The Host

- Introduces the man who runs the tabard inn
- Jolly and kind
- No ulterior motives
- Wise
- Strong businessman
- Refers to all pilgrims as master
    - Humble
- Gives away places at his inn for free
    - Generous
- Stark contrast to most/all other pilgrims
- Guide for Canterbury pilgrimage

The Summoner

- Brings people to church court
   - Moral offences
   - Adultery
   - Not paying taxes
- Red cheeked
   - Sign of heavy drinking
- Ugly, or horrible to look at
   - Children feared him
- Tried to use ointment to heal his face
   - Didn't work
- Educated (possibly in the church)
   - Only spoke latin when he was drunk
- Blackmails people
   - Could be bribed easily
- Made money through dubious means
- Like monk and friar
   - Bad example for member of the clergy
- Similar social status to the knight
   - Superior to majority of the country
- Other members of the clergy on this pilgrimage care about how they look
   - e.g. The prioress
- Controversial sexuality
   - Homosexual with the pardoner?
- Homosexuality was frowned upon during Chaucerian times (penalty of death)
- Hideousness linked with homosexuality

The Pardoner

- Ecclesiastical
- Devious job
- Sexually ambiguous 
    - Homosexual?
    - Hermaphrodite (sleeps with eyes open) 
    - Sings love song with the Summoner 
- Wary or cautious
- Cares little for his appearance
    - Long blonde ragged hair
- Carries many religious relics with him
    - Fake
- Earns more in a day, than the parson does in a year
    - Makes money through dubious means
    - Con artist
- Appeared gentle and polite to fool people
- Like the Doctor of Phisik and the Miller
    - Cons the nation to make more money
- Carries a vernicle
    - Shows been on a pilgrimage before
    - Why is he coming on a pilgrimage again?

The Reeve

- Careful with his money
- Timid/Shy
- Manages peoples estates
- Owned a good horse ('this Reeve sat upon a ful good stot')
- Was mainly trained as a carpenter
- Detail would suggest existed in real life
- Rode at the back of the Pilgrimage
    - To avoid the miller
    - Suspicious 
- Meticulous with his money and accounts
- Why is he on the pilgrimage?
    - Strongly believes in afterlife 
    - Secure a place in heaven 
- Many people were afraid of him
    - Feared him as much as death
- Knows all the tricks of the trade, like the manciple
- Thin
    - Elusive
    - Can hide away easily
- Physicality's mirror his personality

The Manciple

Character Overview

A manciple is someone who's in charge of purchasing food and supplies for an institution like a school, monastery or law court. This particular manciple works for an inn of court (the "temple"), which is a place where lawyers might live or gather. Although Chaucer the pilgrim suggests the Manciple is one who can serve as a great example for other purchasers, we quickly begin to question his ethics and trade when we learn that, whether he purchases with cash or on credit, he always ends up ahead in his accounts.

The manciple’s prologue talks little about what he looks like, his attire and his horse. This would suggest that either this meant little to the manciple, like the clerk, or that his trade is what defined his character, not the way he looked. It also could suggest that Chaucer knew a character like this, and if he described his look too much, then he could have possibly revealed who this character in real life may have been.

Links to other characters

The manciple is similar to the merchant as he earns his keep through by a less than legal means it is suggested. He is also like the next character we will meet which is the reeve as he manages to trick is a superior. He is also like the Clerk and the Doctor of Phisik as he has had an education and is one of the more highly intelligent characters on the pilgrimage. He is also dishonest like the miller.

Important lines

The last line of the manciple’s prologue would suggest that he tricks his superiors and changes his income somehow as it says ‘and yet this Manciple sette hir aller cappe.’

The use of rhyme in the line ‘Algate he wayted so in his achaat
, That he was ay biforn and in good staat’ highlights the irony that the manciple earns his keep by a questionable means.

The use of rhyme in the line ‘now is nat that of God a ful fair grace That swich a lewed mannes wit shal pace’ emphasizes the fact that the trade the manciple was taking part in was unholy, as it has some dramatic irony to it.

Conclusion

The manciple was a manipulative character that could fool anyone, even his highly educated superiors into believing him. The Manciple like the miller is an embezzler. 

