Chaucer - context

The Canterbury tales by Geoffrey Chaucer were written at the end of the 14th century. They are collection of stories presented within a story telling contest between a group of pilgrims on the way to Canterbury. It was written in the modern day vernacular of middle english, predominantly in iambic pentameter and crafted into a long series of rhyming couplets and occasionaly rhyme royal.

In the Canterbury tales you never hear the voice of the poet explicitly.

The first person narrator is a personna of Chaucer - the pilgrim. This personna observes the other pilgrims, assuming a lyrical voice and guiding the audience through their traits. Primarily the pilgrim speaks directly to the audience and occasionaly to the other travellers. Chaucer the author makes his opinions known implicity through his characterisations, the interaction between characters and the paradoxes in their speech and their tales. The sub-text of the canterbury tales is where all the cultural, political and contextual points are made. These are subjective observations of Chaucer…