Canterbury Tales Prologue Analysis

One of the most influential pieces of literature in history is The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales takes place in medieval England, a time full of religious pilgrimages and exploration. The Canterbury Tales is a revolutionary piece of literature, known for its satire and truthfulness. Chaucer begins the tale with a prologue that individually describes diverse characters. Chaucer created these characters to be authentic; they are boastful, mean spirited, reckless, and comical. All twenty-nine of these characters are introduced in the prologue, they have a short summary describing their character, life, and physical appearance. Though he only managed to write the tales of twenty-four characters, he has been remembered as a literary genius. …show more content…
His goal was to expose how people acted in real life, his tales were shocking for many because they were so raw and open (“Chaucer the Celebrated Poet” par. 2). Throughout the Prologue, he discusses corrupt members of the church, swindlers, humanitarians, and sinful characters. He holds nothing back, completely revealing people for how they behaved in reality; this was unheard of at the time. Though shocking, his stories were witty and engaging, he achieved this through the art of satire and irony. Along with Chaucer’s desire to expose the world for what it really was, he was a forward thinker who supported women. In the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer introduces the Wife of Bath as someone who defied all expectations of women during the Middle Ages. The tale which Wife of Bath later narrates is appropriate because the tale discusses how women wish to be in control of their husbands in a time where women were expected to be