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The General Prologue is the first part of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. It introduces the frame story , in which a group of pilgrims travelling to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury agree to take part in a storytelling competition, and describes the pilgrims themselves.
Kane, George (July 1950). "Reviews: A Commentary on the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales". The Modern Language Review. 45 (3). Modern Humanities Research Association: 363–368. doi:10.2307/3718517. JSTOR 3718517. (subscription required) Hulbert, James R. (February 1949). "Reviews: A Commentary on the General Prologue to the Canterbury ...
The question of whether The Canterbury Tales is a finished work has not been answered to date. There are 84 manuscripts and four incunabula (printed before 1500) editions [4] of the work, which is more than for any other vernacular English literary text with the exception of Prick of Conscience.
The Hengwrt Chaucer manuscript is an early-15th-century manuscript of the Canterbury Tales, held in the National Library of Wales, in Aberystwyth.It is an important source for Chaucer's text, and was possibly written by someone with access to an original authorial holograph, now lost.
Pilgrim – The designation of each pilgrim in the General Prologue, commonly accepted alternate designation within the name of their Tale, and membership in group of pilgrims if any. The pilgrims' names link to their Tales' articles. GP (General Prologue) – This column lists the order in which each character is mentioned in the General Prologue.
The General Prologue names the prioress as Madame Eglantine, and describes her impeccable table manners and soft-hearted ways. Her portrait suggests she is likely in religious life as a means of social advancement, given her aristocratic manners and mispronounced French.
The Pardoner's confession is similar to that of the Wife of Bath in that there is a revelation of details buried within the prologue. Chaucer describes the Pardoner as an excellent speaker in his portrait of the character in the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, which inherently reflects the quality of the narrative attributed to him.
The tale is told by the Clerk of Oxford, who is a scholar of logic and philosophy. In the General Prologue, he is described as thin and impoverished, hard-working and wholly dedicated to his studies: Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre; But al that he myghte of his freendes hente, On bookes and on lernynge he it spente.