CANTERBEURY TALES

Q) The characters presented in the prologue to the Canterbury Tales are individuals and at the same time
they are morally and socially representative. Discuss.

In the prologue to the Canterbury Tales each and every character plays a significant role in describing the
society back then every character is unique and tries to portray personalities which were prevalent at that
period of time. Geoffrey Chaucer did show a relative unconcern in Canterbury tales for great upheavals of
his time. Chaucer was well aware of the fact that his age was one of profound change. The portraits in the
general prologue to Canterbury tales genial and detached as they seem, show a sensitivity to the tensions
in the late 14th century between Feudalism which was the old order, a static rural economy and the church
which was united and unchallenged at the same time – and the forces of plague, urbanization and
entrepreneurship which were pushing towards fragmentation of the society and a greater degree of
individualism. Alfred David points out all these tensions in the general prologue when he analyzed the
ideal represented by the Knight, the Parson and the ploughman actually corresponded to the three estates
of the medieval society which was still potent in the Chaucer’s time. Though Chaucer belonged very
much to the new emerging order but he still was fond of the old one and considered it to be an ideal order,
which was represented by the idealized pilgrims. Chaucer through the prologue could not get the idea that
old feudal order was slowly dying through civil wars the corruption that took place in the church and state
and the beginning of the capitalism in the warning Middle Ages but he was able to portray the symptoms
with regards to the daily lives back then. the Christian community is structured in such a way that every
person has to perform the task which is assigned by the God and that is to assure physical and spiritual
welfare of the whole. The order is seen to be gradually eroding as people are prioritizing their own
welfare and status and are not promoting common profit, as a result the society is in ferment and we can
clearly observe a gap between ideal and reality in the general prologue when we analyze that Canterbury
tales gives us a picture of disordered Christian society in the state of obsolescence. The true ideals of the
‘ideal’ pilgrims the crusading spirit of knight, the brotherhood between parson and ploughman and
perhaps the selfless dedication of the clerk -seemed to be obsolescent, thus there is an establishment of
nostalgia in Chaucer’s establishment of the four pilgrims for “nothing can be obsolescent until it has been
institutionalized has enjoyed some measure of a stability in life of a society”. Chaucer was not merely
being conservative in idealizing the old order, he also pointed out the social class distinction in such a
way so that it points up the disparity between what people thought and what they actually did and also
between the idea of social class which was held by his society and the complicated actuality of its
gradations. All the characters are divided into three sets of pilgrims in correspondence to three estates of
medieval society
1) KNIGHT VERSUS THE FOLLOWING (the personalities of the characters listed below are opposite
to that of Knight)

 SQUIRE
 YEOMEN (FEUDAL FEALTY
 PRIORESS VS
  MONK NEW MOBILITY, APPEARANCES)
 FRIAR
 MERCHANT
THE KNIGHT
This particular character is very much different from the other characters mentioned in the prologue he is
regarded as totally worthy of high esteem his dressing is regarded as unostentatious and he always kept
religious deeds on the top of his priority list, we can see that how dedicated he is towards his faith and
how he fought for it. Morally this character well fits the ideal standards of a noble man who fights for the
right thing and is humble, does not take the credit for it but gives all the glory to god . This character is
praised wholeheartedly by Chaucer. Chaucer also emphasizes on noblesse oblige in Knight .This
character describes the virtuous population of the society at that point of time who did their job humbly
and honestly.
THE YEOMEN AND SQUIRE
Besides squire Chaucer gives Knight another attendant, both squire and yeomen are somewhat eclipsed
by knight , no such negative aspects about them have been highlighted but they rather appear vain. Squire
who is young , has to grow out of the interest of his in superficial “noble” behavior and has to gain some
sort of depth from his father . Yeomen had an important role to play in the English military successions
that took place in the middle of the fourteenth century but his longbow is not an unambiguous support to
the way of life that knight leads, for it is the weapon that made a shambles of flowers of French
Knighthood on the battlefield. They both hold pride and are not as humble as the Knight though on the
surface they seem to support Knight.
THE PRIORESS
Her one of her major flaw was that she gives major attention to trivial things such as her clothes , courtly
etiquette , lap-dog and her coral rosary, which she uses as a decorative ornament and not for religious
purposes.
THE MONK
He completely rejects the old order. The time is past, he says for adherence to the standards of such
ancient authorities as St Benedict and St Augustine, as he went to hunting which was forbidden in the
order of St Benedict. He also wastes his time and resources on overt things such as clothes.
THE FRIAR
The friar is the most mobile and most corrupt of the regular clergy , friars interference with the
confessional function of the priests by providing penance in exchange of money was the most destructive
blow to the old order. He also was concerned with his appearance that is why he is in the first section.
THE MERCHANT
His main concern is to earn money his bragging about his ability to earn money points out that he has not
inherited it and that he is not a nobleman he is not as intent as the other pilgrims in the first section, he
achieved his status through international trade. He is also very much concerned about his appearance not
because of nobility issues but in order to justify the acquisition of wealth.
2) CLERK VERSUS THE FOLLOWING ( the characters that are mentioned below distinctively vary in
their personalities from that of the Clerk)

