The Canterbury Tales Characters and Summaries – Flashcards

Followed Chivalry, had been in many battles, jousted and killed "his man" three times, wise, modest, "true", a perfect gentle knight, fine horses but...not gaily dressed was going to give thanks. Well respected, but somewhat dirty man. He fights to protect his land. He fought against Anti-Catholic people. The feudal system describes the time back then. (The knights were pretty high up, but not as high as royalty)

Poor, spends most of his money on books, love reading, says he will do something, but he doesn't.

Son of the knight, 20 years old, been in the calvary, opposite of his father in appearance, sang, recited poetry, jousted, dance, draw, write, and love

"a proper forester" , carried bow and arrows, was weathered, wore a medal of St. Christopher

nun, refined, elegant, pretentious, had several small dogs, not primarily interested in her religious duties, wears a brooch that may have had a pagan saying on it, was accompanied by another nun and three priest

"hunting with his sport", might become an abbot someday, violates religious vows forthrightly and outrageously, owned greyhounds, lavishly dressed.

Did not follow religious order (most were beggers with poverty and simplicity the ideas of their orders), found husbands and dowries for young women he had seduced, did not like dealing with "scum", had a lisp, named Hubert

Self involved, "Was in debt", more interested in appearance, of wealth and status than honesty.

Extreme poverty, student of philosophy, "tone of moral virtue"

specializes in deeds, did not take cases he could not win. Wealthy, bought most of his land by himself. He wears tacky suits. Top lawyer in all of the land. A lot of class. Everything he said contained wisdom. Appointed to be the Justice of Assize by the king.

Wealthy landowner, not of noble birth, generous, good host, had been a member of parliament, royal tax collector (sheriff), patron saint of hospitality

Dyer, Carpenter, Weaver, and carpet maker, all in the same fraternal organization, freemen, wealthy wives want to become alderman.

Proficient at every aspect of his craft, ulcer on his knee, his blancmange is a white gelatinous dessert, the puss on his leg resembles the dessert.

Complexion indicates sea faring life, ignores conscience in battle, widely traveled.

Contrives with pharmacists to make money, knew the elements (earth, water, air, fire) and how to use them to diagnose patients, "special love of gold"; wore red a lot, very rich, only doctor people would go to.

Some-what deaf, always had to be first to give at church (shows vanity and childish behavior and need for attention), "had five husbands", made 3 pilgrimages to Jerusalem, wants to attract men, pleasant and easygoing nature. Summed up: She's a thot begging for attention.

"Never was a better priest", humble parish priest, model of christian service gives away his income, taught christ "but followed it himself before" Poor, but rich in holy thoughts and works; live the perfect life first and then teach it. True Christian priest; Amid the worldly clerics and the false and superficial religious adherents, the poor parson stands out as the ideal portrait of what a parish priest should be.

Honest work, very moral and spiritual, works the soil

Big man, very strong and ugly, stole grain, played bagpipes.

Administrator in charge of providing food for lawyers who lived and trained at london's inn of court, illiterate, in practical, matters was smarter that the lawyers.

Official authorized to sell indulges (church pardons) for their sins, self-interest. long blonde hair, had no facial hair, bulging eyes and a voice like a goat, not very manly, made outrageous claims about his relics probably to get money, greedy, sang an offering, a good orator and very convincing, his main goal was to get money from the crowds.

Ekphrastic Occupations Woman's lack of agency (compare to Griselda) Emelye: Diana (chastity) Theseus, duke of Athens, imprisons Arcite and Palamon, two knights from Thebes (another city in ancient Greece). From their prison, the knights see and fall in love with Theseus's sister-in-law, Emily. Arcite is freed, but he is banished from Athens. He returns in disguise and becomes a page in Emily's chamber. Palamon escapes from prison, and the two meet and fight over Emily. Theseus apprehends them and arranges a tournament between the two knights and their allies, with Emily as the prize. Arcite wins, but he is accidentally thrown from his horse and dies. Palamon wins Emily; Arcite says he saw her 1st as a woman, not goddess - retarded argument (keep in mind, he doesn't win); "All's fair in love" - that's not a very knightly thing to say

Fabliaux Bodily access and functions Quotidian Biblical punishment (flood as biblical retribution for John controlling Alisoun) The Host asks the Monk to tell the next tale, but the drunken __ interrupts and insists that his tale should be the next. He tells the story of an impoverished student named Nicholas, who persuades his landlord's sexy young wife, Alison, to spend the night with him. He convinces his landlord, a carpenter named John, that the second flood is coming, and tricks him into spending the night in a tub hanging from the ceiling of his barn. Absalon, a young parish clerk who is also in love with Alison, appears outside the window of the room where Nicholas and Alison lie together. When Absalon begs Alison for a kiss, she sticks her butt out the window... Absolon runs and gets a red-hot poker, returns to the window, and asks for another kiss; when Nicholas sticks his bottom out the window and farts, Absalon brands him on the buttocks. Nicholas's cries for water-makes the carpenter think that the flood has come, so the carpenter cuts the rope connecting his tub to the ceiling, falls down, and breaks his arm; NOTE: the only one not hurt in all of this is Alison

