The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer

Author/Context

Geoffrey Chaucer lived during a tumultuous period in England's history. During his early youth, the Bubonic Plague terrorized Europe, killing a large portion of the population, and forever leaving a lasting impression on those surviving the catastrophe. Throughout Chaucer's life, the Church was also in an upheaval. It was caught in a position of deception and uncertainty, perhaps because of the Plague and perhaps because of economics. Nonetheless, the fraud occurring within the holy walls influenced Chaucer's work. During his lifetime, the Hundred Years War between England and France also took place, which again placed a violent element in Chaucer's work.

It is this period of political and social turmoil in England that allowed Chaucer to produce a large body of influential work. Known as a poet and often as a friend of the nobility, Chaucer was ultimately part of the bourgeois of England. Very little is actually known about his life, despite his rearing by a middle-class family. His father was in the wine and leather trade, perhaps giving the family their surname - Chaucer - for it means a maker of footwear. He was a page in a royal household during his youth, continued his relationship with royalty throughout his life, married the daughter of a knight, Philippa, and traveled to France and Spain. His life was that of "an active, responsible civil servant and cosmopolitan courtier" (Halverson x).

 

Because of the political unrest of the time and Chaucer's witty, sharp, sarcasm, he wrote The Canterbury Tales, a group of fabliau and fragments, consisting of a piece of each of England's stereotypical citizen archetypes put together in a mixing pot on their pilgrimage to Canterbury. The destination is not as significant as is the action that occurs along the way. The Tales are not even finished and the destination is never even reached during the course of the writing.

 

"That The Canterbury Tales was left unfinished may well have been a matter of choice, not fate. It is likely that Chaucer abandoned his great literary work in the last years of his life and turned his thoughts to the salvation of his soul, as the Retraction suggests. He not only abandoned the tales but also expressed regret for having ever written them, except those explicitly religious and moral" (Halverson, xx-xxi).

 

These fragmented stories and prologues bring together a brilliant satire of Chaucer's contemporary England, commenting not only on the people of the time, but bringing in Christianity, perhaps primeval feminism with the Wife of Bath, anti-Semitism, sexuality, unfaithfulness, and humor. Although not all of the tales are finished, and the entire work is cut short and book-ended with a retraction, Chaucer's wit stands strong. When looking at Chaucer's work, four things must be remembered about Chaucer himself and his time period. He was a Catholic during the end of Catholicism in England, he was chivalric, he was English, and he was part of the Bourgeois. This combination of characteristics yielded what is now considered one of the most important manuscripts in the English language.

Plot Summary

The Canterbury Tales begins with the General Prologue, a detailed introduction and description of each of the pilgrims journeying to Canterbury to catch sight of the shrine to Sir Thomas a Becket, the martyred saint of Christianity, supposedly buried in the Cathedral of Canterbury since 1170. The pilgrims, a mixture of virtuous and villainous characters from Medieval England, include a Knight, his son the Squire, the Knight's Yeoman, a Prioress, a Second Nun, a Monk, a Friar, a Merchant, a Clerk, a Man of Law, a Franklin, a Weaver, a Dyer, a Carpenter, a Tapestry-Maker, a Haberdasher, a Cook, a Shipman, a Physician, a Parson, a Miller, a Manciple, a Reeve, a Summoner, a Pardoner, the Wife of Bath, and Chaucer himself. They each bring a slice of England to the trip with their stories of glory, chivalry, Christianity, villainy, disloyalty, cuckoldry, and honor. Some pilgrims are faithful to Christ and his teachings, while others openly disobey the church and its law of faithfulness, honor, and modesty.

The pilgrimage begins in April, a time of happiness and rebirth. They pilgrims hope not only to travel in this blessed time, but to have a rebirth of their own along the way. The pilgrimage consists of these characters journeying to Canterbury and back, each telling two tales in each direction, as suggested by the host. At the conclusion of the tales, the host will decide whose story is the best. The Knight is the first to tell a story, one made up properly of honor and chivalry. His tale is followed by the Miller's opposite tale of dishonor and frivolity. Chaucer frequently places tales of religion and Christ-like worship with tales of unfaithful women and cuckolded men. The Reeve, the Cook, and the Man of Law tell the next stories, while the host interjects his opinions throughout. There are several rivalries that grow from within the intertext, including the small quarrels between the Friar and Summoner and between the Miller and Reeve. Between each tale, most pilgrims have a prologue, in which they tell about themselves or allow Chaucer to illustrate the dynamics of the group. The Friar and the Summoner develop a minor feud, in which they each tell tales of ill-will towards the other's profession, and the Pardoner brings his own immoral behavior into the Tales. The Wife of Bath is a memorable character and is often thought of as a primordial feminist who acts on her own terms instead of those of the man.

