The Pilgrims
The Narrator - The narrator makes it quite clear that he is also a
character in his book. Although he is called Chaucer, we should be wary of
accepting his words and opinions as Chaucer’s own. In the General Prologue, the
narrator presents himself as a gregarious and naïve character. Later on, the
Host accuses him of being silent and sullen. Because the narrator writes down
his impressions of the pilgrims from memory, whom he does and does not like,
and what he chooses and chooses not to remember about the characters, tells us
as much about the narrator’s own prejudices as it does about the characters
themselves.
The Knight - The
first pilgrim Chaucer describes in the General Prologue, and the teller of the
first tale. The Knight represents the ideal of a medieval Christian
man-at-arms. He has participated in no less than fifteen of the great crusades
of his era. Brave, experienced, and prudent, the narrator greatly admires him.
The Wife of Bath - Bath is an English town on the Avon River, not the
name of this woman’s husband. Though she is a seamstress by occupation, she
seems to be a professional wife. She has been married five times and had many
other affairs in her youth, making her well-practiced in the art of love. She
presents herself as someone who loves marriage and sex, but, from what we see
of her, she also takes pleasure in rich attire, talking, and arguing. She is
deaf in one ear and has a gap between her front teeth, which was considered
attractive in Chaucer’s time. She has traveled on pilgrimages to Jerusalem
three times and elsewhere in Europe as well.
The Pardoner - Pardoners
granted papal indulgences—reprieves from penance in exchange for charitable
donations to the Church. Many pardoners, including this one, collected profits
for themselves. In fact, Chaucer’s Pardoner excels in fraud, carrying a bag
full of fake relics—for example, he claims to have the veil of the Virgin Mary.
The Pardoner has long, greasy, yellow hair and is beardless. These
characteristics were associated with shiftiness and gender ambiguity in
Chaucer’s time. The Pardoner also has a gift for singing and preaching whenever
he finds himself inside a church.
The Miller - Stout and brawny, the Miller has a wart on his nose
and a big mouth, both literally and figuratively. He threatens the Host’s
notion of propriety when he drunkenly insists on telling the second tale.
Indeed, the Miller seems to enjoy overturning all conventions: he ruins the
Host’s carefully planned storytelling order; he rips doors off hinges; and he
tells a tale that is somewhat blasphemous, ridiculing religious clerks, scholarly
clerks, carpenters, and women.
The Prioress - Described as modest and quiet, this Prioress (a nun
who is head of her convent) aspires to have exquisite taste. Her table manners
are dainty, she knows French (though not the French of the court), she dresses
well, and she is charitable and compassionate.
The Monk - Most monks of the Middle Ages lived in monasteries
according to the Rule of Saint Benedict, which demanded that
they devote their lives to “work and prayer.” This Monk cares little for the
Rule; his devotion is to hunting and eating. He is large, loud, and well clad
in hunting boots and furs.
The Friar - Roaming priests with no ties to a monastery, friars
were a great object of criticism in Chaucer’s time. Always ready to befriend
young women or rich men who might need his services, the friar actively
administers the sacraments in his town, especially those of marriage and
confession. However, Chaucer’s worldly Friar has taken to accepting bribes.
The Summoner - The Summoner brings persons accused of violating
Church law to ecclesiastical court. This Summoner is a lecherous man whose face
is scarred by leprosy. He gets drunk frequently, is irritable, and is not
particularly qualified for his position. He spouts the few words of Latin he
knows in an attempt to sound educated.
The Host - The leader of the group, the Host is large, loud,
and merry, although he possesses a quick temper. He mediates among the pilgrims
and facilitates the flow of the tales. His title of “host” may be a pun,
suggesting both an innkeeper and the Eucharist, or Holy Host.
The Parson - The only devout churchman in the company, the
Parson lives in poverty, but is rich in holy thoughts and deeds. The pastor of
a sizable town, he preaches the Gospel and makes sure to practice what he
preaches. He is everything that the Monk, the Friar, and the Pardoner are not.
The Squire - The Knight’s son and apprentice. The Squire is
curly-haired, youthfully handsome, and loves dancing and courting.
The Clerk - The Clerk is a poor student of philosophy. Having
spent his money on books and learning rather than on fine clothes, he is
threadbare and wan. He speaks little, but when he does, his words are wise and
full of moral virtue.
