The Character Study Of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

The character study of Canterbury Tales was approached in two levels. First, the interesting characters which joined the pilgrimage to Canterbury were described. Second, the interesting characters which were described in the tales of those who joined the pilgrimage were also discussed. This was done to present the comparison and contrast of the variety of characters in the tales and their representations in society.

Among those who participated in the pilgrim, the following characters appeared interesting: the knight, the wife of Bath, the miller, and the parson.

Chaucer must have favored most the knight as his characterization appeared prominent in the tale. This knight had led the group of pilgrims, which was the first character that Chaucer

Also, many of the tales made mention of a knight, particularly the tales of the Wife of Bath, the Summoner, and the Man of Law. However, in the man of law’s tales, the knight described is atypical of the noble image since he was referred to as a false knight. In contrast the description of falsehood here strengthened the manners of a true knight.

The second interesting character was the wife of Bath. This woman by virtue of her experience since she had been married to five men had exhibited boldness in her words. In those times, a woman would not have bragged of having relationships with five men out of modesty. However, since she had acquired some property to herself and had gained such status, she had the audacity to cite her experiences with men, referring to her obligations as a wife in bed. She was also upfront about her position as she was described to be in fine clothing and that she had travelled well. Her manner of telling the tale reflected her nerve to declare that she had two bad husbands and even warned the pardoner about her expertise. Words such as “to touch in bed or a couch”, “purging urine”, and expressing her stand on virginity, purity, and justifying why a woman can marry when widowed all signified her daring

One group of women was those who were submissive to their husbands or to their fates. These women were described to endure the sacrifices and sufferings of their conditions. Emily in the knight’s tale would not want to marry as of yet but his brother, the Duke, had decided to award her to who will win the fight between Arcita and Palamon. A woman’s fate was subject to the decisions of the people, mostly by the men, around her. This fate was similar to Dame Constance in the man of law’s tale. She was to be wed to the prince of Syria since the prince learned about her beauty from the merchants. Since she was not a Muslim, she was thrown out to sea by the wicked queen of Syria, her supposed future mother-in-law. A third example was the young lady, Virginia, in the physician’s tale. She was killed by his father because they refused to give her to Claudius who had asked for a fake judge to grant her to him since Virginia was allegedly not the real daughter of his father. The second group of women was those who were devious and scheming. These women appeared discontent with their relationships with their husbands; hence, had illicit affairs with other men without their husband’s knowledge. They had craftily thought and acted out deceptively towards their husbands. The carpenter’s wife in the miller’s tale was one example. Although adored by the carpenter, his husband, she had allowed the lures of Nicholas, the scholar, who