The Canterbury Tales was written in the second half of the fourteenth century by the son of a prosperous wine merchant, Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer most probably conceived the idea of creating The Canterbury Tales in 1386 while residing in Greenwich, England in a residence overlooking the main road that pilgrims took to visit the shrine of the saint of Canterbury, Thomas à Becket. Chaucer then used the "pilgrimage to Canterbury" setting as his vehicle for conveying different stories in one work. The Canterbury Tales emerged as a collage of diverse stories told by people of different walks of life. The Canterbury Tales illustrates how people of different creed and status are united by a common goal, to make a pilgrimage to Canterbury and have a little fun along the way. Chaucer's masterpeice is an allegory for the journey of life that each one of us has to make in this world. And on this road of life we meet people of different backrounds traveling the very same path as we, and each has his very own story to tell.

 

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