The Canterbury Tales | Essays and Criticism
- The Canterbury Tales: A Critical Analysis
In the following essay, Roger Moore discusses the extraordinary diversity of The Canterbury Tales, arguing that although many critics think the text should be approached as a collection of distinct pieces, there are certain unifying components.
- Comedic Inventiveness in The Canterbury Tales
In the following essay, David Kelly compares Chaucer’s constant inventiveness to techniques used throughout the centuries by jesters and stand-up comics to hold their audiences’ attention.
- Madame Eglentyne, Geoffrey Chaucer, and the Problem of Medieval Anti-Semitism
In the following essay, Philip S. Alexander examines the treatment of Jews and anti-Semitism in the “Prioress’s Tale.”
- Language Redeemed: “The Pardoner’s Tale”
In the following essay excerpt, David Williams explores how the Pardoner poses a threat to the other authors and to Chaucer himself in Canterbury Tales.
- Language Redeemed: “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”
In the following essay excerpt, David Williams examines how the Wife of Bath wields her own version of experience and authority in telling her tale.
- Perception and Reality in the “Miller's Tale”
In the following essay, Patrick J. Gallacher applies Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s ideas on perception to “the much-discussed portrait of Alison and to the perceptual responses of John, Absolon, and Nicholas” in “The Miller’s Tale.”
- Chaucerian Themes and Style in the “Franklin’s Tale”
In the following essay, Jill Mann explains how understanding “The Franklin’s Tale” and its theme of patience can lead to a greater understanding of the Canterbury Tales as a whole.
- Sense and Sensibility in “The Prioress’s Tale”
In the following essay, Carolyn P. Collette contends that the Prioress exhibits a “sensibility that dwells on the small, the particular . . . as a means of arousing deep emotional response.”
- The Struggle between Noble Designs and Chaos: The Literary Tradition of Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale
In the following essay, Robert W. Hanning compares “The Knight’s Tale” with epics by Boccaccio and Statius to gain a greater understanding of the themes of nobility and order in the poem.
- The Wife of Bath and the Dream of Innocence
In the following essay, Britton J. Harwood defends his assertion that “Chaucer was creating a human being” when constructing the character of the Wife of Bath.
- Chaucer’s General Prologue as History and Literature
In the following essay, R. T. Lenaghan examines the “General Prologue” as a historical document, asserting that it offers “a richer sense of a civil servant’s values than the usual documents afford.”
- The Play of the “Miller's Tale”: A Game within a Game
In the following essay, Beryl B. Rowland explores connections to the Mystery plays in “The Miller’s Tale.”
- Criticism and the Old Man in Chaucer’s “Pardoner’s Tale”
In the following essay, Alfred David examines various interpretations of the old man in “The Pardoner’s Tale.”
- The Knight: The First Mover in Chaucer’s Human Comedy
In the following essay, Richard Neuse explores the characters of the Knight and Theseus, and calls the “Knight’s Tale” a “testimony to the insufficiency of human wisdom at the same time that it transcends it.”
- Chaucer as Satirist in the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
In the following essay, Rosemary Woolf comments on Chaucer’s satire in the “General Prologue.”
- Commentary: The Nun’s Priest’s Tale
In the following essay excerpt, E. Talbot Donaldson examines the role of rhetoric in “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale.”
- The Nun’s Priest in The Canterbury Tales
In the following essay, R. M. Lumiansky contends that “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” reveals the Nun’s Priest to be “frail, timid, and humble.”
Navigate
See Also:
- - For teachers, the The Canterbury Tales Lesson Plan.
- - Read the The Canterbury Tales text online.
- - The Canterbury Tales summary and study guide in the eNotes.
Tell a friend about The Canterbury Tales at eNotes.
- Add The Canterbury Tales to your favorites