Talks about being "dried up" in the prologue Northern dialect (John/Aleyn) A dishonest miller, who lives close to a college, steals corn and meal brought to his mill for grinding. One day, the manciple (or steward) of the college is too ill to go to the mill to watch the miller grind his corn, and, in his absence, the miller robs him outrageously. Two students at the college, John and Alan, are enraged at the news of the theft and volunteer to take a sack of corn to the mill. When they arrive, they announce that they will watch the milling. The miller, sensing that the students want to prevent him from stealing, untethered the students' horse. When John and Alan find the horse missing, they chase it until dark before catching it. Meanwhile, the miller empties half the flour from the sack and refills it with bran. Because it is now dark, the boys ask the miller to put them up for the night. The miller, who has a wife, a twenty-year old daughter, and an infant son, agrees. Because the house is small, they all sleep in the same room but in separate beds: John and Alan in one bed, the Miller and his wife in another with the cradle beside, and the daughter in the third. While the miller and his family sleep, John and Alan think of ways to get revenge. Suddenly, Alan announces that he is going to have that "wench there," referring to the daughter. His logic is "If at one point a person be aggrieved / Then in another he shall be relieved" ("That gif a man in a point be agreved, / That in another he sal be releved"). John, however, stays in bed lamenting his condition; resolved finally to not spend the night alone, he gets up and quietly moves the baby and cradle next to his bed. About this time, the miller's wife gets up to relieve herself; returning to her bed, she feels for the baby's cradle, which is now beside John's bed. Thinking this her bed, she climbs in beside John, who immediately "tumbled on her, and on this goode wyf, he laid it on well. At dawn, Alan says goodbye to the daughter, who tells him where to find his stolen flour. When Alan goes to wake John, he discovers the cradle and, assuming that he has the wrong bed, hops into the miller's bed. There, he tells John how he had the daughter three times during the night. "As I have thries in this shorte nyght / Swyved (screwed) the milleres doghter bolt upright." The miller rises from his bed in a fury. The miller's wife, thinking that the swearing is coming from one of the students, grabs a club and, mistaking her husband for one of the clerks, strikes him down. Alan and John gather their ground wheat and flour and flee the premises.

