Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales
Name of Pilgrim
Social Class &
Profession
Knight
Feudal Class;
Fought for
Christianity in
many battles
Squire
(Son of the
Knight)
Feudal Class
Yeoman
(I guess…?)
Personality Traits
Indicate Humor Where Applicable
Physical Appearance
“he possessed/ Fine horses, but
He is the ideal of chivalry.
he was not gaily dressed./ He
Modest, wise, considerate;
wore a fustian tunic stained” from
goes to Canterbury to give
his armor. Suggests plain, honest
thanks for success in battles
man
Frivolous & youthful, but Had “locks as curly as if they had
been pressed.” Age 20; agile &
honest & courteous;
passionately loves clothes, strong; wore short, embroidered
gowns (ultrafashionable)
drink, and women
“wore a coat and hood of green,”
Feudal Class;
He is unwilling to talk about
carried “peacock-feathered
Servant to Knight himself. Speaker questions if
arrows,” his head was shaped like
and Squire
he is a good forrester.
a nut, and his face was brown
Nun/Prioress
Known as
Madam
Eglantyne
Ecclesiastical
Class; Prioress
was in charge of
the nuns
Another Nun
and Three
Priests
Ecclesiastical
Class; Traveling
Companions of
the Prioress
Pleasant, friendly, strains “to
counterfeit a courtly kind of
grace.” Keeps dogs and feeds
them delicacies instead of
taking care of the poor; Cries
to see a mouse in a trap
Elegant nose; glass-gray eyes;
small, soft, red mouth; wide
forehead; wears a coral trinket on
her arm (coral considered a defense
against worldly temptation as well as a love
charm)
Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales
Name of Pilgrim
Social Class &
Profession
Monk
(Should only be
concerned with
work IN the
monastery)
Ecclesiastical
Class; has taken
vows of poverty,
chastity, and
obedience
Loves hunting; refuses to
abide by old, strict rules; he
takes “the modern world’s
more spacious way”
Sleeves trimmed with fine fur;
gold pin fastened to his hood;
shining bald head and face; fat;
eyes never settled, but “glittered
like flames beneath a kettle”
Ecclesiastical;
meant to go out
into the world to
preach and beg
Jolly, “intimate” with “city
dames of honor and
possessions;” rather than the
visiting sick and poor he knows
the taverns and “every innkeeper
and barmaid”
White neck (indicates coward or
a loose, immoral person); wears
expensive clothes (instead of
begging he sells forgiveness)
Mercantile Class
Dishonest (he is indebt)
“Forking beard” (indicates
dishonesty); dresses handsomely
and appears wealthy
Ecclesiastical
Class; Student
“His only care was study…. A
tone of moral virtue filled his
speech/ And gladly would he
learn, and gladly teach.”
Thin, “hollow look,” threadbare
overcoat, sober stare, thin horse
A man to reverence (or so he
Mercantile Class;
seemed…); wealthy from his
Lawyer and had
fame and position; seems
served as a judge
busier than he is
Wore a multi-colored coat, tied
with a silk belt
Friar
Named Hubert
Merchant
Oxford Cleric
Serjeant at the
Law
Personality Traits
Indicate Humor Where Applicable
Physical Appearance
Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales
Name of Pilgrim
Social Class &
Profession
Indicate Humor Where Applicable
Franklin
Feudal Class;
well-to-do
landowner
He enjoys extravagant
living, especially indulgent
eating; Sanguine;
White beard; ruddy complexion;
carries a dagger; a little silk purse
hangs on his belt
Intelligent , wise, proud of
their work; their wives
thought of themselves as
very important
Well-dressed, carry knives made
of the purest silver
(Same as above)
(Same as above)
Prepares very flavorful dishes
He has an ulcer on his knee;
indication of poor hygiene
Haberdasher
Mercantile Class;
seller of men’s
clothing and
accessories
Mercantile Class; 5
Dyer,
Guildsmen (org. of
Carpenter,
traders who taught
Weaver, Carpettheir work to
Maker
apprentices)
Cook
Skipper
Mercantile Class;
Servant to the
Guildsmen
Personality Traits
Skilled seaman; very cruel –
Mercantile Class; made his prisoners walk the
plank
Physical Appearance
Ship called The Maudelayne
He could fight well and knew all
the ports, but he could not ride a
horse
Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales
Name of Pilgrim
Doctor
Wife of Bath
Social Class &
Profession
Personality Traits
Indicate Humor Where Applicable
Physical Appearance
Uses astrology to treat
illness; has a special love of
“Blood-red garments; slashed
Mercantile Class gold (supposedly it stimulates
with bluish gray”
the heart); motivated by profit
rather than good-will
Enjoys male companionship;
Wears scarlet red hose; has a gap
Mercantile Class nags her husbands to death;
in her teeth (indicates she is bold
(Excellent
coarse woman who enjoys
and suited for love); had large
Seamstress)
dirty jokes; married 5 times;
hips; deaf in one ear
domineering, loves to laugh
Poor, but “rich in holy thought
Compared to a watchful
and work;” kind; fair; softspoken; modest; “Christ and His shepherd; believes if a priest sins,
Twelve Apostles and their lore/ it is unlikely his people will avoid
He taught, but followed it
sinning
himself before.”
Parson
Ecclesiastical Class
Plowman;
brother to the
Parson
Feudal Class
(Tenant Farmer)
Honest worker, loves God,
helps the poor, and pays his
tithes in full
Wore a short jacket and rode a
mare
Mercantile
Loud, unrefined; dishonest,
pressing his thumb on the scale
to increase the weight of grain
(gold thumb); “Mouth like a
furnace door…”
“Broad, Knotty, and shortshouldered;” wart on the tip of
his nose with red hairs;
Miller
Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales
Name of Pilgrim
Manciple
Reeve
Summoner
Pardoner
Social Class &
Profession
Mercantile; job is
to purchase
goods for a
college or law
school
Feudal; oversees
work at an estate;
ensures it is done
and that everything
was accounted for
Personality Traits
Indicate Humor Where Applicable
Physical Appearance
Clever, thrifty with money;
never rash
Choleric (bad-tempered); Thin; old; beard shaved closely to
dishonest; those beneath him his skin; hair cut straight across
fear him; embezzles from his his forehead (common for priests’
master
hair; sign of servility)
He had puss-filled skin
inflammations
(carbuncles/whelks); appearance
scares children; speaks Latin
when drunk
He tries to ride fashionably; In violation of church rule, he had
long, yellow hair, hanging like
sells fake relics and papal
“rat-tails”; He has bulging
pardons; He also preaches in
eyeballs; He claims to carry a
county churches, and with his
“honey-tongue” wins money
piece of Our Lady’s veil, a
from the crowd; makes his
fragment from St. Peter’s sail;
living from avarice, the very
Some of his relics were actually
thing he preaches against
“pigs’ bones”
Ecclesiastical Class; ignores offenders if they pay
sent by the church
him – in money or wine;
to summon persons
blackmails; loves garlic,
suspected of
onions, and strong wine
breaking church law
Ecclesiastical;
minor member of
church who buys
and sells pardons
for sinners
Relics were believed to be remains (bones, hair, garments, fingernails, etc) of z holy person. Saying a prayer
with the relic in hand was thought to ease the pains of purgatory after death.