The Man of Law - A successful lawyer commissioned
by the king. He upholds justice in matters large and small and knows every
statute of England’s law by heart.
The Manciple - A manciple was in charge of getting provisions for
a college or court. Despite his lack of education, this Manciple is smarter
than the thirty lawyers he feeds.
The Merchant - The Merchant trades in furs and other cloths,
mostly from Flanders. He is part of a powerful and wealthy class in Chaucer’s
society.
The Shipman - Brown-skinned from years of sailing, the Shipman
has seen every bay and river in England, and exotic ports in Spain and Carthage
as well. He is a bit of a rascal, known for stealing wine while the ship’s
captain sleeps.
The Physician - The Physician is one of the best
in his profession, for he knows the cause of every malady and can cure most of
them. Though the Physician keeps himself in perfect physical health, the
narrator calls into question the Physician’s spiritual health: he rarely
consults the Bible and has an unhealthy love of financial gain.
The Franklin - The word “franklin” means “free man.” In Chaucer’s
society, a franklin was neither a vassal serving a lord nor a member of the
nobility. This particular franklin is a connoisseur of food and wine, so much
so that his table remains laid and ready for food all day.
The Reeve - A reeve was similar to a steward of a manor, and
this reeve performs his job shrewdly—his lord never loses so much as a ram to
the other employees, and the vassals under his command are kept in line.
However, he steals from his master.
The Plowman - The Plowman is the Parson’s brother and is equally
good-hearted. A member of the peasant class, he pays his tithes to the Church
and leads a good Christian life.
The Guildsmen - Listed together, the five
Guildsmen appear as a unit. English guilds were a combination of labor unions
and social fraternities: craftsmen of similar occupations joined together to
increase their bargaining power and live communally. All five Guildsmen are
clad in the livery of their brotherhood.
The Cook - The Cook works for the Guildsmen. Chaucer gives
little detail about him, although he mentions a crusty sore on the Cook’s leg.
The Yeoman - The servant who accompanies the Knight and the
Squire. The narrator mentions that his dress and weapons suggest he may be a
forester.
The Second Nun - The Second Nun is not described
in the General Prologue, but she tells a saint’s life for her tale.
The Nun’s Priest - Like the Second Nun, the Nun’s
Priest is not described in the General Prologue. His story of Chanticleer, however,
is well crafted and suggests that he is a witty, self-effacing preacher.
The Knight’s Tale
Theseus - A great conqueror and the duke of Athens in the
Knight’s Tale. The most powerful ruler in the story, he is often called upon to
make the final judgment, but he listens to others’ pleas for help.
Palamon - Palimony is one of the two imprisoned Theban
soldier heroes in the Knight’s Tale. Brave, strong, and sworn to everlasting
friendship with his cousin Arcite, Palamon falls in love with the fair maiden
Emelye, which brings him into conflict with Arcite. Though he loses the
tournament against Arcite, he gets Emelye in the end.
Arcite - The sworn brother to Palamon, Arcite, imprisoned
with Palamon in the tower in the Knight’s Tale, falls equally head over heels
in love with Emelye. He gets released from the tower early and wins Emelye’s
hand in a tournament, but then dies when a divinely fated earthquake causes his
horse to throw him.
Emelye - Emelye is the sister to Hippolyta, Theseus’s
domesticated Amazon queen in the Knight’s Tale. Fair-haired and glowing, we
first see Emelye as Palamon does, through a window. Although she is the object
of both Palamon’s and Arcite’s desire, she would rather spend her life
unmarried and childless. Nevertheless, when Arcite wins the tournament, she
readily pledges herself to him.
Egeus - Theseus’s father. Egeus gives Theseus the advice
that helps him convince Palamon and Emelye to end their mourning of Arcite and
get married.
The Miller’s Tale
Nicholas - In the Miller’s Tale, Nicholas is a poor astronomy
student who boards with an elderly carpenter, John, and the carpenter’s
too-young wife, Alisoun. Nicholas dupes John and sleeps with Alisoun right
under John’s nose, but Absolon, the foppish parish clerk, gets Nicholas in the
end.
Alisoun - Alison is the sexy young woman married to the
carpenter in the Miller’s Tale. She is bright and sweet like a small bird, and
dresses in a tantalizing style—her clothes are embroidered inside and outside,
and she laces her boots high. She willingly goes to bed with Nicholas, but she
has only harsh words and obscenities for Absolon.
