The Canterbury Tales: Beginnings (3) and Endings (2 + 1)

Author / Editor
Owen, Charles A., Jr.

Title
The Canterbury Tales: Beginnings (3) and Endings (2 + 1)

Published
Chaucer Yearbook 1 (1992): 189-212.

Description
Hypothesizes that Mel, told by the Man of Law, was once the first tale in the Canterbury sequence, later replaced by MLT; KnT was placed first only in a third stage of revision. ParsP indicates Chaucer's initial plan: one tale per teller. He developed the contest and plans for multiple tales later. The placement of ParsT is scribal. Fifteenth-century orderings of CT disguise the fact that Chaucer's plans were far from fulfillment.

Chaucer Subjects
Canterbury Tales--General.