The Miller

- Called Robin
- Presented in a repulsive manner
- Physicality's mirror his personality
- Breaks down doors with his head
- Cheats his clients out of money
- Loudmouth ('loudmouth and a buffoon or clown')
- Hero? 
- Like the Doctor of Phisik, sells his customers a fake product
- Like the cook, very good at his trade, also both have a wart
- Stereotypical of the lower class
- Looks like the devil, read hair and muscular

The Plowman

- Owns a humble working horse (mare)

- Doesn't have many desires

- The Plowman is the Parsons brother

     - Religious family

- Lowest ranking pilgrim

    - Little or no skills

- Hard worker = 'a trewe swinger and a good was he'

- Worked (loved thy neighbour)to secure his place in heaven

- Lowly

The Parson

- Parish priest

   - Unlike prioress and monk, he lives by holy word

- Not a high position in society

- He is a shepherd and his parish is his sheep (dedication)

- Represents the sins of a priest

- Meant to be uneducated, however he is incredibly intelligent

- Doesn't care about his appearance

- Holds a staph, similar to a shepherd

    - Shepherd symbolism (his parish = his flock)

    - Alike Jesus, or moses

- Does not own a horse (walks on foot)

   - Abstaining from wealth (horse a symbol of money)

- Like the knight as he is an idealised figure

- Wouldn't neglect those less fortunate (unlike the friar)

- Chaucer the pilgrim speaks highly of him

- Pias, courteous, and gentle

- 'A shiten shepherde' = doesn't wash often 

The Wife of Bath

- Fat, fair, and likes the colour red (romance)
- Gaps between her teeth suggest morality
- Her horse suggest she has wealth
- Well travelled, means wealth
- Married 5 times
- Cloth making is her trade
    - 'She passed hem of Ypres and Gaunt' 
- Similar to friar, monk and prioress
    - How does she fit in, with her religious beliefs?
- Un-holy to be married more than once, banned in church
- Knows the dance of love, why should she know this?
- Been on many other pilgrimages
    - First at the alter when in mass
    - Would suggest she is religious
    - Seen as a sinner in the eyes of the church
- Divorce was illegal (couldn't happen)
    - What has happened to her previous husbands? 
    - Dead?
    - Suspicious deaths, she might be marrying for money
- Why was she married so much? (epitome of a female sinner)
- How did she have so much money?
- Why has she been on so many pilgrimages previously?
- If she was a commoner how did she get fat and acquire a horse?

Doctor of Phisik

- Doctor of physics and astronomy, but knows biology and can treat people

- Like the Friar so exploits people

     - 'Loves Gold'

- Spends money he gains from healing people on clothes, food and jewellery

- Favourite remedy is to give people gold to drink

     - Shows off his wealth

     - Gives patients urine not gold

- Doesn't follow bible, interested in alchemy 

     - Why is he going on a pilgrimage?

- Hid during black death instead of treating people

     - Selfish ('He kepte that he wan')

- Increasing his social class by buying lavish items

- Chaucer the pilgrim says that he is a worthy man ('He was a verray, parfit praktisour')

The Shipman

- Owns a cart-horse
- Working horse, rough and not well kept
- Bad at riding his horse, more of a sea man
    - Doesn't spend much time on land
- Wears a robe of rough cloth (not very wealthy)
- Carry's a knife and says that he could use it instantly (why does he need this? The five guildsmen also carry one)
- Pirate?
- Steals win from the ship, dubious
- Master of his trade (like the cook)
- Knows all the coasts of England, Spain and Denmark
- His tan is like the knights armour, showing where he has been, tan means you are a worker
- Throw people overboard if they got into a fight
- Likes to have control, gets into fights
- His boat is named (St. Mary Magdelene)

The Five Guildsmen & The Cook

- Always dressed in a smart uniform
- Not individually wealthy, came together to become a wealthy group
- All have similar incomes
- Wealthy, own silver and brass knives
    - Possibly have another source of income (unknown)
- Appear only in a group 
- Rich enough to employ a cook
- The cook had a pussy boil on his knee
- The Guildsmen have a higher social class than the average person
- Their wives are to blame for what they have done wrong
- The wives are understanding of their husband
- Similar to prioress and squire = spend money on clothes and think about their appearances
- Indivisible unit, are only talked about together
- Their individual personalities, skills and avocations are not revealed

The Franklin

- Free tenant of the crown (didn't have to pay tax or rent, was incredibly wealthy)

- Knight of the shire (member of the parliament) 

- Part of the emerging middle class (not born into nobility) 

- White beard might suggest he is old (age = respect?)

