CHAUCER and BOCCACCIO

CHAUCER probably read Boccaccio’s Decameron, Although we have no proof of this.

Some biographers think that Chaucer met Boccaccio in Florence, during a staying in Italy in 1372.

There are some similarities between the two works. However, there are some differences, too.

DECAMERON The CANTERBURY TALES

Completed around 1350 Completed between 1387 and 1395

NARRATORS NARRATORS

Seven young women and three young men Thirty pilgrims, including Chaucer

They come from the aristocracy They come from different social classes

They tell stories in prose They tell verse tales

During the Black Death (1348) In April

In a country house During their journey to Canterbury

To escape the plague To visit Thomas Becket’s shrine

100 stories 120 stories (only 24 completed)

Each member of the group

will tell a story each day for 10 days
DECAMERON

In general, the storytellers choose a theme and
all of them tell a story regarding that theme

The Canterbury Tales

Each pilgrim will tell two stories while going

to Canterbury and two stories while coming back from Canterbury

Each tale reflects the personality of the pilgrim telling it

It’s told in a style of language fitting the social class of the narrator

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