Key Facts

• Poet: Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340 - 1400)
• Titles of the Poet: Father of English Literature, Father of English Poetry, Father of English Language, Grandfather of the English Novel, “The first great realist in English literature” & “The morning star of the Renaissance.”.
• Written Time: Around 1387–1400 (late 14th century, during the Middle Ages)
• First Published: Posthumously (after Chaucer’s death) around 1400
• Full Title: The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
• Original Title (Middle English): The Prologe of the Canterbury Tales
• Part: “The Canterbury Tales” (“The General Prologue” is the beginning part of it.)
• Language: Middle English (East Midland dialect — the base of Modern English)
• Genre: Frame story, satire, estates satire (A medieval genre common among French poets.)
• Form: Narrative verse written in rhyming couplets (iambic pentameter — heroic couplets)
• Source: Inspired by real medieval pilgrimage traditions to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury. Chaucer may have been influenced by Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron, which also uses the frame-story technique of storytelling among travelers.
• Tone: Lively, humorous, ironic, realistic, and humanistic. Chaucer mixes gentle satire with sympathy, exposing both virtues and vices of medieval English society.
• Point of View: First-person narrative (Chaucer as one of the pilgrims). The narrator observes and describes each character with a mix of admiration and irony.
• Style: Narrative
• Narrator: Geoffrey Chaucer
• Total Lines: 858
• Rhyme Scheme: Rhymed couplets (AA, BB, CC, etc.)
• Famous Lines:

The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,

(When April with his sweet showers has pierced the drought of March to the root.)

• Settings:

• Time Setting: Late 14th century. Springtime - the month of April (symbol of rebirth and renewal).
• Place Setting: Begins at The Tabard Inn in Southwark, London, and continues on the road to Canterbury Cathedral, the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket.