In The Canterbury Tales Where Does History End And Legend Begin?

Written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century, The Canterbury Tales tells the story of a group of 31 pilgrims who meet while travelling from the Tabard Inn in Southwark to the shrine of St Thomas Becket in Canterbury. Such pilgrimages often took place in the medieval era. Additionally, at that time, stories were the main entertainment, and people used to have similar contests. Geoffrey Chaucer used this phenomena in an interesting way. The author provides the readers with an ample array of figures: carpenter, cook, knight, monk, clerk merchant, and very busty miller. These characters come from every area of culture in the 14th century and provide Chaucer with the opportunity to speak in different voices.
Geoffrey Chaucer was considered as the greatest English poet of medieval era. He was from the Bourgeois class, belonged to the aristocratic class and was also a member of parliament. Of course, he had some connections with his presentation of the members of the Nobility in his General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales since he belonged to the aristocratic class as well.
In his General Prologue, Chaucer had tried to show the readers a transparent hierarchy prevailed and a pyramid of difference with the royalty at the peak and peasants, keeping the lump of population at hand in the below stage. Chaucer expresses, in the truest and liveliest way, the true and lively things which are set before him. In between the peasants and royalty, nevertheless, were well regarded, privileged and upper class families addressed as nobles or lords. The presentation of the Nobility in his General Prologue gave a clear indication about feudalism since he was able to observe them very closely.