29 pilgrims
are on their way to the shrine of St. Thomas a' Beckett to a shrine in Canterbury.
Chaucer uses indirect characterization when he tells how each character
o Looks and dresses,
o Speaks and acts,
o Thinks and feels.
Chaucer also uses direct characterization
when he comes right out and tells us what a character's nature is - virtuous, vain, clever, and so on
A frame story
is a literary device that binds together several different narratives. It is a story (or stories) within a story
During Spring, where do they want to visit?
the shrines of the saints.
Where do they go?
They go from Southwark to Canterbury
When they are in Southwark, where do they go? How is it?
at the tabard inn; the inn was wide, nice, and cozy.
What types of characterization does Chaucer use?
indirect and direct - characteristics of the characters.
How is each character introduced?
Each character is introduced with italics
Knight
� Represents the aristocracy
� Ideal characters
� Brave
� Ideal, good characters
� He followed chivalry - the code of honor - truth, honor, generousness, courtesy.
� He fought in 15 battles and always won his battles, never lost a battle
� Wants honor and glory
Squire
� Young man in the 2nd stages of becoming a knight.
� A knight's son.
� 20 years old.
� He has agility and strength, has done some service but not as much as a knight.
� He fights to impress women and to win the lady's grace
� "He was embroidered like a meadow bright And full of freshest flowers, red and white. Singing he was, or fluting all the day; He was as fresh as is the month of May.
� Made songs, poems, danced, drew - very interested in the arts.
� "He loved so hotly that till dawn grew pale He slept as little as a nightingale."
Yeoman
� A commoner; a servant to the knight.
� "His head was like a nut, his face was brown. He knew the whole of woodcraft, up and down."
� He had a medal of St. Christopher - Patron Saint of travelers.
� "He was a proper forester, I guess." - Chaucer said he looked like he'd be a good forester or yeoman or hunter but he never saw him kill anything.
Nun
� A prioress - a religious woman that runs a convent.
� Chaucer makes fun of her.
� He says she sings through her nose. Nasal voice
� "And she spoke daintily in French, extremely, after the school of Stratford-atte-Bowe, French in the Paris style she did not know.
� She was putting on manners to impress other people and to try to act proper.
� She used her manners to cover up how much she ate. Line 140. She was not letting any morsel fall because she wanted to eat it all.
� She was "indeed by no means undergrown" means she was fat.
� She had dogs and you weren't supposed to when you were with the Church because you are sup. To be helping people, not dogs.
� Her rosary was fancy and had a golden broach. Members of the church had cheap wooden rosaries but she thought it was important to have an expensive nice one. - shows her attachment to worldly goods.
Monk
� He liked to hunt. He was an abbot - a director of the monastery.
� He is also materialistic because he has many expensive horses and rides it.
� He did not want to follow the rule of St. Benedict and St. Maurice on how a monk should live. - simple and not spend a lot of money Pg. 147 he was more interested in hunting instead of giving his time and money to the poor.
� He didn't want to work hard or follow the rules of St. Augustine that said monks should do manual labor.
� His head was bald and shone like looking-glass
� He was fat and personable priest
Friar
� Limiter - a friar having the exclusive right to beg and preach in an assigned limited district.
� Beg for donations, preach and bury the dead
� He would arranged marriages because he got them pregnant and so it would look like the husband got her pregnant if he married them.
� He liked the ladies.
� He had a special license from the pope to hear confessions. He wasn't even supposed to hear confessions. This was the parson or priest's job.
� If he heard a confession, he wanted a gift - money. He would forgive for money.
� "and should he give enough he knew in verity the penitent repented in sincerity. - he knew that if they gave him enough money to hear his confessions, that he was really sorry for his sins.
� He would give things to the young girls to entice them.
� He only dealt with the rich people and drank and paid money to get drinks at a bar instead of helping the lepers and beggars. He did this because by helping the poor, you don't get money but if you hang with rich people you did.
� He wanted nothing to do with the poor.
� He's selfish and takes poor widow's money.
� He wore a large, nice, expensive cape like the pope or rich person instead of a poor clergyman's threadbare robe.
� He had a lisp to try to make his voice sound sweet so he could get money out of them.
� (His name is Hubert.)
The Merchant
� He is colorful and has nice clothes, daintily buckled shoes and forked beard.
� He was excellent in making deals and stuff with people.
� "None knew he was in debt, He was so stately in administration, in loans and bargains, and negotiation."
� Everyone thought he was a good merchant but he was really in debt.