The Canterbury Tales are not fully completed, for the original task of having each pilgrim tell two tales is never realized. Furthermore, two of the tales are begun and then suddenly cut off before their grand conclusion, such as the Squire's Tale and the Tale of Sir Thopas. Some of the pilgrims never even tell one story, such as the Tapestry-Maker and the Haberdasher, and the destination of Canterbury is not explicitly mentioned in the pilgrims' prologues or Chaucer's Retraction.

Chaucer concludes his tales with a Retraction, asking for mercy and forgiveness from those whom he may have offended along his course of storytelling and pilgrimage. He hopes to blame his ignorance and lack of education on any erroneous behavior or language, for he believes that his intentions were all moralistic and honorable. In the end, he gives all credit to Jesus Christ.

 

Themes, Motifs & Symbols

 

Themes

 Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

The Pervasiveness of Courtly Love

The phrase “courtly love” refers to a set of ideas about love that was enormously influential on the literature and culture of the Middle Ages. Beginning with the Troubadour poets of southern France in the eleventh century, poets throughout Europe promoted the notions that true love only exists outside of marriage; that true love may be idealized and spiritual, and may exist without ever being physically consummated; and that a man becomes the servant of the lady he loves. Together with these basic premises, courtly love encompassed a number of minor motifs. One of these is the idea that love is a torment or a disease, and that when a man is in love he cannot sleep or eat, and therefore he undergoes physical changes, sometimes to the point of becoming unrecognizable. Although very few people's lives resembled the courtly love ideal in any way, these themes and motifs were extremely popular and widespread in medieval and Renaissance literature and culture. They were particularly popular in the literature and culture that were part of royal and noble courts.

 

Courtly love motifs first appear in The Canterbury Tales with the description of the Squire in the General Prologue. The Squire's role in society is exactly that of his father the Knight, except for his lower status, but the Squire is very different from his father in that he incorporates the ideals of courtly love into his interpretation of his own role. Indeed, the Squire is practically a parody of the traditional courtly lover. The description of the Squire establishes a pattern that runs throughout the General Prologue, and The Canterbury Tales: characters whose roles are defined by their religious or economic functions integrate the cultural ideals of courtly love into their dress, their behavior, and the tales they tell, in order to give a slightly different twist to their roles. Another such character is the Prioress, a nun who sports a “Love Conquers All” brooch.

 

The Importance of Company

 

Many of Chaucer's characters end their stories by wishing the rest of the “compaignye,” or company, well. The Knight ends with “God save al this faire compaignye” (3108), and the Reeve with “God, that sitteth heighe in magestee, / Save al this compaignye, grete and smale!” (4322–4323). Company literally signifies the entire group of people, but Chaucer's deliberate choice of this word over other words for describing masses of people, like the Middle English words for party, mixture, or group, points us to another major theme that runs throughout The Canterbury Tales. Company derives from two Latin words, com, or “with,” and pane, or “bread.” Quite literally, a company is a group of people with whom one eats, or breaks bread. The word for good friend, or “companion,” also comes from these words. But, in a more abstract sense, company had an economic connotation. It was the term designated to connote a group of people engaged in a particular business, as it is used today.

 

The functioning and well-being of medieval communities, not to mention their overall happiness, depended upon groups of socially bonded workers in towns and guilds, known informally as companies. If workers in a guild or on a feudal manor were not getting along well, they would not produce good work, and the economy would suffer. They would be unable to bargain, as a modern union does, for better working conditions and life benefits. Eating together was a way for guild members to cement friendships, creating a support structure for their working community. Guilds had their own special dining halls, where social groups got together to bond, be merry, and form supportive alliances. When the peasants revolted against their feudal lords in 1381, they were able to organize themselves so well precisely because they had formed these strong social ties through their companies.

 

Company was a leveling concept—an idea created by the working classes that gave them more power and took away some of the nobility's power and tyranny. The company of pilgrims on the way to Canterbury is not a typical example of a tightly networked company, although the five Guildsmen do represent this kind of fraternal union. The pilgrims come from different parts of society—the court, the Church, villages, the feudal manor system. To prevent discord, the pilgrims create an informal company, united by their jobs as storytellers, and by the food and drink the host provides. As far as class distinctions are concerned, they do form a company in the sense that none of them belongs to the nobility, and most have working professions, whether that work be sewing and marriage (the Wife of Bath), entertaining visitors with gourmet food (the Franklin), or tilling the earth (the Plowman).

