General Introduction in “The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales”
The General Introduction Explained: The first 42 lines of “The Prologue” forms the General Introduction. The narrator opens the General Prologue with a description of the return of spring. He describes the April rains, the burgeoning flowers and leaves, and the chirping birds. Around this time of year, the narrator says, people begin to feel the desire to go on a pilgrimage. Many devout English pilgrims set off to visit shrines in distant holy lands, but even more choose to travel to Canterbury to visit the relics of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, where they thank the martyr for having helped them when they were in need. The narrator tells us that as he prepared to go on such a pilgrimage, staying at a tavern in Southwark called the Tabard Inn, a great company of twenty-nine travelers entered. The number can be disputed. How many were there in the group that sets off from Tabard Inn? Does the number 29 include the host? And, there was the yeoman who joined them ...