- Oldest member of the pilgrimage

- He survived the black death, grew old, could lead to respect 

- He drank wine at breakfast, wealthy, could afford what ever he wants

- He can supposedly what ever he wants, and he enjoys this freedom

- Figure of authority, alike the knight and squire

- Suggested to be like St. Julian (patron saint of hospitality)

- Doesn't have an ulterior motive by going on the pilgrimage

- Chaucer could be personifying himself through The Franklin

The Sergeant of Law

- Likened to the merchant, the middle class rising
- Elite class of lawyers
- Possibly could have worked in Saint Paul's Cathedral 
- Given lots of ostentatious and lavish clothing by royalty 
      - Normally dressed formally
      - In red = powerful
- He was withdrawn and cautious - Why?
- A lot of people couldn't afford to keep such glamorous horses and livestock
- Un-trust worthy, or dubious because he isn't wearing his best clothes
- Chaucer's rhyming couplets and iambic pentameter really highlight the sergeant of the law's authority

The Friar

- The friar is similar to the monk and prioress = he doesn't abide to his personal rules

- Friar's travels around to seduce young women

- Crafty and manipulative

- Soliciting money

- Doesn't like to spend time with lower classes, although these are the people he is meant to associate himself with

- He seduces women to get what he wants eg. sex

- The friar knew the taverns better than he knew the poor people, suggesting that he cared more for his drink than the poor

- Should have been poor and not own much

    - He earned more that he got through begging from seducing women

- He isn't a man of god although he is meant to be a meditator of between man and god

- He has no interest in helping the poor but in improving his own life

The Merchant & The Clerk Presentation

Character overview

The Merchant

Merchants were viewed as middle class citizens and in the Chaucerian time period the middle class were rising and become more powerful. This was shown through the clothes that he was wearing when he was riding his horse. For example in line 272/273 (Upon his heed a Flaundryssh bever hat, His bootes clasped faire and fetisly) he wore a Flemish beaver hat, and his boots were buckled ‘handsomely and elegantly’.

The merchant also speaks ‘solemnly’ of his finances and his social status, so much so that no one knew he was in debt. Chaucer the pilgrim says that he managed his finances well and that people saw him as a worthy man. But we as a reader and Chaucer the writer shows us that he couldn’t manage his finances well as he is in debt, but does this necessarily make him an unworthy man?

The Clerk

The clerk (scholar), is an intelligent man that is studying logic at Oxford. He does not have any support and is extremely poor which is evident from his threadbare short upper coat. He is also very thin and so is his horse, perhaps because of his lack of money. He isn’t a materialistic person, and would rather have knowledge and books, instead of beautiful robes and paintings (lines 295-298).

He is a man of few words and does not speak more than necessary. But whatever he does say tends to increase moral virtue in the listeners. The scholarly Clerk religiously prays for the welfare of his friends and benefactors.

There are no ironic overtones in the Clerk’s portrait apart from the pun on his being a philosopher and yet being poor. In the Middle Ages, a philosopher also implied an alchemist who claimed to transform base metals into silver and gold (line 300). I don’t think Chaucer the writer would want us to think any differently of the Clerk that Chaucer the pilgrim does, as he doesn’t denounce the clerks character in his writing.

Links to other characters

The clerk and the merchant are very similar in the fact that they do not have to conform to strict rules about who they should be and how they should act. This contradicts the characters of the monk, prioress and the knight, as they were expected to be noble, holy and idealistic characters. Despite the fact they do not have certain rules about what they can do, Chaucer presents them as pilgrims who should be respected, as they intelligent and ‘well behaved’.

The merchant is similar to the knight as he is interested in foreign affairs and as it says in line 278-279 he doesn’t want England to be invaded. He is also a noble man that rides proudly upon his horse (line 272).

The clerk is similar to the yeoman in some ways, as he is an expert in his field, for the clerk that is knowledge, and for the yeoman that is weaponry, he is also religious and prays for others, much like the yeoman idolizes St. Christopher.

Important lines

Chaucer tells us that (283/4) line ‘He was a worthy fellow all the same; To tell the truth, I do not know his name’ this would suggest that the merchant acts as if many people would know who he was and pretends to be worthy, when in actual fact not a lot of people know either who he is or in fact what he is actually called.

Chaucer tells us that the Clerk (304) "never spoke a word more than was need", this could foreshadow his tale in the future and possibly suggest that this will teach us something moral or ethical

Conclusion

The clerk and the merchant are two very different characters, and this is evident from the way Chaucer writes about them. They have different character traits and enjoy different things for example the merchant cares about how people view him where as the clerk cares about what people think, not about him but about life. But they are also similar as they pursue their different passions. Any questions or quotes you would like to explore?

Prezi - Link to presentation

The Clerk:                              The Merchant:

The Prioress Character Diary

To him,

As you know I have decided to join a pilgrimage to Canterbury. It was rather damp when I set off from the convent, as the morning mist had not lifted on the common, but when I arrive at the meeting place the sun was shining and I hope it made my hair glisten. And on this fine day we all met in the Tabard Inn, and if I must say I’m not complaining.

