Literatures ability to combine intense analysis alongside escapist humor is often a solid indicator of timeless literature; this principle holds true even for a poem written in the fourteenth century. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer provides a thought-provoking satire on Medieval life planted within a cast of lively and often laughable characters, all while presenting its readers with an interesting story structure to explore. The work opens with Chaucer, a witty narrator, musing about the tendency of people to make pilgrimages at a certain time of year; the story then introduces its readers to thirty such people, one of them Chaucer himself, preparing to embark on such a pilgrimage to Saint Thomas Beckets shrine in Canterbury, England. This array of characters includes individuals from all of the various classes of Medieval society, aside from serfs and members of the monarchy, a feature which provides Chaucer with several points of view from which to examine the social structure of his time. Once the pilgrims have met one another at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, an area near London from which they will begin their journey, the Inns Host, Harry Bailly, cha
llenges each to share two tales on the way to Canterbury and two on the way home in order to pass time during the pilgrimage. The person who can tell a tale that is both morally superior to and more engaging than those of the other pilgrims will be awarded a free dinner upon arrival back at the Innat the expense of the twenty-nine losing tale-tellers, of course. In theory, these tales, this inner frame of Chaucers frame narrative, would have numbered 20, four for each pilgrim, if Chaucer had been able to finish his work. Unfortunately, Chaucers death has left readers and historians alike with only twenty-two full tales and two tale fragments. Nevertheless, these snippets of Chaucers ultimate goal provide readers with an enlightening view inside the minds of many of the pilgrims, relating their flaws and merits by the stories they tell. In fact, one of Chaucers greatest abilities as an author is connecting the theme of each tale seamlessly to the personality of the character relaying it. A particularly interesting pilgrim who showcases this ability of his creator is the Knight, a nobleman whose Tale is as long and complex as his own personality and history in battle.