In The General Prologue, Chaucer sets up the general/ structure of the les and introduces each of the characters who will tell the tales. The characters who tell each of the tales are as important as the characters in the tales that they tell: a significant portion of the action of The Canterbury Tales takes place within the prologue to each of the tales, The General Prologue in essence serves as a guide Chaucer only lived to write 24 tales. Some of the stories that remain are only fragments which have either been los or were never completed by the author 2021/223 82021/2/23 8 ❖ In The General Prologue, Chaucer sets up the general structure of the tales and introduces each of the characters who will tell the tales. The characters who tell each of the tales are as important as the characters in the tales that they tell; a significant portion of the action of The Canterbury Tales takes place within the prologue to each of the tales. The General Prologue in essence serves as a guide. Chaucer only lived to write 24 tales. Some of the stories that remain are only fragments which have either been lost or were never completed by the author