 

The Corruption of the Church

 

By the late fourteenth century, the Catholic Church, which governed England, Ireland, and the entire continent of Europe, had become extremely wealthy. The cathedrals that grew up around shrines to saints' relics were incredibly expensive to build, and the amount of gold that went into decorating them and equipping them with candlesticks and reliquaries (boxes to hold relics that were more jewel-encrusted than kings' crowns) surpassed the riches in the nobles' coffers. In a century of disease, plague, famine, and scarce labor, the sight of a church ornamented with unused gold seemed unfair to some people, and the Church's preaching against greed suddenly seemed hypocritical, considering its great displays of material wealth. Distaste for the excesses of the Church triggered stories and anecdotes about greedy, irreligious churchmen who accepted bribes, bribed others, and indulged themselves sensually and gastronomically, while ignoring the poor famished peasants begging at their doors.

 

The religious figures Chaucer represents in The Canterbury Tales all deviate in one way or another from what was traditionally expected of them. Generally, their conduct corresponds to common medieval stereotypes, but it is difficult to make any overall statement about Chaucer's position because his narrator is so clearly biased toward some characters—the Monk, for example—and so clearly biased against others, such as the Pardoner. Additionally, the characters are not simply satirical versions of their roles; they are individuals and cannot simply be taken as typical of their professions.

 

The Monk, Prioress, and Friar were all members of the clerical estate. The Monk and the Prioress live in a monastery and a convent, respectively. Both are characterized as figures who seem to prefer the aristocratic to the devotional life. The Prioress's bejeweled rosary seems more like a love token than something expressing her devotion to Christ, and her dainty mannerisms echo the advice given by Guillaume de Loris in the French romance Roman de la Rose, about how women could make themselves attractive to men. The Monk enjoys hunting, a pastime of the nobility, while he disdains study and confinement. The Friar was a member of an order of mendicants, who made their living by traveling around and begging, and accepting money to hear confession. Friars were often seen as threatening and had the reputation of being lecherous, as the Wife of Bath describes in the opening of her tale. The Summoner and the Friar are at each others' throats so frequently in The Canterbury Tales because they were in fierce competition in Chaucer's time—summoners, too, extorted money from people.

 

Overall, the narrator seems to harbor much more hostility for the ecclesiastical officials (the Summoner and the Pardoner) than he does for the clerics. For example, the Monk and the Pardoner possess several traits in common, but the narrator presents them in very different ways. The narrator remembers the shiny baldness of the Monk's head, which suggests that the Monk may have ridden without a hood, but the narrator uses the fact that the Pardoner rides without a hood as proof of his shallow character. The Monk and the Pardoner both give their own opinions of themselves to the narrator—the narrator affirms the Monk's words by repeating them, and his own response, but the narrator mocks the Pardoner for his opinion of himself.

 

Motifs

 

Motifs are recurring structures, contrasts, or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text's major themes.

Romance

 

The romance, a tale about knights and ladies incorporating courtly love themes, was a popular literary genre in fourteenth-century literature. The genre included tales of knights rescuing maidens, embarking on quests, and forming bonds with other knights and rulers (kings and queens). In particular, the romances about King Arthur, his queen, Guinevere, and his society of “knights of the round table” were very popular in England. In The Canterbury Tales, the Knight's Tale incorporates romantic elements in an ancient classical setting, which is a somewhat unusual time and place to set a romance. The Wife of Bath's Tale is framed by Arthurian romance, with an unnamed knight of the round table as its unlikely hero, but the tale itself becomes a proto-feminist's moral instruction for domestic behavior. The Miller's Tale ridicules the traditional elements of romance by transforming the love between a young wooer and a willing maiden into a boisterous and violent romp.

 

Fabliaux

 

Fabliaux were comical and often grotesque stories in which the characters most often succeed by means of their sharp wits. Such stories were popular in France and Italy in the fourteenth century. Frequently, the plot turns or climaxes around the most grotesque feature in the story, usually a bodily noise or function. The Miller's Tale is a prime experiment with this motif: Nicholas cleverly tricks the carpenter into spending the night in his barn so that Nicholas can sleep with the carpenter's wife; the finale occurs when Nicholas farts in Absolon's face, only to be burned with a hot poker on his rear end. In the Summoner's Tale, a wealthy man bequeaths a corrupt friar an enormous fart, which the friar divides twelve ways among his brethren. This demonstrates another invention around this motif—that of wittily expanding a grotesque image in an unconventional way. In the case of the Summoner's Tale, the image is of flatulence, but the tale excels in discussing the division of the fart in a highly intellectual (and quite hilarious) manner.

 

Symbols

 

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

Springtime

 

The Canterbury Tales opens in April, at the height of spring. The birds are chirping, the flowers blossoming, and people long in their hearts to go on pilgrimages, which combine travel, vacation, and spiritual renewal. The springtime symbolizes rebirth and fresh beginnings, and is thus appropriate for the beginning of Chaucer's text. Springtime also evokes erotic love, as evidenced by the moment when Palamon first sees Emelye gathering fresh flowers to make garlands in honor of May. The Squire, too, participates in this symbolism. He is compared to the freshness of the month of May, in his devotion to courtly love.