Rhyme royal Christian anti-tragedy King Allah asks witnesses about Custance's character when she is wrongly accused Peasants' Rebellion of 138 Bragged in prologue about bribing people, making up for it by reminding them that God is the judge above all In the prologue to The Man of Law's Tale, the Host notes that the morning is quickly passing. He turns to the Man of Law and, using his best legal language, exhorts him to fulfill his contract and acquit himself of his debt. The Man of Law protests that Chaucer has already written about all the good stories of the world and has left nothing else to be told, and, furthermore, he is a plain spoken man who will not use rhyme. The Man of Law introduces his tale as one he had heard from a merchant long ago, and, therefore, his tale will be about merchants. While in Rome, a company of Syrian merchants hear of the emperor's daughter, Dame Constance, who is the epitome of beauty, goodness, and innocence. Upon their return to Syria, the merchants share their adventures with the young Syrian ruler, the Sultan, who is particularly captivated by the descriptions of Lady Constance. He decides to have Constance for a wife, and because a Christian emperor will not form an alliance with a Muslim nation, the Sultan is baptized — "Rather than that I lose / The Lady Constance, I will be baptized" ("Rather than I lese / Custance, I wol be cristned") — he instructs his subjects to become Christians as well. With the marriage arranged and her journey to begin, Constance is close to despair at leaving her family, friends, and Rome, but being a dutiful and faithful daughter, she commends herself to the journey, relying upon "Jesus Christ who died for our salvation, / Give me the strength of purpose to fulfill / His wishes" ("But Crist, that starf for our redempcion / So yeve me grace his heestes to fulfille"). Meanwhile, the Sultan's mother, who would rather die than give up her religion for the sake of a foreign girl, arranges with her councilors to pretend to accept the new religion until the wedding feast, at which time they will attack and slay the Christians. At the celebration following the wedding ceremony, the evil conspirators of the Sultan's mother sweep down on the Christians and kill them all, including the young Sultan. Lady Constance escapes death and is placed on a well-provisioned ship and cast upon the sea. After "a year and a day" of roaming the sea, the ship lands in the northern isle of Northumberland, where a constable and his wife find Constance and take her in. Because Northumberland is a pagan land, Constance keeps her faith a secret. Soon, however, the constable's wife, Hermengild, becomes a Christian, and, when the constable observes Hermengild and Constance performing a miracle, he becomes a Christian. A young knight sees Constance and is filled with lustful desires. Spurned and manipulated by Satan, the knight slits Hermengild's throat and leaves the murder weapon in Constance's bed. The constable takes Constance before the king, Alla, who rules with a wise and firm hand. The king sentences Constance to death but makes the knight swear on holy books that she is guilty. The moment the knight swears to her guilt, he is stricken dead, and a voice saying that the king has unjustly judged a disciple of Christ is heard. Awe-stricken, the pagans convert to Christianity. Soon, King Alla and Constance fall in love and are married. While the king is away at war, Constance gives birth to a beautiful son. But the king's mother, Donegild, an evil and vicious woman, intercepts and replaces the message bearing the happy news with letters of her own, saying that the king's son was born deformed. In his response, King Alla says he will accept the child, but Donegild intercepts that message as well and writes a false one saying that the king's will is to the have the child destroyed. Horrified, Constance sails away with her son. Upon his return, King Alla discovers the falsified messages and, grief-stricken at the loss of is wife and son, has Donegild executed. In the meanwhile, the emperor of Rome, Constance's father, hearing of the tragic news of the death of the Christians, sends an army to Syria to revenge their deaths. As the Romans return to Rome, they spy the vessel steered by Constance. Not recognizing Constance, they take her to Rome, but because she has lost her memory and does not recognize her homeland, she lives in obscurity. The grief-stricken King Alla makes a pilgrimage to Rome to seek penance. While in the company of the noble senator, he sees a child who bears a strong resemblance to Constance. He soon after learns of the circumstances of Constance's arrival and, going to her dwelling place, repudiates the false messages and convinces her of his love for both her and their son. After their joyous reunion, Constance, miraculously regaining her memory, kneels before the emperor and confesses that she is his daughter. Alla and Constance return to Northumberland, but within a year, Alla is dead. Constance and her son return to Rome, where the child, upon the death of his grandfather, becomes the emperor. After the Man of Law had finished, the Host proclaims the tale a first class story and turns to the Priest for a tale, but the Priest is offended by the Host's swearing. The Host then refers to the Priest in a slightly satiric tone, calling him a "Johnny" and a "Lollard." The Skipper interrupts, saying that he has a tale to tell but that his tale won't be about philosophy. The content of this epilogue sounds as though the next tale will therefore be the Shipman's, but Chaucer abandoned this idea.

Experience vs. authority Maistrie (authority/agency) Biblical exegesis (e.g. Midas passage) The Church has gotten rid of all mythology and fairy creatures She gives a lengthy account of her feelings about marriage. Quoting from the Bible, the Wife argues against those who believe it is wrong to marry more than once, and she explains how she dominated and controlled each of her five husbands. She married her fifth husband, Jankyn, for love instead of money. After the Wife has rambled on for a while, the Friar butts in to complain that she is taking too long, and the Summoner retorts that friars are like flies, always meddling. The Friar promises to tell a tale about a summoner, and the Summoner promises to tell a tale about a friar. The Host cries for everyone to quiet down and allow the Wife to commence her tale. In her tale, a young knight of King Arthur's court rapes a maiden; to atone for his crime, Arthur's queen sends him on a quest to discover what women want most. An ugly old woman promises the knight that she will tell him the secret if he promises to do whatever she wants for saving his life. He agrees, and she tells him women want control of their husbands and their own lives. They go together to Arthur's queen, and the old woman's answer turns out to be correct. The old woman then tells the knight that he must marry her. When the knight confesses later that he is repulsed by her appearance, she gives him a choice: she can either be ugly and faithful, or beautiful and unfaithful. The knight tells her to make the choice herself, and she rewards him for giving her control of the marriage by rendering herself both beautiful and faithful.

