The Canterbury Tales Characters

A whole array of different people

The ClassesUpper Class

Adjectives YOU used to describe:

• -Rich -Boasts about themselves -Spoiled -Uptight -Wealthy -Royalty• -Stubborn -Happily married with kids -Highly praised -High Sadity

(society)• -Lots of $ -Wealthy -Blue Collar -On the top of the game -Celebrity• -Smart, hard-working -Trusted -Secretary of Defense/President/Admirals• -Gettin’ paid, doesn’t have to work -Millionaire -Committed -

Intelligent• -High maintenance -Highly Educated -Good attitude -Has fancy clothes• -Always looks down on people -College degree -Dress-up suit -

Nice cars• -Mansion -Black people -White people -Intelligent -Lawyer, cop,

nurse• Money-hungry, snobby people

Middle Class

Adjectives YOU used to describe:

• -Equal -Satisfied -Comfortable -Normal -Greedy -Stubborn• -Regular -Blue collar -Pay bills on time -Well off -Pays taxes• -Good paying job -Well groomed -A balanced income Stable• -CEOs, white collar -Average salary -Modern clothes• -Works few hours -Awesome -Casual, simple -Getting by “okay”• -In between -Make money but not at top yet -Lazy -Funny • -White people -Healthy money income -Chinese people• -Someone who has their own house, car, who has name brand clothes, shoes• -A person who has their own house and cat and salary• -Hard worker -Mexican or from other places -Condo

Lower Class

Adjectives YOU used to describe:

• -Struggling -Help needed -Grouchy -Homeless -Poor• -Unfortunate -Cheap -Awful clothing -Dull -Redneck• -Drop-out -Old and raggedy -Lazy -Uneducated• -Poverty stricken -Doesn’t have much -Bad job in normal pay• -Unhappy -Weak -Needy -Helpless -Beneath everyone• -No respect -Not rich-Happy (money isn’t everything) –The Projects• -15 kids -Apartments and motels -Whites and Blacks -Ghetto• -Chinese people -Someone who makes $200/wk and cannot afford their

own car and home -Dirty and hungry-People that don’t have anything-Black people “da hood”

The Knight

• Truth, honor, generousness and courtesy• one of the only characters the narrator respects• Brave, experienced Christian warrior• First one to tell a tale on their journey

He never yet a boorish thing had saidIn all his life to any, come what mightHe was true, a perfect gentle-knightSpeaking of his equipment he possessedFine horses, but he was not gaily dressed

The Squire (son of Knight)

• Twenty years of age, curly hair, average height• Wonderful agility and strength

Singing he was, or fluting all the dayHe was as fresh as in the month of

MayShort was his gown, the sleeves were

long and wideHe knew the way to sit on a horse and

rideHe could make songs and poems and

reciteKnew how to joust and dance, to draw

and write

The Yeoman

• Servant of Knight and Squire• Dresses like a forester (like a forest ranger)• Belt slung over shoulder and chest to hold

sword

The Yeoman wore a coat and hood of green And peacock-feathered arrows, bright and keen His arrows never drooped their feathers low And in his hand he bore a mighty bow

The Nun

Modest and quietDainty table manners, dresses wellKnows French, has good tasteKnow as Prioress- head of her convent

There was also a nun, a prioress (head of a convent of nuns)Her way of smiling simple and coyHer greatest oath was only “By St. Loy!” (Saint known for perfect manners)She was so charitably soliticitousShe used to weep if she but saw a mouseCaught in a trap, dead or bleedingAnd she had little dogs she would be feeding

The Monk

• A manly man, a hunter• Most monks lived in monasteries because of the

Rule that said they should dedicate their lives to “work and prayer”

• Was supposed to love all Gods animals, but rather preferred hunting and killing them

• Large, loud, clad in fur bootsHis head was bald and shone like looking-glassSo did his face, as if it had been greasedHe was a fat and personable priest

The Friar• Roaming priest with no tie to monastery• Made a living marrying people and by hearing confessions

and taking money from anyoneFor in so eminent a man as heIt was not fitting with the dignityOf his position, dealing with a scumOf wretched lepers; no good can comeOf commerce with such slum-and-gutter dwellersBut only with the rich and victual sellers (merchants)But anywhere a profit may accrueCourteous he was and lowly of service too.For though a widow might not have a shoeSo pleasant was his holy how-d’ye-doHe got his farthing from her just the same (money)Before he left, and so his income came

The Merchant

• Forking beard, sat on high horse• Managed people’s money, did exchanges, and

gave advice

He was an expert at dabbling in exchanges

This estimable Merchant so had setHis wits to work, none knew he was in

debtHe was so stately in administration Of loans and bargains and negotiations

The Oxford Cleric

• Poor student, he and his horse were thin• Rather have 20 books of philosophy by bed

than clothes or instrumentsHis only care was study, and indeedHe never spoke a word more than was

needFormal at that, respectful in the

extremeShort, to the point, and lofty in his

themeA tone of moral virtue filled his speechAnd gladly he would learn, and gladly

teach

The Lawyer• Wise lawyer who met peopleoutside of court by the church He upholds justice in matters large and small and and

knows every statute of England’s law by heart

His fame and learning and his high positionHad won him many a robe and many a feeThere was no such conveyancer as he All was fee-simple to his strong digestion

