GEOFFREY CHAUCER

                                             

Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340s – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for The Canterbury Tales. He has been called the "father of English literature", and the "father of English poetry". Chaucer was also known as a philosopher and astronomer, composing the scientific A Treatise on the Astrolabe. He held positions in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier, diplomat, and member of parliament.

The Canterbury Tales 

    This is Chaucer's collection of twenty-four stories in Middle English between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as his magnum opus. The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The prize for the best story is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.

    The Canterbury Tales is generally thought to have been incomplete at the end of Chaucer's life. In the General Prologue, some 30 pilgrims are introduced. According to the Prologue, Chaucer's intention was to write four stories from the perspective of each pilgrim, two each on the way to and from their ultimate destination, St. Thomas Becket's shrine (making for a total of about 120 stories). Although perhaps incomplete, The Canterbury Tales is revered as one of the most important works in English literature.

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