| A | B |
|---|
| knight | “A most distinguished man”; tells his tale first |
| knight | “had followed chivalry / truth, honor, generousness, and courtesy” |
| knight | Fighting for Christianity seems to be his modus operandi |
| knight | Battle-hardened in fifteen mortal battles |
| knight | Dress and equipment suggests modesty |
| knight | Heading to Canterbury to “render thanks” fresh from the battlefield |
| Squire | Knight’s son |
| Squire | “embroidered like a meadow bright” |
| Squire | “singing and fluting all day” |
| Squire | “He loved so hotly that till dawn grew pale / he slept as little as a nightingale” |
| Squire | Unlike his father, this knight-in-training is dedicated to the “courtly love” aspects of knighthood |
| Yeoman | The Knight’s servant |
| Yeoman | Dressed rather splendidly as a forester; perhaps suggestive of arrogance? |
| Yeoman | “Face like a nut” – reinforces the idea that he is at home in the woodlands |
| Prioress | Way of smiling is “simple and coy” |
| Prioress | Has very polished manners – “pleasant and friendly in her ways” |
| Prioress | Swears only by St. Loy – ironic, because the saint was known for his refusal to swear |
| Prioress | “straining / to counterfeit a courtly kind of grace” |
| Prioress | Spoke French in an inferior manner |
| Prioress | Wears a love charm – another affectation for courtly love instead of love of God |
| Prioress | Coral trinket on her arm was another sign of her ambivalence: it was considered a defense against wordly temptation and an earthly love charm |
| Monk | “Hunting [a sport of the aristocratic classes] was his sport” |
| Monk | His bridle sounds “loud as does the chapel bell” – a bell which he ironically rarely hears |
| Monk | Figurative language used to defend self -- fish out of water, a plucked hen – belongs more to sport than the cloister |
| Monk | Speaks derisively about the sacrificial burdens of his religious duties; he knows his role but consciously and belligerently refuses it |
| Friar | A “Limiter”: Has the exclusive right to beg and preach within an assigned (limited) district – yet despises beggars of need |
| Friar | Offers an easy confession to those that can afford it |
| Friar | Keeps his pockets stuffed with gifts for the pretty girls |
| Friar | Has no sense of charity for lepers and beggers (though he himself IS supposedly one); prefers to spend time with the “rich and victual sellers” |
| Friar | “Nothing good can come / of dealings with the slum-and-gutter dwellers” – What about his vows? |
| Friar | Can con even the poorest woman out of a coin, “so pleasant was his holy how-d’ye-do” |
| Friar | Wears fine wool – “much like a Doctor or a Pope” rather than the coarse cloth required by his religious order |
| Merchant | Appears affluent: Well-dressed in “Flemish beaver hat” and “daintily buckled boots” |
| Merchant | “Told of his opinions and pursuits / in solemn tones, and how he never lost[money]” yet he is in debt |
| Cleric | Impoverished; “horse was thinner than a rake, and he was not too fat” either |
| Cleric | Naïve: “he had found no preferment (position) in the church and he was too unworldly to make search for secular employment” |
| Cleric | Lives instead for books and the pursuit of knowledge: “and he would gladly learn, and gladly teach” |
| Sergeant at Law | By definition, had practiced law for 16 years |
| Sergeant at Law | His studies, compared to Oxford cleric's, purely for monetary compensation: “His fame and learning and his high position had won him many a robe and many a fee” |
| Sergeant at Law | Learned man whose clothing is expensively dyed and of silk – signs of affluence compared to poor Cleric |
| Franklin | A well-to-do hospitable landowner, but not member of the nobility |
| Franklin | A Falstaffian character: loved food and wine – overly self-indulgent |
| Franklin | Keeps lands and ponds stocked to fuel his table |
| Franklin | In his household, “Woe to the cook whose sauces had no sting or who was unprepared in anything!” |