Entente (intention) of words matters It belongs together as a unit with the Summoner's Tale At the end of the wife of Bath's narration, the Friar wonders whether such heavy academic problems concerning authority and the scriptures shouldn't be left to the proper authorities and offers to tell a tale about a summoner. The Host admonishes the Friar to tell something else, but the Summoner interrupts and says that, if the Friar tells an uncomplimentary tale about a summoner, he will in turn tell an uncomplimentary tale about a friar. The tale the Friar tells is, indeed, uncomplimentary. An archdeacon (a church official who presided over church courts) uses a crew of spies, including whores, to seek out information about the people living in the parish. With the derogatory information in hand, the archdeacon calls upon the sinners and miscreants and squeezes exorbitant tribute from them so that their names do not appear among those doing evil. In the employ of the Archdeacon is a summoner who makes his rounds blackmailing the rich and the poor alike. One day, the summoner meets a debonair young yeoman. Discovering that they are both bailiffs, the two men swear to be brothers to their dying day. They each reveal the underhanded means they use to extort money from their victims and agree to enter into a partnership. After exchanging further information, the summoner inquires about the yeoman's name. The yeoman reveals that he is "a fiend, my dwelling is in hell." The summoner says that he made a bargain to join forces with the yeoman, and even if the yeoman is really a fiend, he (the summoner) will honor his word. The two seal the bargain and begin their journey. The summoner and the demon come upon a farmer whose cart is stuck in the mud. In exasperation, the farmer shouts for the devil to take all — cart, horse, hay, everything. The summoner urges the fiend to do as he is bid, but the fiend explains that, because the curse was not uttered from the heart and in sincerity, he has no power to do so. Later, they go to the home of a rich widow who refuses to pay the summoner's bribes. Again the summoner demands his money; again the woman refuses. When the summoner threatens to take her new frying pan, she cries, "The devil take you and the frying pan." The fiend asks whether she means these words, and she says she does, unless the summoner repents. The summoner refuses, and the fiend drags the summoner off to hell, where all summoners have very special places. The Friar ends his tale by hoping that summoners can someday repent and become good men.

Aristotelian notions of materiality (what can and cannot be divided i.e. farts) It belongs together as a unit with the Friar's Tale After hearing the Friar's tale, the Summoner is angry and sarcastically suggests that the Friar told a well-documented story since friars and fiends are always good friends. He then recalls for the other pilgrims the story of the friar who once had a vision of hell and, while being guided through hell by an angel, never saw a single friar. The friar wondered aloud whether all friars were in a state of grace; in response, the angel asked Satan to lift up his tail. Suddenly twenty thousand friars were seen swarming around Satan's "arse." Having made his point about the friars in general, the Summoner tells another insulting story about one friar in particular. A friar, who goes about seeking contributions, promises prayers and possible salvation in exchange for anything his parishioners will give. Once back at the convent, the friar promptly forgets to make the promised prayers. One day, the friar goes to the home of old Thomas, a rich but uneducated old man who has been ill for a long time. The friar assures Thomas that he and his brother friars have been praying for him. When Thomas' wife enters the house, the friar kisses and fondles her. She requests that he preach to Thomas about anger because Thomas is so unpleasant. Before leaving, the wife reminds the Friar that her baby died recently. The friar pretends to know this because he and the other friars have seen the child being carried upward, and they have prayed and fasted. He gives the wife a long sermon on the virtues of fasting and sins of gluttony. The friar then turns to Thomas and embarks upon a long sermon on the necessity of avoiding excessive wealth. He assures Thomas that the convent prays for him every night and that Thomas should donate a portion of his gold to the convent. In fact, he says that Thomas should give everything to the friars. The friar then preaches on the sin of anger and quotes many classical examples. In so doing, he makes Thomas more and more angry until Thomas finally says that he has a gift for the friar, on the condition that the friar swears to share the gift with the other friars. When the friar agrees, Thomas tells him to "reach down your hand beneath my buttocks, and there you are sure to find something I have hidden there." The friar quickly runs his hand down the cleft of the old man's buttocks, and at that moment the old man lets out an enormous fart. Enraged and disgusted, the friar leaves Thomas and goes to see a wealthy lord, whom he tells of this insult, saying, "I wont be asked to divide what cannot be divided into equal parts." The lord's servant explains how the fart can be equally divided. The lord and his lady — everyone except the friar — thinks the servant's answer is excellent.