 

Clothing

 

In the General Prologue, the description of garments, in addition to the narrator's own shaky recollections, helps to define each character. In a sense, the clothes symbolize what lies beneath the surface of each personality. The Physician's love of wealth reveals itself most clearly to us in the rich silk and fur of his gown. The Squire's youthful vanity is symbolized by the excessive floral brocade on his tunic. The Merchant's forked beard could symbolize his duplicity, at which Chaucer only hints.

 

Physiognomy

 

Physiognomy was a science that judged a person's temperament and character based on his or her anatomy. Physiognomy plays a large role in Chaucer's descriptions of the pilgrims in the General Prologue. The most exaggerated facial features are those of the peasants. The Miller represents the stereotypical peasant physiognomy most clearly: round and ruddy, with a wart on his nose, the Miller appears rough and therefore suited to rough, simple work. The Pardoner's glaring eyes and limp hair illustrate his fraudulence.

 

1- Analysis of Major Characters

 

The Knight

The Knight rides at the front of the procession described in the General Prologue, and his story is the first in the sequence. The Host clearly admires the Knight, as does the narrator. The narrator seems to remember four main qualities of the Knight. The first is the Knight's love of ideals—“chivalrie” (prowess), “trouthe” (fidelity), “honour” (reputation), “fredom” (generosity), and “curteisie” (refinement) (General Prologue, 45–46). The second is the Knight's impressive military career. The Knight has fought in the Crusades, wars in which Europeans traveled by sea to non-Christian lands and attempted to convert whole cultures by the force of their swords. By Chaucer's time, the spirit for conducting these wars was dying out, and they were no longer undertaken as frequently. The Knight has battled the Muslims in Egypt, Spain, and Turkey, and the Russian Orthodox in Lithuania and Russia. He has also fought in formal duels. The third quality the narrator remembers about the Knight is his meek, gentle, manner. And the fourth is his “array,” or dress. The Knight wears a tunic made of coarse cloth, and his coat of mail is rust-stained, because he has recently returned from an expedition.

 

The Knight's interaction with other characters tells us a few additional facts about him. In the Prologue to the Nun's Priest's Tale, he calls out to hear something more lighthearted, saying that it deeply upsets him to hear stories about tragic falls. He would rather hear about “joye and greet solas,” about men who start off in poverty climbing in fortune and attaining wealth (Nun's Priest's Prologue, 2774). The Host agrees with him, which is not surprising, since the Host has mentioned that whoever tells the tale of “best sentence and moost solaas” will win the storytelling contest (General Prologue, 798). And, at the end of the Pardoner's Tale, the Knight breaks in to stop the squabbling between the Host and the Pardoner, ordering them to kiss and make up. Ironically, though a soldier, the romantic, idealistic Knight clearly has an aversion to conflict or unhappiness of any sort.

The Pardoner

The Pardoner rides in the very back of the party in the General Prologue and is fittingly the most marginalized character in the company. His profession is somewhat dubious—pardoners offered indulgences, or previously written pardons for particular sins, to people who repented of the sin they had committed. Along with receiving the indulgence, the penitent would make a donation to the Church by giving money to the pardoner. Eventually, this “charitable” donation became a necessary part of receiving an indulgence. Paid by the Church to offer these indulgences, the Pardoner was not supposed to pocket the penitents' charitable donations. That said, the practice of offering indulgences came under critique by quite a few churchmen, since once the charitable donation became a practice allied to receiving an indulgence, it began to look like one could cleanse oneself of sin by simply paying off the Church. Additionally, widespread suspicion held that pardoners counterfeited the pope's signature on illegitimate indulgences and pocketed the “charitable donations” themselves.

Chaucer's Pardoner is a highly untrustworthy character. He sings a ballad—“Com hider, love, to me!” (General Prologue, 672)—with the hypocritical Summoner, undermining the already challenged virtue of his profession as one who works for the Church. He presents himself as someone of ambiguous gender and sexual orientation, further challenging social norms. The narrator is not sure whether the Pardoner is an effeminate homosexual or a eunuch (castrated male). Like the other pilgrims, the Pardoner carries with him to Canterbury the tools of his trade—in his case, freshly signed papal indulgences and a sack of false relics, including a brass cross filled with stones to make it seem as heavy as gold and a glass jar full of pig's bones, which he passes off as saints' relics. Since visiting relics on pilgrimage had become a tourist industry, the Pardoner wants to cash in on religion in any way he can, and he does this by selling tangible, material objects—whether slips of paper that promise forgiveness of sins or animal bones that people can string around their necks as charms against the devil. After telling the group how he gulls people into indulging his own avarice through a sermon he preaches on greed, the Pardoner tells a tale that exemplifies the vice decried in his sermon. Furthermore, he attempts to sell pardons to the group—in effect plying his trade in clear violation of the rules outlined by the host.

