"The Canterbury Tales", compiled in the late fourteenth century, is an incisive portrait, infused with Chaucer''s wry wit and vibrant, poetical language. He evokes a spectrum of colourful characters, from the bawdy Wife of Bath to the gallant Knight, the fastidious Prioress and the burly, drunken Miller. As they wend their way from Southwark to Canterbury, tales are told to pass the time, and the stories are as diverse as the narrators, encompassing themes such as adultery, revenge, courtly love, lechery, avarice and penitence. As humorous today as when it was written over six centuries ago, "The Canterbury Tales" remains one of the most popular and enjoyable of the classic works of literature.
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Geoffrey Chaucer va néixer probablement a Londres el 1342 i hi va morir el 1400. Assistent del rei Eduard III, diplomàtic a Flandes, Gènova i França, traductor de Boeci i del Roman de la Rose, abans dels trenta anys va compondre el seu primer poema original, el Book of the Duchesse. Més tard va escriure el que s'ha volgut veure com la primera novel·la anglesa, Troilus and Criseyde, que va ser represa per Shakespeare en una cèlebre tragèdia. Però la fama li va arribar pels Contes de Canterbury, començats cap el 1386, que el van col·locar en un lloc d'honor no solament en la literatura anglesa, sinó també en la universal.