Governance/leadership Obedience vs. suffering - fine line Clerk and Wife of Bath flirt - this is indictment of Walter After the Summoner concludes his story, the Host turns to the Clerk from Oxford saying, "You haven't said a word since we left . . . for goodness sake cheer and tell us a lively tale." The Clerk agrees and says he will tell a story he heard from a great gentleman from Padua named Francis Petrarch. Part I: On the western shores of Italy lives Walter, the noble and gracious king who is handsome, young, and strong. Walter loves his freedom and has refused to be bound by marriage; his subjects, however, long for an heir to the throne. One day, a delegation of lords of the kingdom humbly beseeches Walter to seek a wife. The king is so impressed with their petition that he agrees to marry. To confirm the agreement, the lords ask him to set a wedding date. Walter grants the lords the right to choose the wedding day, and he will choose his own bride. Part II: The day of the wedding arrives, and all preparations are complete. A very poor man named Janicula, with a beautiful and virtuous daughter named Griselda, lives nearby. Walter has often seen her and admired her beauty. Shortly before the wedding, Walter asks Janicula for permission to marry his daughter; the old man agrees. Then Walter wins Griselda's consent. He makes one condition for their marriage: that Griselda promise to obey his will and to do so cheerfully, even if it cause her pain. Griselda assents to these conditions, and they are married. Soon, Griselda bears her husband a daughter, and there is great rejoicing. Part III: While his daughter is still an infant, the king resolves to banish any doubt about his wife's loyalty. He tells her that one of his courtiers will soon come for the child, and he expresses the hope that taking the child from her will in no way change her love for him. She says that it will not. The king's agent arrives and takes the child. Griselda does not utter one word that would indicate her objections. Part IV: Four years pass, and Griselda bears a son. Walter again decides to test his wife's patience and fidelity by telling her that she must give up her son, now two years old. Again, Griselda takes the news patiently and accepts her husband's decision. When Walter's daughter is twelve and his son "a little lad of seven," he decides to put Griselda to one final test. He has a Papal Bull forged, declaring himself free of Griselda and giving him permission to marry another woman. Then he orders his sister, with whom the children have been placed, to bring his daughter and son home. Plans are then set in motion for another wedding. Part V: Walter calls Griselda before him, shows her the counterfeit Papal permission, and tells her of his intent to marry again. Griselda accepts the news with a sad heart. Once again, with great patience and humility, she says that she will abide by her husband's decision and return to her father's house. She then returns to her father, who receives her with sadness. Part VI: Through her ordeal, Griselda helps prepare the beautiful young girl, whom she does not recognize as her daughter, for the wedding. But Walter can stand his own cruelty no longer. He confesses to Griselda that the beautiful girl and the handsome young boy are their children and they have been given loving care in Bologna. He confesses that the cruel tests had been perfectly met by Griselda and that he could find no more patient and steadfast woman. They live the rest of their lives in bliss, and when Walter dies, his son succeeds to the throne. In an envoy to The Clerk's Tale, Chaucer warns all husbands not to test the patience of their wives in the hope of finding another patient Griselda "for in certein, ye shal faille." Chaucer then warns all wives not to allow humility to nail shut their tongues for fear of finding themselves, like Chichevache, engulfed or swallowed up. Chaucer then advises wives to be like Echo, who never fled and always returned tit for tat

Song of Song Persephone and Pluto intervene Merchant sympathizes The Host asks him to tell a story of the evils of marriage, and he complies. Against the advice of his friends, an old knight named January marries May, a beautiful young woman. She is less than impressed by his enthusiastic sexual efforts, and conspires to cheat on him with his squire, Damien. When blind January takes May into his garden to copulate with her, she tells him she wants to eat a pear, and he helps her up into the pear tree, where she has sex with Damien. Pluto, the king of the faeries, restores January's sight, but May, caught in the act, assures him that he must still be blind. The Host prays to God to keep him from marrying a wife like the one the Merchant describes.

Courtly love Incorporation of "Otherness" - interpreted through Western lens At the completion of The Merchant's Tale, someone — the host, we assume — suggests that, because the squire knows about love, he give another tale about love. The Squire agrees but asks to be excused if he says anything amiss. A noble king, Cambuskan, has two sons and a beautiful daughter named Canace (or Canacee). On the twentieth anniversary of Cambuskan's reign, the king orders a splendid and lavish celebration. In the midst of the feast, an unknown knight appears and announces that he has come to the celebration bearing gifts from his own sovereign lord, the king of Araby. One of these gifts, which the king gives to his daughter, is a magical ring that enables the wearer to speak the language of any living thing, be it bird, animal, or bush. The next morning, Canace hears the pathetic cry of a lady falcon, and through the power of the magical ring she is wearing, she discovers that the falcon's grief is the result of having been wooed and won and then abandoned by a handsome young falcon (tercelet). The jilted lady falcon, in her remorse, has wandered over the earth. She is so weak, in fact, that she faints in the tree, and Canace catches her and nurses her back to health. The Squire plans to tell other stories involving the victories of his family and the magic gifts, but the Franklin interrupts.

Contracts/oaths Even if contracts fail, things can still be resolved Defies tradition/authority by not killing self, relies on her trowth (truth) Dorigen, the heroine, awaits the return of her husband, Arveragus, who has gone to England to win honor in feats of arms. She worries that the ship bringing her husband home will wreck itself on the coastal rocks, and she promises Aurelius, a young man who falls in love with her, that she will give her body to him if he clears the rocks from the coast. Aurelius hires a student learned in magic to create the illusion that the rocks have disappeared. Arveragus returns home and tells his wife that she must keep her promise to Aurelius. Aurelius is so impressed by Arveragus's honorable act that he generously absolves her of the promise, and the magician, in turn, generously absolves Aurelius of the money he owes.