 

 

The Wife of Bath

 One of two female storytellers (the other is the Prioress), the Wife has a lot of experience under her belt. She has traveled all over the world on pilgrimages, so Canterbury is a jaunt compared to other perilous journeys she has endured. Not only has she seen many lands, she has lived with five husbands. She is worldly in both senses of the word: she has seen the world and has experience in the ways of the world, that is, in love and sex.

 Rich and tasteful, the Wife's clothes veer a bit toward extravagance: her face is wreathed in heavy cloth, her stockings are a fine scarlet color, and the leather on her shoes is soft, fresh, and brand new—all of which demonstrate how wealthy she has become. Scarlet was a particularly costly dye, since it was made from individual red beetles found only in some parts of the world. The fact that she hails from Bath, a major English cloth-making town in the Middle Ages, is reflected in both her talent as a seamstress and her stylish garments. Bath at this time was fighting for a place among the great European exporters of cloth, which were mostly in the Netherlands and Belgium. So the fact that the Wife's sewing surpasses that of the cloth makers of “Ipres and of Gaunt” (Ypres and Ghent) speaks well of Bath's (and England's) attempt to outdo its overseas competitors.

 Although she is argumentative and enjoys talking, the Wife is intelligent in a commonsense, rather than intellectual, way. Through her experiences with her husbands, she has learned how to provide for herself in a world where women had little independence or power. The chief manner in which she has gained control over her husbands has been in her control over their use of her body. The Wife uses her body as a bargaining tool, withholding sexual pleasure until her husbands give her what she demands.

 

2- Major Characters

Host: The host is the manager of the Tabard Inn, the origination of the journey to Canterbury. He goes on the trip and is also somewhat the proprietor of the tales, for he suggests that each pilgrim tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two on the way back. He mediates arguments between the pilgrims and interjects his comments throughout the different tales. It is the host who holds the group together during their journey.

Knight: As the first character mentioned in the prologue, the Knight is the epitome of nobility and honor on this pilgrimage. He is a strong and honorable fighter who was in the Crusades and fought for Christianity. He brings along his son, a Squire, to see Canterbury and tells the longest tale of Palamon, Arcite, and Emelye. It is a love triangle with a mixed ending, involving knights, battle, and chivalry.

Squire: The squire is repeatedly described as a lusty bachelor and has trouble competing the tale he begins. He is only twenty years old and does not possess the same vigor as his father. His incomplete tale is about gifts brought to court by a mysterious knight of Tartary.

Prioresse (Nun): The Prioress is an emotional and sentimental woman of God who lets her feelings and tears run loose for any and all small events of death. She is weak with her self-control. The prioress tries to give off a refined impression, while all the while she is crude. She tells a gruesome tale of Jews who murder a young boy for singing about his Christian faith.

Second Nonne (Nun): The Second Nun is simply the secretary of the first. Her short tale chronicles the history and life of Saint Cecilia.

Monk: The monk is described as masculine and robust and travels with the Prioress and her secretary. He tells an animal tale of a hen and her rooster husband who find out the truth behind dreams and prophesies.

Frere (Friar): As one of the few pilgrims given a name, Hubert, the friar is an immoral man constantly worried about making a profit rather than turning men away from sin and bringing them to heaven. His tale is an attack on the wickedness of summoners. The friar and the summoner have an ongoing battle in these tales that brings humor to the group.

 

Clerk: The Clerk is an impoverished, unemployed Oxford student who lacks a true profession. He is simply educated and has no skills to find a job. His tale is of a woman named Griselde who marries a man of grand status. The husband repeatedly tests her virtue and devotion to him through painful years of hardship.

Sergeant of the Law (Man of Law/Lawyer): The Man of Law appears to be much busier than he is in reality and claims to hold much respect. He is educated and holds to the letter of the law. His lengthy tale is of the young Roman Catholic, Constance, who endures years of pain and familial loss, but always remains true to her faith. She is a true Christian through her many exploits.

Franklin: The Franklin is the companion of the Man of Law and is a man of earthy pleasures. He delights especially in food, the culinary arts, and tells a tale of a woman who vows to follow through on her affair with another man if he can accomplish an impossible task to save her true love.

Haberdasshere, Carpenter, Webbe, Dyerf, Tapycer: These are five guildsman on the pilgrimage who never tell a single tale. They listen and enjoy the stories.

Shipman (Sailor): The shipman tells the story of a woman who becomes involved with a dishonest monk in order to aid her husband. The monk dupes the woman and her husband.

Doctour of Phisik (Physician): The Physician tells a tale about a father who murders his own daughters in an attempt to protect them from scandalous rapists.

