based on a story from Ovid—the story of Phoebus and
the crow, a tale-telling bird. Ultimately it becomes a
warning about the dangers of telling tales, “wheither
they been false or trewe” (9.360).
The fi nal division, Fragment 10, includes “The Par-
son’s Prologue” and “The Parson’s Tale,” along with
“Chaucer’s Retraction.” “The Parson’s Tale” is clearly
meant to end the collection, whether or not Chaucer
intended to expand it later. It is a penitential tract that
includes an examination of conscience and an over-
view of the SEVEN DEADLY SINS. Coming where it does, it
serves as a reminder to the other pilgrims of their pur-
pose for traveling to Canterbury. The Retraction fol-
lows, and is a traditional apology for Chaucer’s lifetime
of writing, not just The Canterbury Tales. Ultimately it
concludes that salvation is more important than litera-
ture, a standard medieval perspective.
There are a total of 83 manuscripts that contain
some portion of The Canterbury Tales—55 with the
complete collection of tales (or intentions thereof) and
28 with one or more individual tales. There are also six
early printed versions, the earliest of which is the 1478
edition by WILLIAM CAXTON. He printed a second ver-
sion in 1484, claiming in the preface to have revised
the text based on a manuscript supplied by a reader.
The other four editions, dating to the late 15th and
early 16th centuries, were printed by Richard Pynson
(1492 and 1526), WYNKYN DE WORDE (1498), and Wil-
liam Thynne (1532). Various references in wills, let-
ters, and catalogues imply the existence of a number of
other copies, both in manuscript and early printed
form, all now lost.
Of all the manuscripts, the earliest is MS Peniarth
392D, National Library of Wales, dubbed the “Heng-
wrt manuscript.” Copied around the time of Chaucer’s
death, it is considered the most authoritative copy of
the materials it contains. The same scribe produced the
beautiful and complete Ellesmere manuscript (Elles-
mere 26 9 C, Huntington Library, San Marino, Califor-
nia), which sets out the most accepted order of the
Tales. The popularity of The Canterbury Tales has
resulted in a multitude of editions and translations,
dating as early as 1492.
Scholarship concerning The Canterbury Tales is vast.
As is typical in literary scholarship, early studies tended
to focus on textual variants, manuscript issues, struc-
tural concerns, linguistic puzzles, and so forth. Also of
concern was connecting details of Chaucer’s life with
his work. Genre studies and examinations of poetic
devices (e.g., irony, narrative, morals, and so on) fol-
lowed, as did a spate of exegetic approaches (see EXE-
GESIS). These works provide a solid background to any
student of Chaucer. Other studies have examined the
social and historical contexts of Chaucer’s works, plac-
ing them within contemporary events. Marxist critics
have investigated the economic contexts surrounding
The Canterbury Tales’s production and reception, as
well as the economic structures within individual tales
(e.g., the exchange of money for sex or similar favors).
Feminist, gender, and queer theories have dominated
the last decade or so of Chaucer scholarship, providing
insight into areas not previously explored in depth.
See also GENERAL PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY
TALES.
FURTHER READING
Editions, Manuscript Studies, & Sources
Benson, Larry D. The Riverside Chaucer. 3rd ed. Boston:
Houghton Miffl in, 1988.
Bryan, W. R., and Germaine Dempster, eds. Sources and
Analogues of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. Chicago: Univer-
sity of Chicago Press, 1941.
Donaldson, E. Talbot, ed. Chaucer’s Poetry: An Anthology for
the Modern Reader. 2nd ed. Glenview, Ill.: Scott Fores-
man, 1975.
Manly, John M., and Edith Rickert, eds. The Text of The
Canterbury Tales, Studied on the Basis of All Known Manu-
scripts. 8 vols. Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen, 1940.
Miller, Robert P., ed. Chaucer: Sources and Backgrounds. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1977.
Robinson, F. N., ed. The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. 2nd ed.
Boston: Houghton Miffl in, 1957.
Pratt, Robert A., ed. The Tales of Canterbury. Boston: Hough-
ton Miffl in, 1974.
Skeat, Walter, ed. The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer. 6
vols. 1894. Supplementary volume, 1897.
Critical Studies
Allen, Valerie, and Ares Axiotis, ed. Chaucer: Contemporary
Critical Essays. New York: Palgrave, 1997.
Beidler, Peter. Masculinities in Chaucer. Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1998.
Boitani, Piero, and Jill Mann, eds. The Cambridge Chaucer
Companion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.102 CANTERBURY TALES, THE