There are some fine characters on this pilgrimage, the most appealing of whom has to be the knights son, the squire. He has fine pressed hair and dresses like a prince, and dare I say it I would not mind taking him as a suitor. His father on the other hand looks like he has just left battle and needs a little advice when it comes to dressing appropriately, I would offer to lend him a ‘prayer bead’ or two but I know he will only damage or lose them, and who is he to respect fine jewelry. The monk is rather pretentious and far to over zealous for ones liking, he shall take some getting used to, but I suppose I can relate one or two of his past times. The yeoman, like the knight looks like he has just left battle and mopes around after the knight far too much for one to gauge what he is like as a person. There is also this rather odd man called Chaucer, he is rather quite and seems to be removed from the rest of us, one can only assume that he cannot manage his drink.

I have managed to fool some of the poor men into thinking I can speak French, bless them when they trust a women, and especially one who is meant to believe in god.

Alas I have a headache, perhaps one to many glasses of ale more than I am used to. But I have high hopes for this pilgrimage, and believe that some of us will take part in some rather dubious activities, but who am I to worry. To bed I must fly.

Amor vincit omnia

The Monk

Proper monk should have done:
- Study
- Pray
- Manual Labour
- Fast
- Plain Habit, with hoods

- Chaucerian monk breaks the rules
- Hunts, which is un-holy, owns several types of hunting animals
- Is lavishly dressed in luxurious furs and jewels 
- If he enjoys such un-holy activities, why did he become a monk? 
- Is he corrupt?
- Wears a golden love knot, which goes against his chastity promise 
- He ate swan, which was the food of royalty, does he view himself as a higher rank than he is?
- Similar to the knight aka. leads a lavish life

The Prioress

The Prioress

- Nun, member of a convent
- The Prioress' forehead was a key point, as this was a important for status at that time
- Why was she glamorous? 
- Wears a bracelet that says 'Love conquers all'
- Why was her name linked to courtly romance?
- Well educated, well spoken
- Could she possibly be fake, or two faced?
- First member of the clergy mentioned in the text
- Possibly on the pilgrimage for un-holy reasons
- Likened to the Squire, as she cares about her appearance
- The prioress front could be a disguise, but why choose this character as a disguise?
- What is seen on the outside may not be the same as on the inside
- Chaucer the pilgrim admires her, but we as a reader, and Chaucer as a writer makes it obvious that she isn't so
- She possibly would like to become close to the Squire
- The bracelet is written in Latin, which is the language of the church, so could be a pretence of actually is there
      - The bracelet could be seen as imagery for the Prioress, saying that the outside is not the same as the inside
- As prioress she only has herself and god to answer to, therefore she can answer to her desires

Competing Interpretations

'There are two approaches to Chaucer: to accept without questioning the interpetations of the pilgrim-poet - or be a little more sceptical. This pilgrim-poet character, who meets all the other pilgrims, is rather naive and accepting of what he sees and hears. Chaucer the poet skilfully creates this figure so that he leaves the reader the chance to interpret more expertly what the other pilgrims are like. Where Chaucer-the-pilgrim sees, for examplem, 'worthiness', we may now interpret that as being remote, superior  - possible arrogant.' - Mr. Wayman

Knight

e.g.. 'He never yet no villainy ne said' - this is interpreted by Chaucer the pilgrim as he never swore or spoke badly of anyone or anything around him, it presents him as noble and kind. Where as the modern reader could interpret him being two faced, and being kind to people when he is around them, but then being rude behind their backs, or being false and pretending to be kind and never say bad things. 

Squire

e.g.. 'He was as fresh as is the month of May' - This is interpreted by Chaucer the pilgrim as him being lively and happy all the time and never down. Where as the modern reader may view him as over enthusiastic, or annoyingly energetic, as he went around singing and playing his flute. Which means it is more than likely so did the other pilgrims.

e.g... 'Courteous he was, lowly, and serviceable' - Chaucer the pilgrim may interpret this as him being a kind gentleman, that helps other people and doesn't judge people on their class or rank and is humble of his achievements. Where as a modern reader might see this as him being fake or him trying to look kind and be chivalrous to help him gain his knighthood. 

Iambic Pentameter

Why is Iambic Pentameter used?

• pedestrian rhythm
• pleasing to listen to

e.g. Of twenty yeer of age he was, I gesse

Key Links for Chaucer

Mark Steel Lectures - Geoffrey Chaucer
Lecture part 1
Lecture part 2
Lecture part 3


TFW blog 

BBC History

British Library Link

British Library Timeline