*Conveyancer- person who draws up documents transferring ownership of land. The Lawyer transferred all ownership to himself

*Fee-simple: Absolute ownership of real property aka he took absolute possession of everything

The Franklin

• Name means “free man”• Not royalty or involved in church• This Franklin was well-to-do landowner who

really loved eating and drinking

His bread, his ale, were the finest of the fine

And no one had a better stock of wineHis house was never short of bake-

meat piesOf fish and flesh, and these in such

supplies

The Guildsmen

• English guilds were a combination of labor unions and social fraternities; craftsmen joined together in a brotherhood

• Five of them all aldermen (heads of their guilds)Haberdasher-seller of men’s clothes and accessoriesDyer- dyed clothesCarpenterWeaverCarpet-maker

The Cook

• Stood alone• Could distinguish different flavors of ales

(beers) and could make a tasty pie

But what a pity, it seemed to meThat he should have an ulcer on his kneeAs for blancmange, he made it with the best

*Blancmange- French for “white food”; sweet dish containing diced chicken, sugar and almonds

The Skipper

• Sailor from far out West (near what is now US)• Dagger hanging on cord from neck, tanned

from sun• Been all over the world

The nicer rules of conscience he ignored

If, when he fought, the enemy vessel sank,

He sent his prisoners home; they walked the plank

The Doctor

• Expert on medicine and surgery• Could tell people’s mental and physical

conditions by studying their fluids (blood, phlegm, bile)He was a perfect practicing physicianThese causes being known for what they wereHe gave the man his medicine here and there.All his apothecaries in a tribe (pharmacists)Were ready with the drugs he would prescribeAnd each made money from each other’s guileThey had been friendly for a goodish while.

The Wife of Bath• Wealthy woman who had five husbands• Wore red tight garter and stockings• Had gap-teeth which were considered a sign of boldness at

the time, and indicated an aptitude for love and travel

She had a flowing mantle that concealedLarge hips, her heels spurred sharply under thatIn company she liked to laugh and chatAnd knew the remedies for love’s mischancesAn art in which she knew the oldest dances

WE WILL READ HER TALE!

The Parson

• The only good religious churchman• Lives in poverty, but rich in holy thoughts and

deeds• Practices what he preaches, unlike the Monk,

the Friar and the PardonerHe hated cursing to extort a feeNay rather he preferred beyond a

doubtGiving to poor parishioners round

aboutBoth from church offerings and

property

The Plowman

• Parson’s brother and equally good-hearted• Even though a peasant, pays his tithes to

church and leads a good Christian life• Wore a short jacket and rode a small mare

For steadily about his work he wentTo thrash his corn, to dig or manureOr make a ditch; and he would help

the poorFor love of Christ and never take a

pennyIf he could help it, and as prompt as

any

The Miller

• A chap of sixteen stone (14lb= 1 stone)• Broad, could “heave any door off hinge and

post, or take a run and break it with his head”• Big wart on nose with red hair poking out

His was a master at stealing grainHe felt it with his thumb and thus he

knewIts quality and took three times his dueA thumb of gold, by God, to gauge an

oat! *In other words, he pressed on the scale with his thumb to change the

weight of the grain

The Manciple

• In charge of buying supplies/ food for a group of lawyers

• Uneducated, but smarter than all of the lawyersNow isn’t it a marvel of God’s graceThat an illiterate fellow can outpaceThe wisdom of a heap of learned men?His masters- he had more than thirty thenAll versed in the abstrusest legal knowledge (most complex)…and yet this Manciple could wipe their eye…

*”wipe their eye” means “steal their thunder” or “show them up”

The Reeve

• Took care of another man’s property (steward to a manor) and the animals

• Bad-tempered and thin, beard and hair shaved closely to skin

• Does his job well on the surface, but…He had a lovely dwelling on the heathShadowed in green by trees above the swardA better hand at bargains than his lordHe had grown rich and store of treasureWell, tucked away, yet it came out to pleasure…

The Summoner• Delivers summonses to people to deliver them to church court• Described as ugly physically and as a person• Physically: had carbuncles and whelks (pus-filled sores

and skin inflammations)Black scabby brows he had, and a thin beardChildren were afraid when he appeared

• Bad moral standingHe was a noble varlet and a kind one (scoundrel)You’d meet none better if you went to find oneWhy-he’d allow-just for a quart of wineAny good lad to keep a concubine

The Pardoner• “He (The Summoner) and a Gentle Pardoner Rode together, a bird from the

same feather”• Pardons people’s sins for money• Long greasy yellow hair and is beardless (characteristics associated with

shiftiness and gender ambiguity at this time)• Excels at fraud, claiming to have relics that he doesn’t; selling people fakes of

things

In church he was a noble Ecclesiast (practicer of church ritual)How well he read a lesson or told a story!For well he knew that when that song was sungHe’d have to preach and tune his honey tongueAnd (well he could) win silver from the crowdThat’s why he sang so merrily and lous

WE WILL READ HIS TALE!