Mark Twain once asserted, "a classic is a book that nobody reads." Geoffrey Chaucer's renowned classic The Canterbury Tales is a collection of short stories that is read the world over, yet still has attained the classical status. Chaucer's fictional collection has many components that make it well suited to its classical identity due to it's relate ability, relevancy to modern times, and the central focuses of universal truths.

The Canterbury Tales has been widely published and made available to the masses in several translations from Middle English to Modern English in order to make the story accessible. In order for a piece of writing to continue to be read and enjoyed, the same as Chaucer's tales, the reader must have the ability to relate with the characters in the story. In the introduction to Chaucer's narrative, "the general prologue", 29 guests of the Tabard Inn are introduced. Many...