I am the son of a prosperous wine merchant. In 1357, I was page to the Countess of Ulster Elizabeth, the wife of Prince Lionel, third son of Edward the III; there I learned the ways of the court and the use of arms. Around 1386, I conceived the first work of the Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury Tales contains 22 verse tales and two long prose tales, more than 18,000 lines.

When I wrote the Canterbury Tales, I included many points of view, including two aspects of myself. I was simultaneously the writer of the story as well as a participating character in it. There are some differences between me as the pilgrim and as the poet. I treat the pilgrim as a mechanism to separate the poet from the text in order to allow me to communicate ideas freely and creatively. The pilgrim becomes the recorder of the tales. Meanwhile, the poet becomes the organizer and compiler.

A good example of my dual role can be found in presentations of The Wife of Bath in the "General Prologue." In line 449 I portray the Wife of Bath as a stereotypically ordinary woman for that day and age. The passage describes her as being a good cloth-maker who gives an abundance of gifts to the church. The second perspective in which the Wife can be seen is that through the story she tells about herself.

My two personalities as both poet and pilgrim are definitely very different. Each one wants to say something different about The Wife of Bath according to his own purpose. The pilgrim focuses on the good side, and the poet focuses on the bad side. By using these dual roles and different personalities, I will attract readers who will discuss and enjoy my works for hundreds of years to come.