Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

The Knight The Squire

The YeomanThe Prioress

ByGeoffrey Chaucer

1340?-1400

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Narrator

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Narrator• Setting

– Spring

• Imagery

» “April”(1)

» “sweet showers”(1)

» “sweet breath”(5)

» “tender shoots”(7)

» “young sun”(7)

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Narrator

• Pilgrimage Season

–Purpose

• Gain grace and salvation

• Religious

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Narrator

• The Pilgrimage

–Traveled to Canterbury

• See the “holy blissful martyr” (17)

–Thomas Becket

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Narrator

• Introduction of events/characters

– The narrator stays at an inn where he meets twenty-nine people who are also on the same pilgrimage

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Knight

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Knight

• Characterization– Diction

» “most distinguished man” (43)» “chivalry” (45)» “Truth, honour, generousness and

courtesy” (46)» “noble graces” (50)» “He was of sovereign value” (63)

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Knight

• Purpose of Diction

–To demonstrate to the reader the narrator’s opinion of the Knight

–The Knight is a respectable and honorable character

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Knight

• Clothing Imagery

– “not gaily dressed” (70)

– “fustian tunic” (71) (coarse cloth of cotton and linen)

– “smudges” (72)

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Knight

• Purpose of the Clothing Imagery

–Demonstrates that the Knight is a humble and honorable man

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Knight

• Purpose of the Knight’s Pilgrimage– “Just home from service, he had joined our

ranks/ To do his pilgrimage and render thanks.” (73-74)

– Returns from the Crusades alive– Wants to go to Canterbury to give thanks

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Squire

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Squire

• Characterization– Diction

» “a fine young Squire” (75)» “A lover and cadet, a lad of fire” (76)» “With locks as curly as if they had

been pressed” (77)» “wonderful agility and strength” (80)» “He’d seen some service with the

cavalry” (81)

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Squire– “And had done valiantly in little space/ Of time,

in hope to win his lady’s grace”(83-84)– “embroidered like a meadow bright” (85)– “And full of freshest flowers, red and white”

(86)– “Singing he was, or fluting all the day” (87)– “Short was his gown, the sleeves were long

and wide” (89)– “He could make songs and poems and recite”

(91)

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Squire

• Although the Squire is the son of the Knight, he contrasts his father greatly– The Knight is humble, while the Squire

dresses to please– It seems the Knight’s focus is on the afterlife,

while the Squire’s focus is on earthly possessions (religious life versus a secular life)

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Yeoman

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Yeoman

• Characterization– Diction

» “at his side” (97)» “servant” (98)» “neatly sheathed” (101)» “arrows never drooped their feathers

low” (103)» “A medal of St. Christopher he wore”

(111)

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Yeoman

• Purpose of the Diction

– The Yeoman is similar to the Knight

– Nicely clothed yet still very humble and loyal

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Nun (Prioress)

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Nun (Prioress)

• Characterization– Diction

• “And she spoke daintily in French, extremely,/ After the school of Stratford-atte-Bowe;/ French in the Paris style she did not know.” (122-124)– Tries to speak French, but does not

have the correct “Paris” accent

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Nun (Prioress)

“At meat her manners were well taught withal;/ No morsel from her lips did she let fall,/ Nor dipped her fingers in the sauce too deep” (125-127)

• Refined table manners

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Nun (Prioress)

“She certainly was very entertaining,/ Pleasant and friendly in her ways, and straining/ To counterfeit a courtly kind of grace,/ A stately bearing fitting to her place” (135-138)

» Counterfeit

» To imitate

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Nun (Prioress)

– “She used to weep if she but saw a mouse/ Caught in a trap, if it were dead or bleeding.” (142-143)

» What would happen if the mouse was not in a trap?

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Nun (Prioress)

– “And she had little dogs she would be feeding/ With roasted flesh, or milk, or fine white bread.” (144-145)

» Appropriate to serve the dogs such good food when people are hungry?

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Nun (Prioress)

• “She was all sentiment and tender heart.Her veil was gathered in a seemly way, Her nose was elegant, her eyes glass-

grey;Her mouth was very small, but soft and

red,Her forehead, certainly, was fair of

spread,Almost a span across the brows, I own”

(148-153)

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Nun (Prioress)

• Simplicity of a nun, but yet a “seemly way” to her appearance

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Nun (Prioress)

• Purpose of the Diction

– More emphasis is place on the woman than the nun

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Nun (Prioress)

– Chaucer satirizes her in a gentle way

» She tries to be courtly and elegant, even though she is supposed to be simple and plain

Geschke/British Literature The Canterbury Tales

The Nun (Prioress)

– Our Reaction

» We laugh at her, but find nothing fundamentally wrong with her