Bell Ringer:
 Show yourself in action as you think others see you.
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Some ideas to consider:
How do you walk, talk, dress?
What mannerisms distinguish you?
What are your favorite clothes?
What do you like to do in your free time?
Choose some of these ideas to write a paragraph that
shows you in action. How would a parent or friend
describe you?
Review
 Direct characterization: when the writer makes
direct statements about a character's personality and
tells what the character is like.
 Indirect characterization: When the writer
reveals information about a character and his
personality through that character's thoughts, words,
and actions, along with how other characters respond
to that character, including what they think and say
about him.
Background on Canterbury
Tales
BY GEOFFERY CHAUCER
Chaucer
 Born sometime btw 1340-1343
 His family was well off, though not nobility
 Considered to be the greatest English writer before
Shakespeare
 Most famous book: The Canterbury Tales
Chaucer’s Life
 Held many different careers (diplomat, courtier,
soldier, writer)
 Encountered people from all walks of life in
his many diff. careers, so is able to write about
people from all social classes
What made Chaucer awesome? Why he is
revolutionary (“firsts”)
 First to take a critical look at the medieval
church, criticizing priests, monks, etc in his writing
 First to focus on this world (everyday life,
everyday people) rather than the next (God,
heaven, etc.)
 First to use English as a respectable, literary
language – Up to this point, all literature
considered to be quality was written in French or
Latin, until Chaucer wrote C. Tales
 First to create a female character who was
outspoken, intelligent, and humorous
The Canterbury Tales
 A masterpiece of medieval
literature
 FICTIONAL tale of 29 pilgrims
traveling from Canterbury (to the
shrine of St. Thomas Becket)
What’s the story behind TB’s
death!?
 Why him?? B/c at least once in their lifetime people
made a pilgrimage (religious journey) to his shrine in
the city of Canterbury
 3 reasons people went on pilgrimages:
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To improve their chances of salvation
To be healed by the saints’ relics
To atone for their sins
 Chaucer uses this idea of a pilgrimage to help form
his frame story
Shrine of Thomas Becket
The Canterbury Tales
 Frame story: a series of stories within a
story, The Canterbury Tales are actually
the “tales” told by the pilgrims on their trip
 Chaucer’s original plan was to have each
pilgrim tell 4 stories (2 on the way, 2 on the
way back), but he died after completing
only 24 
Society
 Astrology and the four humours: believed that
peoples’ personalities were determined by their birth
date in astrological calendar and the dominance of a
certain bodily fluid (yellow bile, black bile, blood,
and phlegm)
 Medieval church: the lives of people were ruled by
the church, arts/literature was sponsored by the
church
 Paradox of women: women were believed to be all
good and pure (like Mary) OR completely evil and
leading men to sin
The Prologue
 Introduces the various pilgrims
 All walks of life and social classes
 Each pilgrim represents the “everyman”
 Satirizes various institutions of the day
 Shows popular culture of the time
 Most people are hypocrites- allows the features to
leap out w/out directly criticizing
 Naïve narrator: creates dramatic irony b/c he
understands less about the characters than the
reader does
Chaucer’s Use of Characterization
 In describing each of his 29 pilgrims,
Chaucer relies on characterization
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Directly commenting on character’s nature or personality
Directly describing character’s physical appearance
Indirectly describing character’s actions, thoughts, feelings, or
speech
Indirectly describing other character’s reactions to a character
Physiognomy
 Theory that the mental and
emotional characteristics
of an individual could be
determined from physical
characteristics.
Wife of Bath:
-Wide teeth=indicates that she's
envious, irreverent, bold,
deceitful, and likes luxury.
-It is also possible that her
characteristics indicate her
destiny to travel often.
The Seven Deadly Sins
*Keep in mind that people in Chaucer’s time were instructed by church
officials to steer clear of particular vices or sins
 Lust - obsessive, excessive thoughts of sexual desire
 Gluttony – overindulgence
 Greed – desiring too much (concerning wealth)
 Sloth – then it meant apathy, “depression” now it
means laziness
 Wrath- anger or hatred
 Envy –to lust after something that belongs to someone
else
 Pride (vanity) – a desire to be “more important” or
“more attractive” than others
Will any characters be guilty of these sins??