some
are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest
by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from
Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket atCanterbury
Cathedral. The prize for this contest is a free meal at
theTabard Inn at Southwark on their return. After a long list of
works written earlier in his career, including Troilus and
Criseyde, House of Fame, and Parliament of Fowls, the Canterbury
Taleswas Chaucer's magnum opus. He uses the tales and the
descriptions of its characters to paint an ironic and critical
portrait of English society at the time, and particularly of the
Church. Structurally, the