terbury to visit the tomb of St. Thomas à Becket, mar-
tyr and miracle worker. Although ostensibly a religious
journey, it quickly becomes clear that this eclectic
group has more on its mind than saving souls. It is
here that GEOFFREY CHAUCER develops the initial por-
traits of each pilgrim, providing the basis of their per-
sonality and of the rivalries that will later appear within
the tales themselves.
The Canterbury Tales is structured as a FRAME NARRA-
TIVE, like the Decameron by GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO and
the CONFESIO AMANTIS by JOHN GOWER. However, the
Canterbury Tales provides several unique additions to
the frame narrative tradition. Whereas the introduc-
tory piece in most frame narratives serves solely as the
setup for the subsequent stories, the General Prologue is
a unique stand-alone poem. As well, the Prologue and
all the tales are deftly interlinked—and meant to be
that way. The interaction among the various pilgrims
revealed in later tales is often dependent upon the ini-
tial relationships set forth in the General Prologue and
revealed there by the singular Narrator, himself a pil-
grim on the journey. Indeed, some of the Tales are so
well suited to their teller that without the character
development in the General Prologue, the audience
could not appreciate all the story’s nuances. The addi-
tion of a narrator character is unique to Chaucer, too,
and likely has roots in another genre in which Chaucer
excelled, the DREAM-VISION tradition. Finally, in his
frame narrative, incomplete though it may be, Chaucer
offers an example of every major medieval literary
genre (e.g., FABLIAU, HAGIOGRAPHY, ROMANCE, BEAST
FABLE, etc.) instead of relying solely on one or two story
forms, or even a set of themes such as found in the
Decameron.
Unlike many of the tales, the General Prologue has
no direct source, though portions of it have ana-
logues. Presumably, it was composed before the
majority of the tales, although no exact date can be
assigned. It begins in a manner reminiscent of a
dream-vision poem, with a springtime setting and a
chance encounter. However, instead of an allegorical
setting, the Narrator enters a real-life establishment—
the Tabard Inn in Southwark—and instead of describ-
ing allegorical characters, the Narrator depicts “real”
people.
The General Prologue is set up to introduce the “por-
traits” (descriptions) of the pilgrims through narration,
symbolism, and context. They are a “compaignye/ of
sundry folk” (l. 24–25) who form a group by chance
and circumstance—all of them just happen to be trav-
eling to Canterbury at the same time. Chaucer the Nar-
rator becomes a part of this group—“I was of hir
felaweshipe anon” (l. 32)—and undertakes the task of
describing the group: “me thynketh it acordaunt to
resoun/ to telle yow al the condicioun/ of ech of hem,
so as it semed me,/ and whiche they weren, and of
what degree” (l. 36–40). Through his eyes, the audi-
ence will learn about each pilgrim’s circumstances,
clothing, and social rank. As well, the connection and
clash of literal and symbolic is set up immediately with
the idea of pilgrimage, which is both physical and spir-
itual, a journey of the body and the soul.
The Narrator is the main character of the General
Prologue, as he does all the talking except for a few lines
at the end by the Host, a character who never tells a
tale but interacts in the liminal spaces between them.
An outsider, the Narrator seems to be the ideal
observer, yet he is naive and so holds a high opinion of
many of the pilgrims whom he should not hold in
esteem. Most of the portraits end up being SATIRICAL,
although they are presented in a completely different
manner because the Narrator overlooks many, though
not all, of the pilgrims’ shortcomings. The Narrator is
also materialistic. He concentrates on the pilgrims’
wealth and status as indicated by their possessions,
and openly admires the wealth of the middle-class
characters.
Scholars have often noted that there are three basic
types of characters in the General Prologue: those merely
mentioned (e.g., the three priests and the guildsmen),
stereotypes (e.g., the Monk), and full characters (e.g.,
the Wife of Bath). Having individualized and stereo-
typical pilgrims is crucial to the success of the General
Prologue, as the imagery, whether it works with the
moral comment or against it, enhances it. Illusion,
often presented by the Narrator, must be seen through
to be successful—but it also must be presented with-
out being seen through for this success to be possible.
Unlike the tales, the pilgrim portraits appear in an
order that would have been expected by medieval soci-204 GENERAL PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY TALES