| Franklin | “He was a model among landed gentry” – what satirical point is Chaucer making about this class? |
| Guildsmen | “Each (man) seemed a worthy burgess” or citizen |
| Guildsmen | They’re conspiring together to promote one another |
| Guildsmen | Wives (working-class women) were ambitious for their husbands to rise in the guilds: “Their wives declared it was their due. And if they did not think so, then they ought: To be called Madam is a glorious thought.” |
| Cook | Traveling with guildsmen |
| Cook | “Could distinguish London ale by flavor” – from too much experience perhaps? |
| Cook | Had an ulcer on his knee, which was caused at the time by a skin disease associated with either (1) poor diet and hygiene (ironically) or (2) a sexually transmitted disease |
| Skipper | From Dartmouth, an area known for piracy and cruelty of its sailors |
| Skipper | “If , when he fought, the enemy vessel sank, he sent his prisoners home; they walked the plank” |
| Skipper | Drinks a lot: “Many a draft of vintage.. He’d drawn, while the trader snored” [He’s thieving from the casks of wine he carries aboard] |
| Doctor | Knowledge and treatments based on astrology and the “four humors” |
| Doctor | Has a bit of a con going with the apothecaries: “each made money from the other’s guile” |
| Doctor | tightfisted, frugal; “Gold stimulates the heart… he therefore had a special love of gold.” |
| Wife of Bath | Somewhat deaf |
| Wife of Bath | Forceful: “not a dame dared stir toward the altar steps on front of her” for fear of incurring her wrath |
| Wife of Bath | Has made several pilgrimages |
| Wife of Bath | Five husbands |
| Wife of Bath | Skilled in wandering.. Both literally and suggestively |
| Wife of Bath | “Set easily on her horse… liked to laugh and chat, and knew the remedies for love’s mischances, an art in which she knew the oldest dances.” |
| Parson | “holy-minded man of good renown… and poor” |
| Parson | “Rich in thought and work… who TRULY knew Christ’s gospel and would preach it / devoutly to parishioners, and teach it.” |
| Parson | Not a hypocrite! Believed in the power of example: “If gold rust, what will iron do?” |
| Parson | Charitable: preferred to give to others from his own poor funds |
| Parson | Services all of his parish regardless of own discomfort |
| Plowman | Idealized worker: “honest, good and true, living in peace and perfect charity” as the Gospel bade him |
| Plowman | “He would help the poor for love of Christ and never take a penny” |
| The Reeve | A serf who was the steward of his manor. He saw that the estate’s work was done and that everything was accounted for |
| The Reeve | Manages his lord’s estate so well he’s able to hoard his own money |
| The Reeve | Can fool the auditors; Knows all the tricks of others, because he uses them himself |
| The Reeve | Master appreciates him for loaning him things that he has actually stolen from the lord: “he had grown rich and had a store of treasure well tucked way, yet out it came to pleasure his lord with subtle thanks and even coats and hoods” |
| Miller | Sixteen stone: 224 pounds |
| Miller | Boastful, “a wrangler and buffoon, he had a store of tavern stories, filthy at the main” |
| Miller | Unscrupulous: “His was a master-hand at stealing grain” – uses “a thumb of gold” to weigh down the scales more heavily |
| Miller | Wart with red hair like bristles – suggestive of his piggish nature? |
| Manciple | A purchasing agent for over 30 lawyers |
| Manciple | Uneducated yet shrewd buyer … can even outsmart they lawyers he serves: “he could wipe their eye” |
| Summoner | Most corrupt along with Pardoner |
| Summoner | Lay officer of the church; Presented people with a summons for some infraction of Church law |
| Summoner | Overly self-indulgent and gluttonous; Could be bought off in charges of adultery; |
| Pardoner | Bought and sold pardons for sinners; Proceeds supposedly went to a religious house |
| Pardoner | Refuses to be tonsured (have his hair cut); Carries fake religious relics |
