University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge: Introduction to Practical Criticism
An in-depth learning module in literary criticism. Students read and listen to a poem by Sir Thomas Wyatt and an excerpt from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, and analyze their structure and meaning. Includes multiple-choice quizzes.
Shmoop University
Shmoop: The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath's Prologue
A most interesting character in The Canterbury Tales, the wife of Bath reveals much about herself and others. This site analysis the themes and other characters in this fascinating story.
Harvard University
The Harvard Chaucer Page: English Romance
A survey of Geoffrey Chaucer's work, which was much influenced by romance, the dominant mode of secular fictional narrative in his time.
Harvard University
The Geoffrey Chaucer Page: Other Authors
This site from The Geoffrey Chaucer Page contains links to many other authors whose work was related to or influenced Chaucer's. Includes links to Petrarch, Dante, Boccaccio, Boethius and more. A great site to check out on the subject.
Harvard University
The Harvard Chaucer Page: The High Style
Essay about Geoffrey Chaucer's use of the "high style" in middle English verse, characterized by an elegantly adorned diction reliant upon Latin and French borrowings.
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: Geoffrey Chaucer
Familiarize yourself with the life and works of Geoffrey Chaucer. This source contains a quick fact sheet, a short biography, and links to related articles, collection items, works, and teacher resources.
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: William Caxton and the Introduction of Printing to England
This article explains how William Caxton brought the printing press to England and published printed versions of works by writers including Chaucer, Malory, Gower, Cicero, and Virgil.
Harvard University
The Geoffrey Chaucer Page: Lyric Poetry
A brief note about the English lyric poetry prior to Chaucer and how it relates to Chaucer's "tales." Links provided to related topics.
Towson University
Towson University: Edwin Duncan, ph.d.: A Basic Chaucer Glossary
A glossary of the modern equivalents of words most often found in Chaucer's works.
Harvard University
The Harvard Chaucer Page: 14th Century English
This site from The Geoffrey Chaucer Page of Harvard University provides biographical information on Chaucer, specifically on his social class and his learning/speaking/writing French. Explanation for why the commoners and aristocrats...
Stephen Byrne
History for Kids: Geoffrey Chaucer
History of the famous 14th Century English poet and bureucrat, Geoffrey Chaucer, who wrote the well known, Canterbury Tales. Includes teacher resources.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Chaucer's Wife of Bath
These lesson plans, focusing on Chaucer's Wife of Bath, encourage students to explore the roles of women and the views of marriage during the Middle Ages. Website includes several links to further related information.
Harvard University
The Geoffrey Chaucer Page: Lease Granted to Chaucer
The text of a 1374 lease document that sheds light on the legal affairs of Geoffrey Chaucer and the real world of The Canterbury Tales.
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Chaucer: Letter to Pope About Thomas Becket's Death [Pdf]
This is a one-page PDF of a letter from William, archbishop of Sens, to the Pope, in relation to the death of Thomas Becket.
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: Middle English
This article explains how Middle English developed from Old English, changing its grammar, pronunciation, and spelling, and borrowing words from French and Latin.
British Library
British Library: Discovering Literature: The Makars: Medieval Scottish Poetry
From morality to migraines: this article analyses key concerns in the late medieval poetry of Robert Henryson and William Dunbar.
![Prism: "The Wife of Bath's Prologue [Excerpt]" Visualization Activity](https://content.lessonplanet.com/knovation/original/177128-01c8c981ebc00a5db97e6ea78230ac52.jpg?1661558148 "Prism: \"The Wife of Bath's Prologue [Excerpt]\" Visualization Activity")
University of Virginia Library
Prism: "The Wife of Bath's Prologue [Excerpt]" Visualization
[Free Registration/Login Required] See the results of how users have highlighted an excerpt of Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Prologue." Diction is blue while tone is red and imagery is green. Click on any word to see the...
Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Clip Art Etc: Geoffrey Chaucer
The writings of Geoffrey Chaucer, who was a contemporary of Wycliffe, show us the character of the English tongue at that time. His Canterbury Tales, and the phraseology of Wycliffe's Bible, remind us of the dialects used by many of the...