Nature aria Naifly suit Virginus accused of being unfree Virginus cannot see Virginus as individual - refers to her in first person and her name is almost identical Virginius, a knight, has only one child, Virginia, whose beauty is beyond compare and who is endowed with all the other noble virtues. One morning, in town, a judge named Apius (or Appius) catches sight of the daughter, is smitten by her beauty and purity, and determines to have her at any cost. He sends for the town's most disreputable blackguard, Claudius, and pays him to take part in a scheme to capture the girl. In court before Judge Appius, Claudius falsely accuses Virginius of having stolen a servant girl (Virginia) from his house many years ago and keeping her all these years, pretending that she is his daughter. Before Virginius can defend himself, the evil judge orders that the young girl be brought immediately to the court. Virginius returns home and calls his daughter into his presence. She must, he says, accept either death or shame at the hands of Claudius and Apius. Virginia tells her father: "Blessed be God that I shall die a Maid (virgin), / I take my death rather than take my shame. / So do your will upon me ("Blissed be God, that I shal dye a mayde! / Yif me my deeth, er that I have a shame; / Do with youre child youre wyl"). Then she faints, and her father "smote off her head." Virginius returns to the judge and hands him Virginia's head. The judge orders the knight hanged for murder, but a throng of citizens, aroused by the Apius' treachery, imprisons the judge. Claudius is to be hanged, but the knight pleads mercy and suggests exile instead. The Physician concludes his tale with the moral that "the wages of sin is Death" and let everyone forsake his sins.

Prologue: what matters, saving souls, or intent? Pardoner is corrupt but saves souls. Pardoner sees things too literally, misses spiritual - Adam and Eve are "gluttons" Unstable narration - Host is unreliable The host asks him to tell something merry. He tells the company how he cheats people out of their money by preaching that money is the root of all evil. His tale describes three riotous youths who go looking for Death, thinking that they can kill him. An old man tells them that they will find Death under a tree. Instead, they find eight bushels of gold, which they plot to sneak into town under cover of darkness. The youngest goes into town to fetch food and drink, but brings back poison, hoping to have the gold all to himself. His companions kill him to enrich their own shares, then drink the poison and die under the tree. His tale complete, he offers to sell the pilgrims pardons, and singles out the Host to come kiss his relics. The Host infuriates him by accusing him of fraud, but the Knight persuades the two to kiss and bury their differences.

A rich merchant from St. Denys has an unusually beautiful wife. Their splendid house is often filled with guests. One of the most frequent guests is a handsome, young monk named Sir John. Sir John is on exceptionally friendly terms with the merchant and tells him that he and the merchant are cousins or closely related. The merchant vows he will always regard the monk as his brother. The merchant invites Sir John to his home for a few days. During this visit, the monk encounters the merchant's wife in the garden. Noticing her pallor, he questions her. She agrees to tell him her problems of marital neglect if both swear themselves to total secrecy; then she tells him her story and pleads with him to loan her one hundred francs to buy clothes that her frugal husband denies her. Sir John agrees to bring the money when the merchant leaves for Bruges. Then he draws the wife to him, kisses her madly, and confesses his desire for her. After dinner that night, the monk draws the merchant aside and asks him for a loan of one hundred francs to purchase cattle. The merchant gladly gives Sir John the money. The next day, the merchant leaves for Bruges. Soon after, the monk arrives at the merchant's home, and in, exchange for the money, the wife agrees to spend the night in bed with the monk. Sometime later, the merchant stops by the monk's abbey to pay a social call. The monk volunteers the information that he has repaid the one hundred francs to the merchant's wife only a day or two after he had borrowed it. When the merchant returns home, he chides his wife for not telling him that the loan was repaid. She explains that she used the money to buy fine clothes and promises to repay him — not with money, but in bed. Seeing no point in scolding her further, the merchant concludes, "Well, I forgive you what you spent / But don't be so extravagant again." ("Now Wyf," he sayde, "and I foryeve it thee; / But, by thy lyfe, ne be namoore so large.")

Anti-semitism Poor interpretation of text (Dante) Overly focused on physicality - mentions how cute the boy is She calls on the Virgin Mary to guide her tale. In an Asian city, a Christian school is located at the edge of a Jewish ghetto. An angelic seven-year-old boy, a widow's son, attends the school. He is a devout Christian, and loves to sing Alma Redemptoris (Gracious Mother of the Redeemer). Singing the song on his way through the ghetto, some Jews hire a murderer to slit his throat and throw him into a latrine. The Jews refuse to tell the widow where her son is, but he miraculously begins to sing Alma Redemptoris, so the Christian people recover his body, and the magistrate orders the murdering Jews to be drawn apart by wild horses and then hanged.

