Jonty Claypole

We're explaining what the Canterbury Tales are, why they remain literary staples, what makes their characters so memorable, and what we can know about the book as a whole from the brilliant long poem that begins the cycle, known, not very excitingly, but it's how it's known, as the general prologue.

I mean, I can't see Hollywood buying up that title as a franchise.

Okay, Sophie, let's do our synopsis.

The general prologue opens with a group of pilgrims assembled at the Tabard Inn in Southwark in April, sometime around the 1380s.

And Sophie, last night I was lying in bed thinking about you, or more specifically, this episode.

And I was thinking, what would be the right modern equivalent to bring to think about this situation?

And I think the talent show, the reality show, is spot on.

I was also thinking, what would bring different people together in the same way?

And I was thinking of Paddington Station before Glastonbury, people from different walks of life getting on the train to go to Glastonbury.

And as they're leaving London, a bit of the spirit of the festival descending, class hierarchies breaking away.

I was thinking of Burning Man.

Burning Man for an American equivalent.

I then thought, actually, there is a modern pilgrimage equivalent, which is the Camino de Santiago.

The only people I've known who have done the Camino are agnostics or atheists.

So it's got this, it's a pilgrimage site like the Canterbury one is, but actually a lot of the people doing it are doing it for reasons other than religion, much as the pilgrims are here.

But ultimately, Sophie, I settled on one only modern comparison.

Well, we've got to remember that they never get there, right?

The Canterbury Tales fizzles out.

They never get to tell all their stories.

It is, Sophie, the fire festival.