A group of pilgrims travelling to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury decide that each traveller should tell a story. The Knights tell a tale of high romance. The Pardoner tells a story of death. And the Wife of Bath tells the story of her five husbands and her fight to control the men in her life. But The Tales ends with the story of the perfect marriage and how, if we are enerous to one another, we can find the perfect society.