Why is The Canterbury Tales considered an important piece of literature?

This piece of literature is the very first of its kind.  It is the first collection/anthology of short stories as we know them today.  Chaucer brilliantly gives us an amazingly accurate cross section of society in the Middle Ages, and if you look hard enough (and sometimes not so hard) it is easy to find modern day equivalents to his characters.  He also gives us a psychological view of humanity, exploring our motives for lying, cheating, stealing, and so on. Who among us can say we are perfect?  The only truly good characters he introduces are the knight, the parson, and the plowman.  Every one of them is corrupt in some way-- not unlike the modern ages-- and they all justify their actions.  It's a brilliant look at people of all ages, occupations, beliefs, values, and social status.  Not only does Chaucer tell us what he notes about them, but they also reveal much about themselves through the stories they choose to tell.  So cool!

Although it may not be the easiest thing for modern ears to interpret, the signifance of Chaucer's work cannot be overstated.  For one thing, Chaucer championed the vernacular in his work, that is, the real language of everyday citizens.  Prior to Chaucer, works of literature were written in Latin or French; while there certainly were English writings, they did not make use of the vernacular. Chaucer's tales helped bring meaningful stories of life to the everyday man.

Furthermore,  due to Chaucer's efforts, scholars are able to discover much about the past through his stories. The people Chaucer depicts, their ways of life (work, love, sex) were not the stories recorded by the elite.  We are, therefore, able to gain insight into the middle and lower classes which might have otherwise been lost. 

There are many reasons that this is an important piece, but one that truly stands out is that it was the first book of poetry that was written in the English language. This made it available to many readers--not just the elite. It opened the doors for others to be written in English, as well. It is a record of the roots of our language and how it has evolved.

This early contribution to English literature gets its importance from three areas:  First, it is a generous example of Middle English, the first major collective refinement from its Anglo-Saxon and other roots, and as such helps linguists follow the development of the language from Old English to modern English, seeing how and why spellings, inflections, etc. change.  Secondly, it gives a sharp picture of society, especially non-royalty, in its satirical portraits of a wide range of characters in many occupations and with many moral views, while at the same time illustrating how the classes, especially the ranks of the church, interacted.  Thirdly, as an often anthologized and studied work of literature, it serves as a readily available sample for literary study – character, dialogue, plot, travel literature, etc. It can be compared to literature in other developing languages of the same period – Boccaccio’s Decameron Nights is an Italian example ready to hand; both are collections of short stories recited to a captive audience.

The Canterbury Tales is one of the most important pieces of Medieval literature and, even today, its significance ought not to be understated. Here are some reasons why:

• Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in Middle English, the vernacular of this historical period. This is significant because works of literature were usually written in French or Latin, to reflect the linguistic preferences of "those in power." (See the first reference link provided.)
• Through its many characters, The Canterbury Tales gives us a glimpse into the lives of people in fourteenth-century England. Moreover, because the characters are so diverse, we can learn about people who are usually absent from historical record, like a wife and a miller.
• The popularity of The Canterbury Tales has endured across the centuries. It's "lively style," "earthy characters," and interesting plot has made it just as popular today as it was in Chaucer's time. (See the second reference link provided.)

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer are still important for several reasons. First, they are really good stories. They also, in the way they show the pilgrims coping with the results of the black plague, suggest ways we can respond to great tragedies such as plagues and natural disasters.

Next, they mark an important phase in the history of English literature. Perhaps the single most significant historical event for English literature was the Norman Conquest of 1066. Before that, the English spoke Anglo-Saxon or Old English and wrote poems like Beowulf in strong stress meter. The Normans brought to England the French language that merged with Old English to form Middle English. Norman verse was written in syllabic as opposed to strong stress meter. In Chaucer, we see the development of accentual syllabic meter in the form of iambic pentameter and the evolution of many of the stylistic features that would come to dominate modern English verse.

Though not the first narrative work to be completed in English, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (written between 1387 and 1400) marked the popularization of English as a language for storytelling. Alongside French, Italian, and Latin, three other dominant languages in literary, academic, and theological domains in Europe at that time, English was still a contender for global language.