Wife of Bath: The Wife of Bath is often thought of as a proto-feminist and is one of the most memorable of the pilgrims, for her prologue is longer than her tale. She has been married five times and uses her sexuality as manipulation with men to get what she wants. Her fifth young husband uses violence against her and made her deaf in one ear from a blow to the head. She is loud, opinionated, and uses the Bible to back up her supposed immoral actions. The Wife of Bath tells a story of a knight who must search for the answer to 'what women desire?'. The knight finds out that women simply wish to hold authority and control over their mates.

Parson: The Parson is a good man of the cloth who is devoted to God and his congregation. He is respected and blessed and tells a tale of sin existing in multiple faces. As one of the holy and moralistic men of the pilgrimage, the Parson represents the Church that is not completely dishonest.

Merchant: The Merchant is a wealthy pilgrim constantly talking of economics and profit. Concerned with making money, he is arrogant and vain and tells a humorous story about an unfortunate blind old man who marries a youthful woman who makes a cuckold of him in his presence.

Reeve: The Reeve is a thin man with a grand temper. He tells his story in retaliation to the miller's tale and it is about a Miller who is tricked by two Oxford students.

Miller: The Miller is very large in contrast to the Reeve. He is also rude to the other pilgrims, sharing a small quarrel with the Reeve on the journey. He tells a humorous tale of a student who manipulates an affair with the wife of a foolish Reeve.

 

Pardoner: The Pardoner is an immoral, slimy, and effeminate man who openly discusses his false actions of selling fake relics to others. He is honest to his task of fraud and openly tells a tale about three rioters who kill themselves out of avarice. As one of the self-loathing, yet memorable characters on the journey, the Pardoner returns to his fraudulent behavior at the conclusion of his allegorical tale, trying to sell fake relics to the other pilgrims.

Manciple: The Manciple was also educated in the field of the law and tells a tale about how appearances are often deceiving.

Summoner: The Summoner is another immoral pilgrim not true to his profession, for he does not truly summon impious people to church. He chooses whom to select and is often paid off by sinners. His tale is in reaction to the Friar's strong anti-summoner tale and is presented as a satirical parody.

Cook: The Cook is one of the vulgar pilgrims of the journey who becomes involved with violence and arguments along the way. He is a commoner who does not hide his class and behavior and tells a short, incomplete fabliau.

Canon and his Yeoman: The Canon and his Yeoman join the pilgrimage in the middle of its course and bring a sense of mystery to the group. They heard glorious tales of the stories told en route to Canterbury and craved to be a part of that excitement. The canon does not reveal his profession and leaves the group as his Yeoman gives clues. He does not want to be discovered by any soul, so the Canon's Yeoman remains with the pilgrimage and tells a tale about the fraud of a canon.

Minor Characters

Arcite: Arcite is one of the knights and royal cousins imprisoned by Theseus who falls in love with Emelye. He is pardoned by Theseus and assumes a new identity. He wins the battle at the end of the tale for Emelye's hand in marriage, but dies when thrown from his horse. He tells Emelye to marry the worthy Palamon and is buried by the kingdom.

Palamon: Palamon is the other royal cousin and knight imprisoned by Theseus who falls in love with Emelye. He remains in jail for seven years and escapes. He does not win the battle for Emelye's hand, but marries her after Arcite dies.

Emelye: Emelye is the sister of the Amazon queen Hippolyta and the object of Palamon and Arcite's affections. She does not want to marry at all and desires to remain a maid. She eventually marries Palamon.

Theseus: Theseus is the King of Athens who marries Hippolyta after conquering Scythia. He avenges the poor widow's husbands in Thebes and imprisons Palamon and Arcite. He builds the theater for the duel and orders the ultimate marriage between Palamon and Emelye.

 

Hippolyta: Hippolyta is the conquered queen of Amazons who marries Theseus and returns to Athens with him.

 

John: The old carpenter of Oxford who is tricked into believing that a flood the size of Noah's Flood is coming to town. He is cuckolded by his wife, Alison, and injured after falling down from the roof in a tub.

 

Alison: The young, sly, beautiful wife of John the carpenter who falls in love with Nicholas, the young student of Astronomy. She conspires with him to trick her husband and Absolon.

 

Nicholas: The young student of astronomy (or astrology) who initially befriends the old carpenter, John, and boards at his lodgings. He falls in love with John's wife, Alison, and tricks both Absolon and John about the flood. He ends up with a burned bottom.

 

Absolon: Absolon is the musician from Oxford who is in love with Alison. Nicholas and Alison play tricks on him when he serenades her and asks for kisses. He turns the chicanery around and winds up burning the two of them.

 

Symkyn: The flat-nosed, round-faced deceitful miller who lived near the brook near Cambridge. He has a wife and two children and steals from anyone he can. He is eventually beaten up by his own trickery.