Sounds like a limerick After the story of Hugh of Lincoln, everyone is in a somber mood until the Host begins to tell jokes to cheer the group. He then tells Chaucer to come forth with a tale of mirth. Chaucer explains that he has only one story — a rhyme that he heard long ago. Far across the sea in Flanders, a handsome, young knight by the name of Sir Topas lives. Sir Topas is a great hunter, an accomplished archer, and a skilled wrestler. Every maiden in the land pines for his love, but Sir Topas takes little interest in these maidens. One day, after an exhausting ride through the forest, Sir Topas rests beside a watering place and dreams of an Elf Queen. When he awakes, he is determined to ride to the ends of the earth in search of an Elf Queen. He soon meets a three-headed giant who bids him depart this part of the forest because it was the kingdom of the Elf Queen. The giant threatens death, and the knight accepts the challenge and rides home to ready himself for the battle. At his father's castle, Sir Topas feasts elegantly and prepares for the battle with the finest armor and excellent weapons. Here, the Host interrupts Chaucer, crying "For God's sake, no more of this . . . I'm exhausted by your illiterate rhymes." ("Namoore of this, for Goddes dignitee . . . for thou makest me/ So wery of thy verry lewednesse . . . .") He then asks Chaucer to leave off the rhymes and tell something in prose. Chaucer agrees to tell a little ("litel") thing in prose but warns that he might repeat some of the proverbs that the pilgrims have heard before.

Literature should be ethically good, at least a little When Melibee and his wife are away, three burglars break into their home and grievously injure their daughter, Sophia. Melibee decides to avenge himself, but his wife, Dame Prudence, talks him into getting advice and then convinces him that, of all the advice he has gotten, her own advice is the best. The three burglars are found and brought before Dame Prudence, who suggests a peaceful settlement. Her husband, Melibee, decides to let them off with a fine, but Dame Prudence vetoes this. Melibee then forgives the burglars, rebukes them, and extols his own magnanimity. We never know what happens to Sophia.

Senecan tragedy 8-line stanzaic form Hercules, Lucifer, Solomon, Poor biblical interpreter Tale is stopped because it's not narrative Although the Host demands a merry tale from the Monk, the Monk instead gives a series of cameo tragedies, all of which deal with the role of fortune in a man's life. The Monk catalogues the fickleness of Fortune through a series of abbreviated tales about such people as Lucifer, Adam, Hercules, Samson, Nero, and so on — all who were initially favored but eventually abandoned by Fortune. The Monk concludes when the Knight interrupts him and pleads for a merry tale.

Beast fable Wheat and the chaff, which is more important? Maybe chaff is more important. After seventeen noble "falls" narrated by the Monk, the Knight interrupts, and the Host calls upon the Nun's Priest to deliver something more lively. This tale tells of Chanticleer the Rooster, who is carried off by a flattering fox who tricks him into closing his eyes and displaying his crowing abilities. Chanticleer turns the tables on the fox by persuading him to open his mouth and brag to the barnyard about his feat, upon which Chanticleer falls out of the fox's mouth and escapes. The Host praises this tale, adding that if the he were not in holy orders, he would be as sexually potent as Chanticleer.

Hagiography - tale of a saint Physical objects as truth of revelation - golden crown Conversation with judge The Second Nun begins her tale with a prologue in which she explains the value of work and the dangers of idleness ("Ydelnesse"), or sloth; offers an invocation to the Virgin Mary, asking for help in rendering accurately this tale of Cecilia; and offers an interpretation of the name Cecilia. A noble young lady named Cecilia loves the Virgin Mary and chastity so much that she wants to remain a virgin forever. Ultimately, however, she is betrothed to a man named Valerian, and on her wedding night, she informs her new husband that a guardian angel will slay anyone who violates her body. Valerian wants to see this guardian angel but first must be baptized by Pope Urban. To this end, he is baptized by the pope; during the baptism, he witnesses a vision proclaiming the One God. Returning home to his wife, Valerian sees her guardian angel and asks that the angel grant him one wish: that his brother, Tiburse, be baptized. Later, a vile pagan named Almachius arrests Cecilia. At the trial, the judge questions Cecilia; although she answers cleverly, she is condemned to death. She is first placed in scalding hot water but survives; next, the executioner tries three times to cut off Cecilia's head but fails. She lives for three more days, during which she sings and converts non-believers. Following her eventual death, Pope Urban decrees her to be Saint Cecilia.

Enjambments Out of control narrative At the completion of the tale of Saint Cecilia, a Canon, riding a dilapidated old hack, and his Yeoman, on an even worse hack, ride up to the pilgrims. The Host welcomes them and asks whether either has a tale to tell. The Yeoman answers immediately that his master knows much about mirth and jollity, and then he begins to tell the secrets of their trade and all he knows about alchemy. Seeing that the Yeoman plans to tell everything, the Canon slips away in shame. The first part of the Yeoman's tale is autobiographical: He explains that once he had good clothes and a comfortable living, that he and the Canon are alchemists, and that he is so in debt because their attempts at alchemy always fail. He then tries to explain their occupation, their failed attempts at alchemy, and their elusive search for the Philosopher's Stone. The tale itself comprises the second part of The Canon's Yeoman's Tale. A canon who practices alchemy borrows a mark from a priest. In three days time, the canon returns the mark and offers to reveal a couple of his discoveries. He sends for some quick silver and, by tricks, makes the priest believe that he turned the quick silver into real silver. Unaware of the trick, the priest is very pleased. Three times the canon tricks the priest, each time "turning" a less valuable object (quick silver, chalk, and then a twig) into silver. The beguiled priest buys the secret from the canon for 40 pounds, and the canon promptly disappears. The Yeoman ends his tale with a broadside attack on the subject of alchemy and a conglomeration of all the ridiculous terms used by alchemists.

