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Miscellaneous
This is the story of a fox the baguiled a cock, by praising his father’s excellent singing and was beguiled in turn to let
the cock escape. The names of the fox, cock and hen in the story are Russel, Chanticleer and Pertclote respectively. The morals contained in
the tale are :
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One must be careful about the flatterers.
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A husband, who follows the advice of his wife will come to grief.
The probable sources of the tale are the French story of Reynald the Fox and Aesope’s Fables.
Nun’s-Priest’s Tale can be classified under the genre ‘Mock heroic poem’.
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While introducing the Doctor of Physic in the Prologue, Chaucer makes mention of the great London plague, which played havoc
in 1381. This indicates that the Canterbury Tales was composed immediately after the London plague.
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According to Matthew Arnold, Chaucer’s poetry lacks high seriousness and hence Chaucer cannot be classified among the greatest
poets of English language.
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Dryden’s famous comment on the Canterbury Tales was ‘Here is God’s Plenty’
(in Dryden’s Preface to the Fables).
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The first narrative story included in the Canterbury Tales is the Knight’s Tale. The theme is the love
story of ‘Palamon and Arcite’ and the source is Teseid of Boccaccio.
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The last tale narrated in the Canterbury Tales is the Parson’s Tale.
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The Tale narrated by Chaucer was that of Sir Thopas.
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Manciple narrated the mythological tale of the Crow turning Black.
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The Wife of Bath in modern theoretical criticism is regarded as an independent, opinionated woman, probably
the first feminist.
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