The ten essays selected for this book illuminate the central themes of the most frequently taught Canterbury Tales. These texts are appropriate for undergraduates and general readers and were edited carefully to ensure that references and allusions are explained in footnotes. Theoretical excursus and critical jousting have been either simplified or omitted entirely. At the end of each essay is an annotated list of further readings. The volumes editor is one of the most distinguished active Chaucerian scholars in the world.