 

Aleyn: Aleyn is one of the students from Cambridge who come to the Miller for ground corn for the steward. He seduces Symkyn's daughter Molly while everyone is sleeping.

 

John: John is the other student from Cambridge who comes to the miller for ground corn for the steward. He seduces the miller's wife and gets away with the corn.

 

Molly: Molly is Symkyn's eldest daughter and is seduced by Aleyn while her father is sleeping next to her.

 

The Miller's Wife: The miller's wife is a pretentious woman who is seduced by John, one of the students, in front of a sleeping Symkyn.

 

Constance: The beautiful Christian daughter of the Emperor of Rome, who is sent to Syria to marry the Sultan, and then returned on a boat to Rome after the massacre. She lives on the shores of Cumberland and marries King Alla. She gives birth to Mauritus while there, but is banished by his mother, Lady Donegild. She is reunited with her father and husband at the conclusion of the tale and returns to the shores.

 

The Sultan: The Sultan converts to Christianity to marry Constance, but unfortunately takes her to a foreign land that she does not like.

 

The Sultana: The Sultana is the Sultan's mother who devises the massacre that allows Constance to supposedly return home in lieu of marrying her son.

 

Dame Hermengild: Dame Hermengild is the Warden's wife of Northcumberland who befriends Constance. The Knight murders her and frames Constance for her death.

 

The Warden: The Warden finds Constance on the shores of Northcumberland and brings her to King Alla.

 

King Alla: Alla is the King of Northcumberland and is currently at war with the Scots. He marries Constance and has a child, Mauritius, with her.

 

Mauritius: Mauritius is the son of Alla and Constance and is banished by Lady Donegild with Constance soon after his birth. He later becomes emperor of Rome.

 

Lady Donegild: Lady Donegild is King Alla's mother and maliciously changes the letters of correspondence between the two. She sends Constance and Mauritius away from Northcumberland while Alla is away.

 

Jankin: Jankin is the Wife of Bath's fifth husband. He is half her age and violent. He struck her on the ear so hard that she is now deaf on that side.

 

The Knight: The Knight in King Arthur's palace raped a young maiden and was forced to discover the one thing that women desire in order to save his own life. He realizes that women want control over their husbands and is forced to decide between an older, ugly woman of devotion, or a young, beautiful woman of independence. He gets the young, beautiful devoted woman in the end and lives happily ever after.

 

The Old Woman: The old woman tells the knight what women truly desire and tells him that he must marry her. She turns into a beautiful woman upon a single kiss from the knight and lives happily ever after with the knight.

 

Satan (Yeoman): Satan, the devil, says that he is a yeoman initially upon meeting the summoner. Satan and the summoner travel together, conniving different people, and eventually wind up in hell together.

 

The Summoner: The summoner works for the archdeacon and attempts to trick people into going to hell. He meets the devil along his journeys and befriends him. The two travel together, tricking others into hell. He winds up in hell with Satan.

 

Thomas: Thomas is a wealthy resident of Yorkshire, from whom the friar requests money for the church. He has recently lost a child and is disturbed by the friar's chicanery. He farts on the friar's hand in lieu of giving up his riches.

 

The Friar: The friar preaches to local residents of Yorkshire for money. He visits Thomas and requests food and money. He is farted on and run out of the house.

 

Walter: Walter is the Marquis of Saluzzo who marries the virtuous commoner Griselde. He tests her extensively throughout the years by taking away their children, declaring them dead, and stripping her of her clothing and dignity. He eventually reclaims his family and lives with them in the palace.

 

Griselde: Griselde is a virtuous commoner and the subject of Walter's unending test of devotion. She always holds true to her love for him and eventually returns to the castle to live with her long-lost two children and husband.

 

January: January is the old knight who marries young May because he believes married life to be true happiness on earth. He is cuckolded by May and his squire Damian in front of his blind eyes. Foolishly in love, January believes his wife's false tale and continues to live in lies.

 

May: May is January's young, unfaithful wife, who sleeps with Damian the squire and lies to her husband.

 

Justinus: Justinus is January's married brother, who tries to convince him that marriage is not worth the pains. He claims that January's marriage to a young woman would not last three years.

 

Damian: Damian is January's young squire who sleeps with his wife, May, in front of his eyes.

 

Cambinskan: Cambinskan is the King of Tartary who befriends a mysterious knight who brings with him a magical horse.

 

Canacee: Canacee is the daughter of King Cambiskan who receives the magical gift from the knight of animal language and herbal healing codes.

 

Dorigen: Dorigen is the wife of knight Arviragus who falls into a deep depression upon his exodus from Britain. Because she loves him so dearly and fears for his life, she promises to have an affair with Aurelius in exchange for his possible actions that could save his life.

 

Arviragus: Arviragus is a devoted husband and strong knight in Britain, but must leave his wife and country for war. He eventually realizes through honor that he must give up his beloved Dorigen in order to save her name.

