Tale of Sir Thopas

E951992

Tale of Sir Thopas is a deliberately comic, burlesque romance in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales that parodies chivalric adventure narratives through exaggerated clichés and doggerel verse.

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Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Canterbury Tale
Middle English poem
burlesque romance
literary parody
approximateDateOfComposition late 14th century
author Geoffrey Chaucer NERFINISHED
contains catalogues of clothing and equipment
invocation of the Virgin Mary
mock battle preparations
countryOfOrigin England
featuresCharacter Sir Thopas NERFINISHED
the giant Sir Olifaunt NERFINISHED
featuresMotif quest for an elf-queen
followedBy The Tale of Melibee NERFINISHED
form narrative poem
frameCollection tales told on the road to Canterbury
genre comic romance
parody of chivalric romance
includedIn most major manuscripts of The Canterbury Tales
interruptedBy the Host NERFINISHED
language Middle English
literaryPeriod Middle Ages NERFINISHED
literarySignificance early example of parodying romance conventions
illustrates Chaucer’s self-caricature as a poet
meter tail-rhyme stanza
narrativeFrameSpeaker Chaucer (pilgrim) NERFINISHED
narrativeMode third-person narration
narrativeStatus interrupted tale
notableManuscript Ellesmere manuscript of The Canterbury Tales NERFINISHED
originalLanguage Middle English
parodies chivalric adventure narratives
courtly romance conventions
partOf The Canterbury Tales NERFINISHED
protagonist Sir Thopas NERFINISHED
rhymeScheme tail-rhyme (aabccb, etc.)
setting Flanders NERFINISHED
structure series of short tail-rhyme stanzas
style deliberately clumsy
heavily clichéd
targetOfSatire metrical romances popular in late medieval England
theme critique of bad versification
mockery of chivalric ideals
satire of popular romance
tone comic
mock-heroic
verseForm doggerel verse

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Chaucer the pilgrim tellsTale Tale of Sir Thopas