The Host- The Canterbury Tales
By: Gabrielle O’Neill
The Host of the Tabard Inn is the leader of the entire tale. In the Canterbury Tales he is
the owner of the inn. Everything is his idea and he sets the rules for the tales.
His personality is that of a jolly and well liked man. He is extremely smart, clever, and
conniving. His intelligence is demonstrated by the fact that he has easily thought of using the
entire pilgrimage as a way to make more money. His cleverness is demonstrated by the fact that
he has been able to manipulate the group of travelers into returning to his inn and purchasing
dinner for the winner of his game. This insures that the other traveler will dine with the winner
and that means that all of the group will pay to dine and drink at his inn for a second time and
perhaps stay the night also.
On the way to Canterbury, every pilgrim will tell two stories and two stories coming
back. The Host made up this game in order to keep the journey entertaining and not as long as it
seems. He will choose what he considers the most emotional and his favorite tale. The winner
gets a free dinner from all the other pilgrims chipping in for his meal and staying the night after
they return to the inn. You can tell how clever the host is by his attempt to get everyone to pay
at the restaurant and sleep over once more. The pilgrims then pick straws and the Knight wins
by choosing the shortest straw therefore he gets to tell the first tale. The host arranges everything
to suit his own needs and wants. He also set himself up as a god on the trip saying he was the
boss of everything and anyone to disagree with him, will pay for all of the expenses for the
whole trip.