Page 78 - DENG405_BRITISH_POETRY
P. 78

Unit 9: The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales (Non-detailed Study): Discussion and Analysis-I
                                                                             Jayatee Bhattacharya, Lovely Professional University


                     Unit 9: The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales                                    Notes

                  (Non-detailed Study): Discussion and Analysis-I


               CONTENTS

               Objectives

               Introduction
                 9.1  General Prologue

                 9.2  The Knight’s Tale
                 9.3  The Miller’s Tale

                     9.3.1 The Miller’s Prologue
                     9.3.2 The Miller’s Tale Text

                 9.4  Summary

                 9.5  Keywords
                 9.6  Review Questions

                 9.7  Further Readings

            Objectives

            After studying this unit, you will be able to:
              •  Know general prologue of the Canterbury tales
              •  Explain the Knight’s tale
              •  Explain the Miller’s tale
              •  Describe briefly the analysis of general prologue, the Knight’s tale and the Miller’s tale.


            Introduction

            The narrator opens the General Prologue with a description of the return of spring. He describes the
            April rains, the burgeoning flowers and leaves, and the chirping birds. Around this time of year, the
            narrator says, people begin to feel the desire to go on a pilgrimage. Many devout English pilgrims set
            off to visit shrines in distant holy lands, but even more choose to travel to Canterbury to visit the
            relics of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, where they thank the martyr for having helped
            them when they were in need. The narrator tells us that as he prepared to go on such a pilgrimage,
            staying at a tavern in Southwark called the Tabard Inn, a great company of twenty-nine travelers
            entered. The travelers were a diverse group who, like the narrator, were on their way to Canterbury.
            They happily agreed to let him join them. That night, the group slept at the Tabard, and woke up
            early the next morning to set off on their journey.
            The narrator begins his character portraits with the Knight. In the narrator’s eyes, the Knight is the
            noblest of the pilgrims, embodying military prowess, loyalty, honor, generosity, and good manners.
            The Knight conducts himself in a polite and mild fashion, never saying an unkind word about anyone.




                                             LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY                                    71
   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83