The "Canterbury Tales"

Description: The manuscripts of the CT attest to the continuous, evolving, and unfinished nature of Chaucer's work on them from 1387 onward. The poet's intent in CT was to stretch the limits of inherited genres and expand the perceptions of his audience. The dramatic theory must be rejected because it overly systematizes the poet's art.; The tales can be considered in four groups: self-revelatory prologues and tales, romances, comic tales and fables, and religious tales. In each genre Chaucer establishes a complex play between conventional expectations and techniques that subvert them.