**This course is now full**

The general prologue and several selected tales of this sometimes moral, often ribald, and most entertaining narrative shall serve as a highly informative and unusually accessible entry into the world of late medieval England. Its foibles and assumptions will be as much a topic of interest as the fascinating cast of characters from—in sociologically descending order—the maybe-not-so-perfect Knight to the equally complex Wife of Bath. Complexity, diversity, and a critical but forgiving perception of the world and of human behavior characterize the rich tapestry of this comedic pilgrimage. The Bantam Classic edition, selected and translated by A. Kent and Constance Hieatt, is readily available online and has the original Middle English text facing the modern translation on the opposite page.