The Reeve
Direct Characterization:
- “...was old and choleric and thin”(Chaucer 605). - The Reeve is old and irritable.
-“His beard was shaven closely to the skin/His short hair came abruptly to a stop/Above
his ears, and he was docked on top/ Just like a priest”(Chaucer 606-609). -He has
almost no beard and the haircut of a priest.
-“His legs were lean,/Like sticks they were, no calf was to be seen”(Chaucer 609-610). He has very skinny legs.
-“He kept his bins and garners very trim”(Chaucer 611). - He keeps very little(garner is
an old word for storage house), so he does not like excess.
-“He was a carpenter of first-rate skill”(Chaucer 632). - He is a good carpenter.
-“He wore an overcoat of a bluish shade/And rather long; he had a rusty blade/Slung at
his side”(Chaucer 635-637). - He wears and overcoat and had a blade.
Indirect Characterization:
-“And he could judge by watching drought and rain/The yield he might expect from seed
and grain”(Chaucer 613-614). - He is so good at his job of being a farm manager that he
can predict a harvest just by the amount of rainfall.
Social Class: Middle Class
Inferences:
-Specific lines that lead to inferences: “He wore an overcoat of a bluish shade”(Chaucer
635). -The color blue symbolizes financial wealth.
“The stallion-cob he rode at a slow trot/Was dapple-gray and bore the name of
Scot”(Chaucer 633-634). - The horse is also another symbol of financial wealth.
-Deadly Sin/Moral Virtue: Greed
-Does he uphold the proper values of his social position: The reeve is an excellent
bookkeeper; he knows all the tricks the master’s employees use to steals things and
catches them in the act. However, he himself uses the respect he earns from this to
steal money and then loan it to his master.
-What is Chaucer criticizing: People who feel they are above keeping track of their own
money are stupid enough to have it stolen from them.