Bacchanalian Tale of Apollo - Apollo is like Phoebus Signals end of tales - destruction of poetry Seeing the Cook drunk, asleep, and swaying in his saddle, the Host tries to awaken him in order to demand a tale. But in spite of the Host's efforts, the Cook falls from his horse. The pilgrims halt and, with great effort, restore the Cook to his saddle. The Manciple offers to tell a tale instead. In a faraway land, Phoebus is the ideal man: a great warrior, a skilled musician, and very handsome and kind. He has a wife whom he loves more than life itself and bestows upon her all the kindness and love at his command, but he is extremely jealous. In Phoebus' magnificent household is a marvelous, pure white crow that can repeat the words of any thing it hears. While Phoebus is gone, his wife's secret lover comes to the home and makes passionate love to her. Upon Phoebes' return, the crow tells him the scandalous sight he has seen. In a rage, Phoebus kills his wife. As his rage cools, the sight of his wife's dead body brings great remorse. In anger, he pulls out the crow's white feathers and replaces them with black ones. Then before throwing him out, Phoebus removes the crow's ability to sing and speak. The Manciple ends his tale by admonishing all people to restrain their tongues.

Prose A solemn and formal sermon, long and tedious, on the renunciation of the world. The Parson speaks of all life as a pilgrimage from this base, mundane world to the next celestial world, where all grief ends. God does not desire any man to perish, and there are many spiritual ways to the Celestial City or the Heavenly Jerusalem. The noble ways include penitence, contrition, confession, and satisfaction (giving alms, doing penance, fasting, and experiencing "bodily pain"). The Parson then spells out the sins of commission — the Seven Deadly Sins — that man must avoid: pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lechery. A holy-minded man of good renown There was, and poor, the Parson to a town, Yet he was rich in holy thought and work. He also was a learned man, a clerk, Who truly knew Christ's gospel and would preach it Devoutly to parishioners, and teach it. Benign and wonderfully diligent, And patient when adversity was sent 495 (For so he proved in much adversity) He hated cursing to extort a fee, Nay rather he preferred beyond a doubt Giving to poor parishioners round about Both from church offerings and his property; 500 He could in little find sufficiency. Wide was his parish, with houses far asunder, Yet he neglected not in rain or thunder, In sickness or in grief, to pay a call On the remotest, whether great or small, 505 Upon his feet, and in his hand a stave.° 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, and he would add this figure too, That if gold rust, what then will iron do? For if a priest be foul in whom we trust No wonder that a common man should rust; And shame it is to see—let priests take stock— A shitten shepherd and a snowy flock. The true example that a priest should give Is one of cleanness, how the sheep should live. He did not set his benefice to hire° And leave his sheep encumbered in the mire Or run to London to earn easy bread 520 By singing masses for the wealthy dead, Or find some Brotherhood and get enrolled.° He stayed at home and watched over his fold So that no wolf should make the sheep miscarry. He was a shepherd and no mercenary.° Holy and virtuous he was, but then Never contemptuous of sinful men, Never disdainful, never too proud or fine, But was discreet in teaching and benign. His business was to show a fair behavior 530 And draw men thus to Heaven and their Savior, Unless indeed a man were obstinate; And such, whether of high or low estate,° He put to sharp rebuke, to say the least. I think there never was a better priest. 535 He sought no pomp or glory in his dealings, No scrupulosity had spiced his feelings. Christ and His Twelve Apostles and their lore He taught, but followed it himself before.

Written as an apology, where Geoffrey Chaucer asks for forgiveness for the vulgar and unworthy parts of this and other past works, and seeks absolution for his sins. It is not clear whether these are sincere declarations of remorse on Chaucer's part, a continuation of the theme of penitence from the Parson's Tale or simply a way to advertise the rest of his works. It is not even certain if the retraction was an integral part of the Canterbury Tales or if it was the equivalent of a death bed confession which became attached to this his most popular work.

Harry Bailey; a merry man suggests that, to tell stories to shorten the long journey--two tales on the way to Canterbury and two more tales on the way back; the man who told his story best was to be given a sumptuous dinner by the other members of the party--a good strategy to make money 3 people who draw lots first: the prioress, the clerk, knight--they're good and able to start story-telling. Rides a white horse.