Looks Can Be Deceiving
Has yellow, waxy hair; can sing well; carries around a jar of pig bones; has several
rolled up pieces of paper in his bag.
He knew the taverns well in every town/And every innkeeper and barmaid
too/Better than lepers, beggars and that crew,/For in so eminent a man as he/It was not
fitting with the dignity/Of his position, dealing with a scum/Of wretched lepers; nothing good can come/Of dealings with the slum-and-gutter dwellers,/But only with the rich and victual-sellers.”
The Friar
As a Crusader, in many a battle he proved quite gallant/But in his service to God and chivalry is he most valiant.
The Knight
"He was an excellent fellow all the same; to tell the truth I do not know his name."
Verbal Irony
Who proposes the storytelling game?
The Host/Owner of the tavern
Face is covered in boils that can’t be cured; children are afraid of them; eats a lot of
stinky foods; speaks in Latin when drunk (which he is often)
The Summoner
“I think there never was a better priest./He sought no pomp or glory in his dealings,/No scrupulosity had spiced his feelings./Christ and His Twelve Apostles and their lore/He taught, but followed it himself before.”
The Parson
This Pilgrim’s table manners are worthy of dining with the Queen of France/But if she engages her in conversation, she doesn’t stand a chance.
The Nun
The doctor is more motivated for gold than love for his patients.
Situational irony
The number of stories each pilgrim must tell.
4. two on the way there, two on the way back.
Gap-toothed and handsome; deaf and loud; a bit overweight; makes their own clothes
The Wife of Bath
“And if he found some rascal with a maid/He would instruct him not to be afraid/In such a case of the Archdeacon’s curse/(Unless the rascal’s soul were in his purse)/For in his purse the punishment should be.”
The Summoner
He cares only about the politics of trade, looking like a man of status and rank/But there’s a secret he hides: he owes a great deal of money to the bank.
The Merchant
The excessively grotesque appearance of the Summoner
hyperbole
According to Chaucer, this is the month when people like to go on pilgrimages.
April
Curly hair; Strong and agile; served in the military; wore embroidered shirts
The Squire
“For he was Epicurus’ very son,/In whose opinion sensual delight/Was the one true felicity in sight./As noted as St. Julian was for bounty/He made his household free to all the County,/His bread, his ale were the finest of the fine/And no one had a better stock of wine.”
The Franklin
This Pilgrim means out with the old, in with the new/Never misses a chance to be with a woman or two.
The Squire
And certainly he was an excellent fellow. Many a draft of vintage, red and yellow, He'd drawn at Bordeaux, while the trader snored.
Verbal irony, sarcasm
The name of the martyr whose shrine the pilgrims are going to visit in Canterbury.
St. Thomas Becket
Educated and knew the gospels; poor but happy; lived by example; compared to a shepherd
The Parson
“He/She was so charitably solicitous/He/She used to weep if he/she but saw a mouse/Caught in a trap, if it were dead or bleeding./And he/she had little dogs she would be feeding/With roasted flesh, or milk, or fine white bread./And bitterly he/she wept if one were dead/Or someone took a stick and made it smart”
The Nun
Been on a couple pilgrimages on horse and in carriage/Moved up in status through the business of marriage.
The Wife of Bath
By excessively describing the churchmen indulging in worldly pleasures, Chaucer does this.
satirizes
The year The Canterbury Tales takes place (be within 50 years).
1387