The Prologue to The
Canterbury Tales
The Skipper
The Doctor
The Wife of Bath
The Parson
The Plowman
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Skipper
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Skipper
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Skipper
•
Characterization
– Diction
• “He rode a farmer’s horse as best he
could” (394)
– Not a good horseman
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Skipper
•
“And certainly he was an excellent
fellow” (394)
– Chaucer thinks highly of him
– Truthful?
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Skipper
•
“Many a draft of vintage, red and yellow,
He’d drawn at Bordeaux, while the
trader snored.”
(400-401)
– Steals wine
– Imagery
•
Pirate?
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Skipper
•
“If, when he fought, the enemy vessel
sank,
He sent his prisoners home; they
walked the plank”
(403-404)
–
Irony
•
–
The home of the enemy sailors
– the bottom of the sea
Imagery
•
Pirate?
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Skipper
•
“As for his skill in reckoning his tides,
Currents and many another risk
besides,
Moons, harbours, pilots, he had
dispatch
That none from Hull to Carthage was
his match.”
(405-408)
– Talented sailor
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Skipper
•
Purpose of the Diction
–
Demonstrates Chaucer’s respect for the
Skipper
• Why?
– Skipper, although ruthless, is a
professional and does his job well
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Skipper
•
Our Reaction to the Skipper
–
–
–
not a strong reaction
we might not like him
reminds us of a pirate
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Doctor
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Doctor
• Characterization
– Diction
• “A Doctor too emerged as we proceeded;
No one alive could talk as well as he did
On points of medicine and of surgery,
For, being grounded in astronomy,
He watched his patient closely for the hours
When, by his horoscope, he know the powers
Of favorable planets, then ascendant,
Worked on the images for his dependent.
The cause of every malady you’d got
He knew, and whether dry, cold, moist or hot;
He knew their seat, their humour and condition.
He was a perfect practicing physician.”
(415-426)
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Doctor
•
The use of astrology in medicine was
common
Medieval medicine was based on the
classical notion of four humors (blood,
choler, phlegm, and black bile)
•
–
–
People believed that diseases were caused
by an imbalance in these humors
Diseases were cured by restoring this
balance
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Doctor
•
“In his own diet he observed some
measure;
There were no superfluities for
pleasure,
Only digestives, nutritives and such.
He did not read the Bible very much.”
(433-436)
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Doctor
•
Different than the gluttonous Franklin
–
–
–
The Doctor eats a well-balanced diet
He avoids excess for pleasure
However, he lacks spiritual nourishment
•
does not read the Bible
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Doctor
•
“In blood-red garments, slashed with
bluish grey
And lined with taffeta, he rode his way”
(437-438)
– Dresses well
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Doctor
•
“Yet he was rather close as to expenses
And kept the gold he won in
pestilences.
Gold stimulates the heart, or so we’re
told.
He therefore had a special love of
gold.”
(439-442)
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Doctor
•
•
The Doctor is frugal with the money he
earned for treating the sick
He believes that gold is good for the
heart
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Doctor
•
Purpose of the Diction
– Demonstrates that the Doctor is good at
what he does
– Demonstrates that the Doctor is moneyhungry
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Doctor
•
Our Reaction to the Doctor
– We do not like him because of his greed
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Wife of Bath
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Wife of Bath
•
Characterization
– Diction
• “In making cloth she showed so great a
bent
She bettered those of Ypres and of
Ghent.”
(445-446)
– Talented in making clothing
– Well dressed
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Wife of Bath
•
“In all the parish no a dame dared stir
Towards the altar steps in front of her,
And if indeed they did, so wrath was
she
As to be quite put out of charity.”
(447-450)
– Gets angry if anyone else is in front of her at
church
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Wife of Bath
•
“Her hose were of the finest scarlet red
And gartered tight; her shoes were soft
and new.
Bold was her face, handsome and red
in hue.”
(454-456)
– Symbolism
• Red
– Passion
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Wife of Bath
•
“She’d had five husbands, all at the
church door,
Apart from other company in youth;
No need just now to speak of that,
forsooth.”
458-460)
– Had numerous husbands
– Had numerous lovers in her youth
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Wife of Bath
•
“And she had thrice been to Jerusalem,
Seen many strange rivers and passed
over them;
She’d been to Rome and also to
Boulogne,
St. James of Compostella and
Cologne,
And she was skilled in wandering by
the way.”
(461-465)
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Wife of Bath
•
•
She has been on numerous pilgrimages
“skilled in wandering by the way”
–
–
Avoids the straight and narrow path
She is good at dalliance
• to deal lightly or carelessly
• to flirt
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Wife of Bath
•
“She had gap-teeth, set widely, truth to
say” (466)
–
Symbolism
• Gapped teeth
– Amorousness
» full of or showing love or sexual
desire
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Wife of Bath
•
Purpose of Diction
–
–
Demonstrates that the Wife of Bath is a
hypocrite
Mocks her for her lifestyle
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Wife of Bath
•
Our Reaction
–
–
–
We do not like her
We laugh at her
One of the most memorable characters in
The Canterbury Tales
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Parson
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Parson
•
Characterization
–
Diction
• “A holy-minded man of good renown
There was, and poor, the Parson to a
town,
Yet he was rich in holy thought and
work.”
(475-477)
– Paradox
» Poor in material goods (secular), but rich
in holy goods (heavenly)
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Parson
•
“Wide was his parish, with houses far
asunder,
Yet he neglected not in rain or thunder,
In sickness or in grief, to pay a call
On the remotest, whether great or
small,
Upon his feet, and in his hand a stave.”
(489-493)
– Committed to his ministry
– Helps other people
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Parson
•
“That if gold rust, what then will iron do?
For if a priest be foul in whom we trust
No wonder that a common man should
rust…”
(498-500)
–
Symbolism
•
•
•
•
Gold=clergy
Iron=parishioners
Clergy should be more pure than parishioners
Priest should be a good example
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Parson
•
“The true example that a priest should
give
Is one of cleanness, how the sheep
should live.”
(501-502)
–
Christian imagery
•
•
Good Shepherd
– Christ
Sheep
– Followers of Christ
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Parson
•
“His business was to show a fair
behaviour
And draw men thus to Heaven and
their Saviour”
(515-516)
– Not a hypocrite
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Parson
•
“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.”
(520-524)
– A genuinely good clergyman
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Parson
•
Purpose of the Diction
–
–
–
Demonstrates that the Parson is a good
man
Looks out for the members of his parish
Antithesis of Friar and Monk
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Parson
•
Our Reaction to the Parson
–
–
We like him
Intensifies our feelings of dislike regarding
the Friar and Monk
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Plowman
•
Characterization
–
Diction
• “There was a Plowman with him there, his
brother” (525)
– Brother to the Parson
» Literal (actual brother of the Parson)
» Symbolic (brother in Christ?)
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Plowman
•
“He was an honest worker, good and
true,
Living in peace and perfect charity,
And, as the gospel bade him, so did he,
Loving God best with all his heart and
mind
And then this neighbour as himself,…”
(528-532)
– Follows laws of the Church
– Good man
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Plowman
•
“He paid his tithes in full when they were
due
On what he owned, and on his
earnings too.”
(539-540)
–
Tithes
•
–
A church tax consisting of one tenth of one’s
income
Honest person
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Plowman
•
Purpose of the Diction
–
–
Demonstrates that the Plowman is a good
man
Reminds us of what a good person the
Parson is as well (because of the brotherly
relationship)
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales
The Plowman
•
Our Reaction to the Plowman
–
–
We like him
Not a very memorable character
Geschke/British Literature
The Canterbury Tales