Canterbury Tales

`For a student contemplating the purchase of one critical work on The Canterbury Tales, this is the one to buy. It combines persuasive, intelligent and jargon-free interpretation of Chaucer's poems with very useful running annotation of a wide range of contemporary criticism...A lively book which will surely remain the standard critical text for many years to come.' - Times Higher Education Supplement`This urbane, witty and delightful book is likely to become a classic of Chaucer criticism, invaluable to students of The Canterbury Tales.' - Review of English Studies`Unquestionably the best comprehensive study of Chaucer's poem in existence.' - A.C. Spearing, University of Virginia

• Chapter 1 Date and Manuscripts; Chapter 2 Plan and Order; Chapter 3 Some Portraits; Chapter 4 Romances; Chapter 5 Comic Tales and Fables; Chapter 6 Religious Tales; Chapter 7 Audience and Reception;