The Oxford Cleric
� Was a divinity student - someone who studies theology. He was called the oxford cleric or clerk.
� Was one of the few righteous men.
� Horse was thinner than a rake and did not spend a lot of money on himself or his horse but spent this money on books
� He loved books more than clothing and musical instruments. Whatever money he took, he spent on learning or other books.
� "A tone of moral virtue filled his speech and gladly would he learn and gladly teach."
� parson kinight and oxford cleric were some of the few good people in the church.
The Lawyer
� He was one of the king's lawyers. Not a normal lawyer. He was one of the king's legal servants.
� He dealt with real estate law and could transfer land ownership to himself because he was one of the few who could read and write so he put his name on everything.
� "though there was nowhere one so busy as he, he was less busy than he seemed to be." - he made it seem like he was busy and he really wasn't. he made himself look busy so he didn't get any more work.
Franklin
� A free man who was a wealthy land owner.
� He wanted pleasure in life - he liked good wine, good food, wanted only pleasure in life.
� He made his household free to all people, everyone could come in and eat all the meats and drink the wine.
� He was the sheriif - tax sheriff. He would look through everyone's books to charge tax and collected it from the poor people. He charged more than he needed.
The Guildsmen
� They were social climbers, tradesman,that pretended to be better than everyone else.
The Cook
� He was a very good cook who had the right amount of flavor, could broil, season, and fry.
� He had very poor hygiene and his puss filled sore would drip into the food.
The Skipper
� Captain of the ship
� "Many a draught of vintage, red and yellow, he'd drawn at Bordeaux, while the trader snored." - Bordeaux - a place in france known for it's wine. When he'd sail into a port, he would steal the wine while the trader slept on the job because all the bottles were lined up so he just took them.
� It didn't bother him to steal wine on the spot. He would kill enemies and have them drowned. He didn't care about others and was merciless.
� He knew all the little hiding places and currents that no one knew of and if he got caught, he could get away.
The Doctor
� "The cause of every malady you'd got, he knew whether dry, cold, moist, or hot; He knew their seat, their humor and condition. He was the perfect practicing physician."
� He and the apothecaries (pharmacists) were in agreement to overcharge the sick person. If he knew the pharmacist had the medicine, he would tell them they needed that type and charge extra.
� He used the advice of ancient authorities to diagnose his patients.
� He ate well and didn't try to overindulge or eat bad things. He wanted to keep himself well.
� He is not religious and doesn't worry about doing the right thing and getting the patients well.
� He got paid for helping during the Bubonic plague and such. and was very greedy and had a special love of gold.
Wife of Bath
� Bath was a city in England.
� She was somewhat deaf and was a seamstress. She made clothing. She would wear a big hat and wear kerchiefs all over them that weighed as Chaucer exaggerates - 10 pounds
� "Her hose were of the finest scarlet red and her gartered tight, her shoes were soft and new, bold was her face, handsome, and red in hue."
� She had gaudy clothing., - attention drawing.
� She says she had 5 husbands.
� She liked to travel and had been to Jerusalem and rome - pilgramages to religious places;.
� Her physical appearance contrasted to the places she went.
� She had gap teeth. So she was sexually promiscuous. She is very talkative. And liked to give anybody advice about love even if they didn't ask.
Parson
� He was an ideal character.
� He didn't care about money and would rather give it to his parishioners and lived on very little.
� "This noble example to his sheep he gave that first he wrought, and afterward he taught and it was from the Gospel he had caught those words." - he loved and followed the gospel and wanted to serve as an example of the gospel to his people (sheep)
� He didn't hire anyone else to do his work and stayed with his poor parishioners and he sacrified for others.
Plowman
� He was the brother of the parson. (we don't know if this is physical or symbolic)
� An ideal character
� Honest worker.
� "He would help the poor for love of Christ and never take a penny if he could help it
1. Aristocracy
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2. Clergy
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3. Middle class
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4. Trade class
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5. Lower class
- the miller, yeoman, plowmen,
Miller
� A big man who weighed about 224 pounds and was as big a some wrestlers. He is very strong and large.
� "His beard like any sow or fox, was red and at its very tip, his nose displayed a wart on which there stood a tuft of hair red as the bristles in an old sow's ear."
� "he was a masterhand at feeling grain. He felt it with his thumb and thus he knew its quality and took three times his due- a thumb of gold, by God, to gauge an oat!" - he was falsifying the weight of the grain. He would cheat others by falsyfiying the weight of his grain so peole woiuld have to pay more because he would press his thumb on the scale.
Manciple
� One who purchased food for the lawyers.