The Canterbury Tales were also significant inasmuch as they, for the first time, put commoners onto paper—into stories. In the storytelling tradition of the fourteenth century, having characters from so wide a range of social classes was without precedent. Constructing a scene in which everyone is placed on the level of pilgrim renders it a level playing field. The jostling of characters during disagreements pits ideas and ideologies against each other in an arena which favors none.

In this way, Chaucer was able to criticize and satirize hitherto "immune" institutions: for example, the church, or man's aspirations towards spirituality. Though incomplete at the time of his death, the legacy of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is far-reaching and incontrovertible.

What are three reasons for the importance of The Canterbury Tales?

Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales are important for a number of reasons. First, they provide a comprehensive overview of life in the Middle Ages. Because Chaucer's pilgrims come from different social classes, modern readers learn a great deal about life in medieval England. In the cross-section of society that he provides, we meet pilgrims classified by those who pray, those who labor, and those who fight. We learn what their lives are like and what they value. Because Chaucer the pilgrim, or the narrator, passes judgment on them, we also see a social commentary that exposes their vices as well as their virtues.

The Canterbury Tales are also important because Chaucer, who certainly knew Latin, the language of the Church, and French, the language of literature, chose to write them in the common man's Middle English. Because he selected Middle English as the language for the Tales, he made the stories more accessible to the readers of the time. He also made English itself more acceptable and popular, leading other writers to adopt it as their language of choice. This makes Chaucer's stories almost singularly responsible for the adoption of English as the new language of literature in England.

Finally, Chaucer's framework for the stories adds a great deal to our understanding of the people of the medieval times, in terms of their literature, their folklore and even their values. The frame of the pilgrimage to Canterbury lets us know the significance of Saint Thomas Becket at the time. The use of the contest to elicit stories from the pilgrims is masterful because it allows the work to be read as an anthology. Here we see not only the cross-section of the pilgrims, as noted earlier, but also a cross section of the genres that were popular at the time, from the nun's priest's beast fable, to the Wife of Bath's romance, to the Pardoner's sermon to the monk's tragedy. 

The Canterbury Tales, then, are a unique representation of the time it describes, educating readers about the social distinctions and the literary interests of the Middle Ages, all while establishing English as the literary language of choice.

First, The Canterbury Tales are the most extensive example of Middle English literature in existence. At the time Chaucer wrote the tales, most literature in Britain was written in French. This was during the Norman period in English history, when Norman French was the language of government and most of the nobility. The Canterbury Tales are important because they give us an example of literature in Middle English. Further, they also give us an extensive and varied text that has allowed modern scholars to learn more about the English of that period, as well as how it changed over the next several decades following the writing of The Canterbury Tales.  

Second, that The Canterbury Tales were written in Middle English was important politically. Chaucer, who was capable of writing in French, chose to write in Middle English as his way of supporting a growing movement to make Middle English the language of government. This movement was driven primarily by the desire of the English, even those of Norman descent, to separate themselves from the French, with whom they were at war.

Third, The Canterbury Tales served as a social commentary on the nature of the nobility and the church in Norman England. At the time, the views Chaucer expressed through his characters and stories were controversial enough that he recanted them before he died. However, this does not diminish the value of their social commentary during Chaucer’s time. Further, his daring in writing about the issues of his society gives modern readers an un-romanticized look at Medieval English society.  

What is the lesson and influence of The Canterbury Tales in literature?

If there are indeed "lessons" or themes, one might formulate the following:

"Solitude is good for the soul but good company is even better."

"A good story helps pass the time."

"A tale tells much of the tale-bearer."

"It takes all kinds of people to make up a world."

Please check out the following references for more ideas.

The influence of Canterbury Tales in literature expands to many different aspects. First, this was one of the first complete works written in the English language as opposed to Latin. Hence, it gave English literature an early taste of victory that would popularize it.  Second, Chaucer gives us a timeless stamp of time and place. He has illustrated life as it was during those times in an impeccable way, complete with characters, dialogue, descriptions, and even the humor of the day

Third, the use of perspectives from both the rich and the poor makes it a nearly three-dimensional tale, where you can experience all walks of life, their lifestyles, and the memes of their day.

I would not say that there is a lesson from the tales themselves other than that of history presented in fabliaux. It is moving, living history, timeless and universal.