Absolon - The local parish clerk in the Miller’s Tale,
Absolon is a little bit foolish and more than a little bit vain. He wears red
stockings underneath his floor-length church gown, and his leather shoes are
decorated like the fanciful stained-glass windows in a cathedral. He curls his
hair, uses breath fresheners, and fancies Alisoun.
John - The dim-witted carpenter to whom Alisoun is married
and with whom Nicholas boards. John is jealous and possessive of his wife. He
constantly berates Nicholas for looking into God’s “pryvetee,” but when
Nicholas offers John the chance to share his knowledge, John quickly accepts.
He gullibly believes Nicholas’s pronouncement that a second flood is coming,
which allows Nicholas to sleep with John’s wife.
The First Three Husbands - The Wife of Bath says that her
first three husbands were “good” because they were rich and old. She could
order them around, use sex to get what she wanted, and trick them into
believing lies.
The Fourth Husband - The Wife of Bath says
comparatively little about her fourth husband. She loved him, but he was a
reveler who had a mistress. She had fun singing and dancing with him, but tried
her best to make him jealous. She fell in love with her fifth husband, Jankyn,
while she was still married to her fourth.
Jankyn - The Wife of Bath’s fifth husband, Jankyn, was a
twenty-year-old former student, with whom the Wife was madly in love. His
stories of wicked wives frustrated her so much that one night she ripped a page
out of his book, only to receive a deafening smack on her ear in return.
The Knight - Arthur’s
young knight rapes a maiden, and, to avoid the punishment of death, he is sent
by the queen on a quest to learn about submission to women. Once he does so,
and shows that he has learned his lesson by letting his old ugly wife make a
decision, she rewards him by becoming beautiful and submissive.
The Old Woman - The old woman supplies the young
knight with the answer to his question, in exchange for his promise to do
whatever she wants. When she tells him he must marry her, the knight
begrudgingly agrees, and when he allows her to choose whether she would like to
be beautiful and unfaithful or ugly and faithful, she rewards him by becoming
both beautiful and faithful.
Arthur’s Queen - Arthur’s queen, presumably
Guinevere, is interesting because she wields most of the power. When Arthur’s
knight rapes a maiden, he turns the knight over to his queen allows her to
decide what to do with him.
The Pardoner’s Tale
The Three Rioters - These are the three protagonists
of the Pardoner’s Tale. All three indulge in and represent the vices against
which the Pardoner has railed in his Prologue: Gluttony, Drunkeness, Gambling,
and Swearing. These traits define the three and eventually lead to their
downfall. The Rioters at first appear like personified vices, but it is their
belief that a personified concept—in this case, Death—is a real person that
becomes the root cause of their undoing.
The Old Man - In the Pardoner’s Tale, the three Rioters encounter
a very old man whose body is completely covered except for his face. Before the
old man tells the Rioters where they can find “Death,” one of the Rioters
rashly demands why the old man is still alive. The old man answers that he is
doomed to walk the earth for eternity. He has been interpreted as Death itself,
or as Cain, punished for fratricide by walking the earth forever; or as the
Wandering Jew, a man who refused to let Christ rest at his house when Christ
proceeded to his crucifixion, and who was therefore doomed to roam the world,
through the ages, never finding rest.
The Nun’s Priest’s
Tale
Chanticleer - The heroic rooster of the Nun’s Priest’s Tale,
Chanticleer has seven hen-wives and is the most handsome cock in the barnyard.
One day, he has a prophetic dream of a fox that will carry him away.
Chanticleer is also a bit vain about his clear and accurate crowing voice, and
he unwittingly allows a fox to flatter him out of his liberty.
Pertelote - Chanticleer’s favorite wife in the Nun’s Priest’s
Tale. She is his equal in looks, manners, and talent. When Chanticleer dreams
of the fox, he awakens her in the middle of the night, begging for an
interpretation, but Pertelote will have none of it, calling him foolish. When
the fox takes him away, she mourns him in classical Greek fashion, burning
herself and wailing.
The Fox - The orange fox, interpreted by some as an allegorical
figure for the devil, catches Chanticleer the rooster through flattery.
Eventually, Chanticleer outwits the fox by encouraging him to boast of his
deceit to his pursuers. When the fox opens his mouth, Chanticleer escapes.
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