Frame narrative
A story that contains other stories. The pilgrimage is the frame; the individual tales are nested inside it. The frame lets Chaucer put many different voices and genres in dialogue without committing to any single one.
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The fabliau
A comic, often bawdy tale about ordinary people, usually involving trickery and sex. The Miller's Tale and the Reeve's Tale are fabliaux. They deliberately deflate the high seriousness of chivalric romance.
Chivalric romance
A genre featuring noble characters, idealized love, and tests of honor. The Knight's Tale is the clearest example. Chaucer uses the genre seriously but also lets other tales mock its conventions.
Dramatic irony
When the reader knows something the character does not, or when a character's words mean something different from what they intend. Chaucer's General Prologue runs on this: his praise of corrupt pilgrims is ironic praise.
The estates satire tradition
Medieval writers often criticized society by describing the failings of each social class or profession. Chaucer works in this tradition but makes it more personal and specific than most estates satires.
Prologue and tale relationship
Many pilgrims have a prologue that reveals their character before they tell their tale. The Wife of Bath's prologue is longer than her tale. The Pardoner's prologue is a confession. Reading both together is essential.
Unreliable narration
The narrator Chaucer claims to be just reporting what he saw and heard, but his choices about what to include and how to describe it are clearly shaped by irony. The narrator is a persona, not a transparent window.
Intertextuality
Chaucer borrows from Boccaccio, Ovid, classical philosophy, and French romance. Recognizing his sources helps students see what he is changing and why those changes matter.
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