How Many Stories Are In The Canterbury Tales?

Question

I'm planning a deep dive into Chaucer's medieval classic, but the sheer number of narratives is overwhelming. How many separate tales should I expect to read in 'The Canterbury Tales'?

Sade · Answer

I can only reference a story from my 20th century literature class from about 20 years ago, but if I’m not mistaken, a standard frame story will have around 24 short stories. There are a few that are incomplete in this case, however. I really love story collections that are set up as a journey and “The Forbidden Sisterhood: A Collection Of Forbidden Stories” is a great example of this type of collection. Instead of a group of pilgrims on a journey, The Forbidden Sisterhood follows a group of women who are bound together by a secret pact. Each character tells a story and along the way, there are also hidden pieces to a larger mystery which are slowly revealed. It is a great example of a collection with interconnected narratives.

Felix · Answer

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a collection of 24 stories, told by the twenty four pilgrims traveling from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket, with a mix of chivalric romances and moral fables. Of particular note is the Clerk’s Tale which explores the concept of patience in the face of adversity, and The Merchant’s Tale which is a sour look at marriage. The ability of Chaucer to paint realistic portraits of humans at their best and worst makes The Canterbury Tales a time-less work.

Michelle Lewis · Answer

In short, this is the kind of masterpiece that prompts exactly this sort of question. A simple question (how many) belies the complexity of the question (what counts? in what order? finished or not?). A rich and complex work gets a reader thinking about the simplest query in far deeper terms.

And then of course there is the thrilling journey that the simple number propels you on, from the first recognition of the number as just that to the deeper more complex apperception of why it is both right and inadequate. (And if anyone asks this of you, do begin by saying that The General Prologue is 24 tales long, and then can go on in as much detail as required of why that is also so very much more). It's a bit of a trek, but I think that even our inimitable Chaucer would have made room for yet another tale in his very greatest work on all the differing ways in which we see things – and by God all of them are equally valid – were he to have known of this particular number-counting debate.

Leah · Answer

'The Canterbury Tales' is one of those works that lingers long after it has been read. Chaucer created 24 tales which follow a group of pilgrims on their journey to Canterbury, painting a rich picture of life in the 14th century. Some of the tales are serious, such as 'The Knight's Tale', whilst others are risqué and offer a complete contrast, such as 'The Miller's Tale'. My personal favorite tale is 'The Franklin's Tale', a beautiful love story that portrays great generosity. The medieval stories of Chaucer have a relevance to modern day readers that is amazing.

Vic Tor · Answer

Perhaps Chaucer smiled to himself when he thought about future readers counting up the tales he had written. Were he to finish them off, he might have lost something precious. He may have died before he could complete them. Whatever the reason, Chaucer’s unfinished work is a treasure. We have no idea what tales the silent Plowman would have told, or the five guildsmen.

And 24 as a fact, and the rest absent as a feature: the work is a genuine event, or a phase of his monumental work imperfectly caught. He has given us enough of it to convey his vast and complex design, but not so much that it becomes pedantic and overwrought. It is rather like a rough sketch by a great artist: sometimes more impressive than the finished work in all its accuracy and detail because of the energy and potential that it conveys.

Dylan · Answer

I remember reading the first tales by Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, as part of school. It was very rich and complex, but extremely enjoyable to read. Each of the 24 tales was written by a different pilgrim on their way to Canterbury. Some of the tales are fabliaux, short stories often containing a punch line at the end, like The Reeve’s Tale. Other tales are allegories like The Parson’s Tale. My favorite tale by far is The Nun’s Priest’s Tale, a fabliaux in the form of a beast fable. It is one of the funniest tales and also very meaningful. The author’s great ability to combine humor and satire with moral insight into human nature is brilliant and makes the tales seem to be contemporary.

Sherlock · Answer

I’ve always thought of The Canterbury Tales in terms of the 24 stories that were left unfinished by Geoffrey Chaucer when he died. But there are so many more stories suggested by the text. Perhaps the greatest number of potential stories are suggested by the pilgrims who don’t tell any tales at all: The Canon Yeoman, for example, arrives late to the gathering of pilgrims and tells a tale. But what about the five guildsmen who are described in the General Prologue but who never speak again in the rest of the Tales? Their silence is as telling as that of the Canon’s Yeoman, and is perhaps even more tantalizing than the tales of the Guildsmen themselves. And what about the Plowman, described in the General Prologue but whose story never gets told. From the silence of some of the characters in The Canterbury Tales we hear only part of a conversation going on in a crowded and noisy inn.

One could also say that there are many more stories than 24 suggested by Chaucer’s text. Those that remain untold stimulate our imagination the most. Possibly this is even more characteristic for Chaucer than the stories he does tell us: his silence is as telling as the chatter of the others. The number of stories told by Chaucer is limited, but the world implied by these stories is without bounds.

Zara · Answer

There’s really no point in trying to pin down the exact number of tales (22, 24 or 25?). The stories together give a monumental insight into the life, language and literature of the Middle Ages. The frame of a pilgrimage to Canterbury is a brilliant device for allowing all these different voices to be heard. The knight who leads off the stories, the irreverent Miller, the dirtily corrupt but terribly fascinating Pardoner – and so on.

The count becomes a ‘check-list’ rather than a fascinating conversation with many different individuals in a ‘medieval’ setting. It is far better for new readers to dive in and enjoy a ‘read’ through the Tales in the order that they have enjoyed them most – there are many different reading orders to create a unique ‘Chaucer tapestry’. The details about the completeness and even order of the various Canterbury MSS can wait for those who have fallen in love with individual characters and tales.

Natalie · Answer

I have spent many nights curled up with a copy of ‘The Canterbury Tales’ by Geoffrey Chaucer. There are 24 stories in total within the frame of a pilgrimage to Canterbury of a group of travelers. Each story is a treasure within itself, giving a unique insight into the complexities of medieval society. ‘The Miller’s Tale’ is a hilariousdirty tale of love and ‘The Knight’s Tale’ a beautiful and moving romance. Many of the tales explore the ideas of courtly love, but others explore more serious moral issues.

It is easy to see the character of each pilgrim in the stories they tell, from the Wife of Bath’s take on marriage in her tale to the Pardoner’s unchecked greed in his sermon-like story to warn of the evil. (All of Chaucer’s tales are complete, although a few of the fragments left by the poet when he died are not as fully developed as the other 24 tales.)

JescykaCharm · Answer

From a purely textual scholarship perspective, the Hengwrt manuscript (which contains 22 tales in a particular order) is one of the earliest and most authoritative of all the manuscripts to survive to the present day. The Ellesmere manuscript (which contains 24 tales and is beautifully illustrated) is another highly authoritative manuscript, and modern editors have used the evidence of all these and other manuscripts to create the ‘canon’ of 24 tales that provides the standard edition of the text for readers today.

Most readers wouldn’t care that the specific number of 24 Tales was an editorial construct, based on close study of the several manuscript variants. Rather, they’ll thank the editors and translators for crafting a coherent, highly satisfying ‘beginning’ and ‘end’ in the form of the Parson’s Tale and Chaucer’s Retraction, to go along with the middle of the 24 interconnected stories.

How Many Stories Are In The Canterbury Tales?

10 Answers

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