Brady Meyer’s Reviews > The Canterbury Tales > Status Update

Fragment 8 of 10 done. The end is in sight!

The Second Nun's Tale, because two nuns are twice as good as one nun, and no nuns would simply be none.

Nothing could have prepared for the amazing mock epic of the princely chicken Chauntecleer, whose "voys was murier than the murie orgon on messe-dayes that in the chirche gon". The climax of the story, with the barn animals on the loose, the fox on the hunt, and the swarm of bees in the air, has Chaucer showing off his high rhetoric blended with sheer kinetic energy. Definitely a high point in the Tales so far.

The Monk's Tale, a collection of 17 short tragedies of varying quality, from Lucifer to Caesar.

The wisdom of the Tale of Melibee, even in an abridged version, is sadly entirely too long for my tastes.

The Tales of the Shipman (a reread from when I first tried to learn Middle English at the start of this journey), the Prioress, and of Chaucer himself.

The Pardoner 's Tale is a perfect example of irony and character that Chaucer is celebrated for in this collection. Fragment 6 of 10 done!

The Physician's Tale, which I don't know what the moral is... Don't be beautiful and virtuous, otherwise your father will be forced to kill you so you don't get abducted?

Fragment 5 of 10 done! Time for a break so that I can finish strong in a few weeks.