The Canterbury Tales (Cyclopedia of Literary Places)
At a glance:
- Author: Geoffrey Chaucer
- Type of Work: Poetry
- Type of Plot: Romance, farce, fable
- Time of Work: Antiquity through the fourteenth century
- Genres: Short fiction, Poetry, Frame story, Narrative poetry
- Subjects: Husbands, Wives, Love or romance, England or English people, Adultery, London, Human behavior, Greek or Roman times, Pilgrims or pilgrimages, Middle Ages, Priests, Knights or knighthood, Chivalry
- Locales: London, England, Canterbury, England
Places Discussed
Tabard Inn. English tavern that is the starting point of the poem’s pilgrimage, located in Southwark, a borough across the River Thames from and just south of London, at the beginning of the main road to Canterbury—the pilgrims’ destination. The owner of the inn, Harry Bailly, proposes and serves as judge for the storytelling contest that makes up The Canterbury Tales. The tavern location is an appropriate entryway into Chaucer’s world for a number of reasons. It is a place of hospitality and conviviality, in which men and women of a variety of...
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