The best known of Chaucer's Canterbury's Tales, read by Dame Peggy Ashcroft. After a prologue, in which the Wife of Bath mentions that she would welcome another husband - who would be her sixth - and that she pursues power over her husbands, she tells a tale about a knight who must marry....
Download and start listening now!
"An excellent, telling, comical classic. I remember in my Western Literature class the professor teared up as she read Chaucer's Retraction. The experience was moving and was one factor that me down the path of the metaphor with a much greater appreciation for literature. " — Alford (5 out of 5 stars)
"An excellent, telling, comical classic. I remember in my Western Literature class the professor teared up as she read Chaucer's Retraction. The experience was moving and was one factor that me down the path of the metaphor with a much greater appreciation for literature. "
" I just loved the Wife of Bath's witty-ness in this! "
" If you like the medieval time period, read this book! Difficult to follow Chaucer's writing, but oh so beautiful! "
" I feel that I really should have given this a higher score as it is such classic literature, but I found it a bit of a struggle. We will be discussing it in my literature group in May and I expect to get a better grip on it then "
" Once I had gotten to grips with the language, I really enjoyed the story! "
" heh heh "
" Chaucer is a fave. The Wife of Bath always makes me smile as she is a woman who brooks no fools:) "
" need to chg ths to just story no criticism "
" i liked it but not as much as i thought i would "
" fun to read this in middle english! Great textual criticism articles at the end. "
" I love all his work . "
" Geoffrey Chaucer was a social genius. He loved awkward moments. He made dirty jokes. He knew what women wanted. He was funny before being funny was a thing. Love it. "
" British Literature Junior year of HS "
" One of my favorites, that was until I found out that it was never finished. "
" Interesting concept but hard to get through, especially if you read the original version as the language can be difficult to understand. "
" Read at Richard Henry's request. Wasn't all that impressed. "
" Jumped around it for class. I actually really enjoyed it. "
" I treat this more as prose than poetry. I WANT to like it. However, I wish I could get past the lumpy writing style...and most of the translations don't seem to do it any favours. A monumental work of early fiction...but an unloved one on my shelf. "
" one of the first books written in English (well, kind of English, hahaha). Some stories are funny, some are sad, some touching- but all are interesting. Especially the Nun's Tale. Goddamn what a crazy lady she is. "
" I liked the Miller's tale the best. It had the most fart jokes. "
" Chaucer is the innovative satirist that his modern english/mid english age needed. His work not only had humor but an insight to the world he lived in. "
" Thanks to my favorite high school English teacher, Mr. S., I love these characters and stories, as well as the language of Chaucer. He entertains on every page. "Whan that aprill with his shoures soote..." "
" I will always maintain that Chaucer was the original MC. "
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343–1400), English poet, was the son of a London vintner. He was married and held a number of positions at court and in the king’s service, including diplomat, controller of customs in the port of London, and deputy forester in the King’s Forest in Somerset. He was buried in the Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey where a monument was erected to him in 1555.
Audiobooks Were Restored to Your Cart
[ShoppingCartItemsAddedOnMerge] audiobook(s) were left in your cart from a previous visit, and saved to your account for your convenience. You may view or remove these audiobooks on the shopping cart page.