 

Aurelius: Aurelius is the youthful squire who falls in love with Dorigen and makes a deal with an Orleans student so that he can have an affair with her. He eventually rescinds his forced payment of Dorigen upon realization of the pain it causes her.

 

Virginius: Virginius, a well-respected knight, murders his daughter, Virginia, when he realizes that she has been dishonored and raped.

 

Appius: Appius is the judge who manipulates the tale with others. He allows Claudius to claim that Virginius stole a slave and furthermore claims that the slave is his daughter, Virginia. When his chicanery is revealed, he is put in jail where he commits suicide.

 

Virginia: Virginia is the maiden daughter of Virginius who allows her fairness and beauty to lead her to trouble. Appius lusts after her and schemes to have her raped.

 

The Three Rioters: The three rioters are drunk men who claim to find Death and slay him. Instead of killing Death, they kill one another out of avarice.

 

The Old Man: The old man clothed in robes directs the three rioters to the gold under the oak tree, which in turn leads the rioters into avarice and allows them to kill each other.

 

The Merchant: The Merchant is a stingy businessman who vehemently wants to reclaim money lent to his wife. She goes to their border Dan John for the money, but gets into other trouble doing so.

 

The Wife: The Merchant's wife is unfulfilled in her marriage and seeks companionship with Dan John. She agrees to have an affair with him for the money that she owes her husband, but eventually repays him through sexual means.

 

Dan John: Dan John is a monk who assumes the role of the merchant's cousin and lives in his house. He lends the Merchant's wife the money she owes her husband in exchange for an affair, but secretly gets that money to pay her from the merchant himself. His plan is revealed by the Merchant at the end of the tale.

 

Melibeus: Melibeus is a wealthy and powerful ruler who vows revenge on his enemies who raped and attacked his family. His wife pleas for mercy for others from his rage.

 

Prudence: Prudence is Melibeus' wife, who despite being victimized, still desires mercy upon her attackers.

 

Sophie: Sophie is the daughter of Prudence and Melebeus who is also raped and attacked by his enemies. She is left for dead, but ultimately survives.

 

Chanticleer: A rooster on the farm of the old lady who believed that dreams were a prediction of reality. Chanticleer is almost eaten by a fox, when Pertelote squawks out loud and everyone is saved.

 

Pertelote: Chanticleer's favorite hen who did not believe that dreams were a reflection of reality. Instead, Pertelote believed that they were signs of ill humor. Pertelote saves Chanticleer from getting eaten by a fox.

 

Canon: The Canon shows the priest how to fake silver from coal and gets away with his chicanery.

Priest: The priest is witness to the canon's false silver and is paid off to keep the secret.

Phoebus: Phoebus is a God who married a woman while on earth. She was disloyal and unfaithful, regardless of his incessant watching. Because of his experience, he teaches a white crow how to speak the language of people. When he learns of his wife's affairs through the white crow, he condemns the bird to perpetual blackness and depression.

The Crow: The white crow is able to speak the language of humans because Phoebus enabled him to do so through teaching. However, when he reveals valuable information that displeases Phoebus, he attacks and curses the crow, and condemns them to forever be black and harsh.

 

Objects/Places

Tabard Inn: The Tabard Inn is the initial location for the pilgrims journeying to Canterbury. They meet there and begin their trip of story telling and camaraderie. It is located in Southwark, which was at the time a suburb of London, south of the Thames River.

 

 

Canterbury: Canterbury is the destination of the pilgrims hoping to catch a glimpse of the relics and shrine to Saint Thomas Becket, who was murdered in the Canterbury Cathedral in 1170 and became a martyr for Christianity thereafter.

 

Thebes: Thebes is the city of several tales, including the Knight's Tale of Palamon and Arcite's love for Emelye.

 

Oxford: Oxford is a city in England that houses the University and several of the tales told on the journey to Canterbury, including the Miller's Tale, and The Wife of Bath's Tale (her fifth husband).

 

Cambridge: Cambridge is another city in England that houses a University and several of the tales told on the journey to Canterbury, including the Reeves' Tale.

 

Rome: Rome is the holy center of Christianity and the location of parts of several of the tales told on the journey. It is the home of Constance, the Christian heroine of the Man of Law's Tale.

 

Northcumberland: Northcumberland is the shore city where Constance is shipwrecked and lives in the Man of Law's Tale. Alla is the King of this nation, converts to Christianity, and marries Constance.

 

Yorkshire: Yorkshire is another city in England where the Summoner's Tale is set.

 

Saluzzo: Saluzzo is the mountainous Italian city, which is the setting of the Clerk's Tale.

 

Flanders: Flanders is the setting of the Pardoner's drunken tale of avarice and of the Tale of Sir Thopas.

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