� He bought the food well and could outsmart the lawyers because he was the one who bought the food and if he didn't like someone, he could overcharge or pretend there was no more food.
� He could almost control them because he could charge what he wanted and trick them or get them to like him.
Reeve
� A minor official on a country estate who serves as an intermediary between the lord of the manor and the serfs.
� He seems to be a good farmer and watches over the whole estate to see how things are going and he couldn't be tricked, so people were afraid of him.
� "Feared like the plague he was by those beneath." - The serfs were afraid of him because he couldn't be tricked or cheated.
� He watched everything that was going on on the estate. No one could cheat him, but he could cheat the lord of the manor.
� He is clever enough to make his account books come out right. (like pay himself) He inspected everything and could impose fines.
Summoner
� Paid messenger who summons sinners to appear before an ecclesiastical church court. He would see what everyone was doing and would watch what sins people were committing and would give them a summon to show up at court.
� He was very ugly and had boils all over his face. He had bad skin. He was a dirty old man.
� "He was as hot and lecherous as a sparrow."
� His breath smelled like garlic and onions and couldn't find anything to clear the pimples on his face. Children would run when they saw him coming because he was ugly and smelly.
� He would go to a house that had an unmarried woman living with a man and let them bribe him.
� He could be bribed with wine so he wouldn't tell anyone. He could be payed off with wine. He himself had sins that he wouldn't confess.
� He knew everything that was going on in the town and knew everyone's secrets.
� He would get what he wanted. He wore a big holly wreath on his head and a cake for a shield.
Pardoner
� Sinners under an extended penance could purchase a remittance of their penance from official pardoners. ( a forgiveness, and doing away with)
� The ignorant people thought they could buy complete forgiveness for a sin.
� There were fake pardoners that would give people fake relics. They were willing to exploit people by selling them fake relics. (chicken bone, etc)
� "This Pardoner had hair as yellow as wax, Hanging down smoothly like a hank of flax. In driblets fell his locks behind his head, Down to his shoulders they overspread; thinly they fell, like rat-tails, one by one." - good example of imagery. (what he looked like)
� He had eyeballs like a rabbit.
� "I judge he was a gelding, or a mare." - a gelding is a young male horse that can't be bred. And a mare is a female horse.
� He would sell these fake relics such as ordinary veils. (say it was mary's veil) This is how he made his money. He said he had pieces of a sail of St. Peter's boat. He was concerned with making money this way.
� He would tell the parsons how nice it would be to have this real relic and let people from all around see them.
� He acts holy only because he wanted money.
� He'd pretend to be all holy and sing loud and so they would think he was holy and really believe him about the relics.
� Chaucer said not to condemn him because he is only stating the facts but he could be making it up. He can write anything he wants - irony.* (it's his view point)
� Chaucer says he's short of wit.
Host
� Going to be the judge on who was going to tell the best story.
� He says he'll propose that they tell stories there to Canterbury and back but if they don't want to, they could say he's wrong but he thinks they look like a good group of people to tell tales. The story has to have a moral and not just be a pleasurable story.
� He tells them that if they don't want to tell a story, they have to pay the cost of the trip. They drew straws to tell who went first.
� Harry Bailey is his name
Satire
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Prologue
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Irony
- is a contrast or discrepancy between expectations and reality. Between what is said and what is meant - verbal irony. Between what is expected and what happens - situational irony. Between what appears to be true and what is actually true - dramatic.
3. Five facts about Chaucer's life:
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i. He was a Page (helped out the king)
ii. He only wrote 24 tales.
iii. The Canterbury Tales was his longest and finest work.
iv. He grew up in London.
v. Exposed to the ideas of chivalry at an early age.
vi. He was a government official
vii. He had a sense of humor, to create vivid characters, he provided insight through his stories about the people during the time period.
viii. He used the characters and their personalities to tell what they were like during the medieval period.
ix. He used his writings to expose the Church. To criticize the church. He was criticizing how the Church was running. He also exposed personal vices (greedy, gluttonous)
1. Chaucer is an
English poet who wrote Canterbury Tales. Or british poet.
Date of birth and death .
1343-1400. Considered the father of English poetry. Greatest poet of the medieval period
. Medieval society is characterized by
religion, love, marriage, humor, warmth, insight, and understanding of human nature.
MIDDLE AGES.
1100-1500
Decasyllabic couplets
(narratives written in heroic couplets)the 2 lines rhyme
How many stories were there?
24 plus a prologue or a general introduction. There was supp. To b 120 but he died.