 MAN OF LAW
 FRANKLIN (OLD LEARNING
 GUILDSMEN VS
 COOK PROFESSION AND CRAFTS
 SHIPMAN FOR PERSONAL GAINS)
 PHYSICIAN
 WIFE OF BATH
THE CLERK
Chaucer characterized him as a devout and humble oxford scholar , he is the exemplar of is particular
group of pilgrims because of the social order he upholds , Clerks domain is that of Intellect which enables
the mankind to apply reason to all the earthly experiences and then organize these experiences towards
the most constructive ends.
THE MAN OF LAW
He was an effective practitioner of the profession that he followed , largely due the fact that his
“purchasyng” of land was based on his ability to recite from his memory “every statut” that bore on the
plot in question , so that “There koude no wight pynche at his writing” (326). He wants to have a nobility
status and works to satisfy his own desires.
FRANKLIN
He is a landowner, he ostentatiously used his expertise in haute cuisine to impress people with his wealth
and taste. Although he presides at local courts sessions and serve as sheriff and member of parliament
from time to time but he is too much preoccupied with the surface of life.
THE GUILDSMEN
Total of five guildsmen are mentioned haberdasher, carpenter, weaver, dyer and tapestry-maker who are
tradesmen who organized themselves in guilds. The guildsmen accompanied by their cooks were very
much aware of their newly attained positions , Their wisdowm is not directed primarily towards the
commune profit but rather towards political influence and personal gains.
THE COOK
Roger the ware, the guildsmen cook is good at his craft but the running sore on his shin, unhygienic
nature makes us question the value of his skills. He is explicitly based on a real-life figure ,both the sore
and his drunkenness, may be indications of a dissolute life.
THE SHIPMAN
The shipman is the first character in Chaucer’s prologue who does not pretend some refinement or aspire
to be “gentil” he is least bothered about his appearance; he recognizes no law and takes whatever he can
get by his cleverness and strength.
THE PHYSICIAN
He appears respectable and is learned and practical man , he has the knowledge regarding science and
medicine as he read those books related to those subjects but had never read Bible.
WIFE OF BATH
Comes from the town of Bath. She is a seamstress by trade but has taken up the occupation of a
professional wife: She has been married five times and her expertise is giving marital advice. She used
her skills not to teach or to learn but to serve her own purposes in both affairs of the purse and also that of
the body. She wears red color clothes which signifies lust and has a gap between her teeth.
3) PARSON AND PLOUGHMEN VERSUS THE FOLLOWING ( the listed characters below have a
totally opposite personalities than that of the parson and the ploughman)

 MILLER
 MANCIPLE (OLD RURAL SEVICES
 REEVE VS
 SUMMONER UNPRICIPLED MANIPULATION
 PARDONER OF PEOPLE
THE PARSON AND PLOUGHMAN
When the country priest had taken the advantage of “market” from chantry appointments in London,
brought by deaths from plague, parson stayed with the parishioners even though his learning and
conscientiousness would have qualified him for a most distinguished position, he was thus a sincere and a
devout priest. Ploughman is the brother of parson and is a devout Christian both brothers worked for the
commune profit which is a compete contrast to the five other self-serving individuals namely miller,
manciple, reeve, summoner and pardoner.
THE MILLER
He is a pug nosed, brawny worker with red beard The behavior of his character has been exaggerated, his
need to be loud and physically intimidating and his unvarnished cheating at mill separates him from the
spiritual center of order embodied in parson and ploughmen.
MANCIPLE
The lawyer for whom the Manciple works are perhaps too busy like the man of law, in land-grabbing so
did not have the keep a tab on him , miller showed that he was serving his master but in reality he was
deceiving him. Stealing resources of the lawyer he worked for was his hobby.
REEVE
He was the manager of estate and just like Manciple he was good at deceiving his master. The Reeve has
turned the proper order upside-down, so that “He koude bettre than his lord purchase” (608); he is able to
give lord’s own money to him. Reeve is slender old and crabby, which resembles his covert deceiving
personality.
SUMMONER
He is considered to be a religious figure but actually is a corrupt who accepts bribe from people to lend
them forgiveness from their sins. He was suffering from a skin disease which made his face scaly and full
of pimples, his outer appearance corresponds to inner appearance of his corrupt soul. The summoner and
the pardoner reinforce each other’s in their wrongdoings.
PARDONER
At first he appears as merely another bizarre , degenerate con-man but as details are added regarding his
character (both in the general prologue and the prologue to his tale), a complex personality emerges. The
pardoner is a negative summation of the theme of disorder in the general prologue, who is completely
detached from the old order.
CONCLUSION
Chaucer who has designated himself as the host and the prologue has been narrated through his point of
view. He seems to be in support of the old order and therefore praises the three estates which
corresponded to the characters of the Knight , The Clerk and the Parson and the Ploughman who follow
the old order, and Chaucer also provided us with characters which have the totally opposite personalities,
and they tend to defy the old order. Chaucer described the individual to be ugly if he or she was too much
corrupt from inside morally. He also described the social status of the characters with regards to their
occupation.

WORK CITIED FROM -

 Higgs, Elton D. “The Old Order and the ‘Newe World’ in the General Prologue the ‘Canterbury
Tales.’” Huntington Library Quarterly, vol. 45, no. 2, 1982, pp. 155–73. JSTOR,
https://doi.org/10.2307/3817150. Accessed 17 June 2023.
 Raphel, Adrienne. "The Canterbury Tales." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC,
8 Nov 2013. Web. 21 Apr 2020.