Canterbury Tales: General Prologue
Host makes plans to...
each of the pilgrims will tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two more on the way back. Whomever the Host decides has told the most meaningful and comforting stories will receive a meal paid for by the rest of the pilgrims upon their return.
The host welcomes and compliments the company, telling them they are the merriest group of pilgrims to pass through his inn all year. He gives them..
free of charge stay
The company agrees and makes the Host its
governor, judge, and record keeper
Next day, host wakes them up and they go towards the Watering of Saint Thomas away from London then..
tells the group members to draw straws to decide who tells the first tale. The Knight wins and prepares to begin his tale.
The Host also declares that he will ride with the pilgrims and serve as their guide at his own cost. If anyone disputes his judgment...
that person must pay for the expenses of the 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 bc....
they thank the martyr for having helped them when they were in need.
the narrator joins a group of 29 travelers who are also traveling to Canterbury, they are staying in...
a tavern in Southwark called the Tabard Inn.
He was a large man with prominent eyes there was no better business man in Cheapside -- Bold of his speech, and wise, and well mannered, and he lacked nothing at all of the qualities proper to a man. Also moreover he was a right merry man
Host
He cites Christ and Plato as support for his argument that it is best to speak plainly and tell the truth rather than to lie.
Christ himself spoke very plainly in holy write, And you know well it is no rudeness. Also Plato says, whosoever knows how to read him, The words must be closely related to the deed.
The narrator begins his character portraits with the...
Knight.
After introducing all of the pilgrims, the narrator apologizes for any possible offense the reader may take from his tales, explaining that
he feels that he must be faithful in reproducing the characters' words, even if they are rude or disgusting.
