Has Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" ever been banned anywhere on the grounds of obscenity?
Question #47787. Asked by gmackematix.
Last updated Aug 27 2016.
Kainantu
Answer has 3 votes
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Kainantu
Answer has 3 votes.
Currently voted the best answer.
Yes
“Over the years, this book has been banned upways, sideways, and down. Thanks to the Comstock Law (1873), Geoffrey Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales' was prohibited for sale in the United States due to sexual situations and swearing. It continues to be abridged for content and language across the United States.
I read Canterbury Tales a while ago. It was an abridged edition. Severely abridged. Entire sections and tales were cut out, for PC and conservative reasons both. I reread it in an unabridged edition, and while even a truncated Chaucer is beautiful, I see how much I missed.”