3. Fragment I
General
Prologue
The setting is
April, and the
prologue starts
by singing the
praises of that
month whose
rains and warm
western wind
restore life and
fertility to the
earth and its
inhabitants.
Knight
The story
introduces
various typical
aspects of
knighthood
such as courtly
love and
ethical
dilemmas.
Miller
"The Miller's
Tale" is the
story of a
carpenter, his
lovely wife,
and the two
clerks
(students) who
are eager to
get her into
bed.
Reeve
named Oswald in
the text, is the
manager of a
large estate who
reaped incredible
profits for his
master and
himself.
He is
described in
the Tales as
skinny and
bad-
tempered.
Cook
The story starts
telling of an
apprentice named
Perkyn (aka Perkin)
who is fond of
drinking and dancing.
Perkyn is released
by his master and
moves in with a
friend who also
loves to drink,
and whose wife is
a prostitute.
4. Fragment II
Man of Law
Tells a Romance
tale of a Christian
princess named
Custance (the
modern form
would be
Constance) who is
betrothed to the
Syrian Sultan on
condition that he
convert to
Christianity.
Fragment III
Wife of
Bath
The tale is an
example of the
"loathly lady"
motif, the oldest
examples of
which are the
medieval Irish
sovereignty
myths such as
Niall of the Nine
Hostages.
Friar
The story
centers
around a
corrupt
Summoner an
d his
interactions
with a
demon.
Summoner
Summoners were officials
in ecclesiastical courts who
delivered a summons to
people who had been brought
up on various charges;
the office was prone to
corruption, since summoners
were wont to threaten to bring
people up on charges unless
they were bought off.
The Friar had accused them of
corruption and taking bribes and
the Summoner seeks redress
through his own story.
5. Fragment
IV
Clerk
The Clerk of
Oxenford (modern
Oxford) is a
student of what
would nowadays
be considered
philosophy or
theology.
Merchant
Januarie marries May, a
young woman not yet 20
years old, largely out of
lust and under the guise
of religious acceptability.
she did it for social
betterment and
possibly some kind
of inheritance,
Januarie being a rich
man.
Fragment
V
Squire
The Squire is
the Knight's
son, a novice
warrior and
lover with
more
enthusiasm
than
experience.
His tale is an
epic romance
,
Franklin
It focuses on
issues of
providence,
truth,
generosity
and
gentillesse in
human
relationships.
Fragment
VI
Physician
This is a
domestic
drama about
the
relationship
between a
daughter and
her father
and it is one
of the earliest
extant poems
in English
about such
subjects and
relationships.
Pardoner
Though the
Pardoner
preaches
against
greed, the
irony of the
character is
based in the
Pardoner's
hypocritical
actions.
6. FragmentVII
Shipman
It is in the form
of a fabliau and
tells the story
of a miserly
merchant, his
avaricious wife
and her lover, a
wily monk.
Prioress
TheGeneral
Prologue names
the prioress as
Madame
Eglantine, and
describes her
impeccable table
manners and
soft-hearted
ways.
SirThopas
The tale is one
of two—
together with
TheTale of
Melibee—told
by the fictive
Geoffrey
Chaucer as he
travels with the
pilgrims on the
journey to
Canterbury
Cathedral.
The tale
concerns the
adventures of
the knight
"SirThopas"
and his quest
to win the
elf-queen.
Melibee
The story
concerns
Melibee who
is away one
day when
three
enemies
break into his
house, beat
his wife
Dame
Prudence,
and attack
his daughter,
leaving her
for dead.
Monk
The Monk's tale to
the other pilgrims is
a collection of
seventeen short
stories, exempla, on
the theme
of tragedy.
The tragic endings of the
following historical
figures are recounted:
Lucifer,Adam, Samson,
Hercules,
Nebuchadnezzar,
Belshazzar, Zenobia,
Pedro of Castile, Peter I
ofCyprus, Bernabò
Visconti, Ugolino of Pisa,
Nero, Holofernes,
Antiochus,Alexander
the Great, Julius Caesar
andCroesus.
Nun's Priest
Composed in the
1390s, the 626-line
narrative poem is a
beast fable and mock
epic based on an
incident in the Reynard
cycle.
The story of
Chanticleer and
the Fox
became further
popularised in
Britain through
this means.
7. FragmentVIII
Second
Nun,
Told by a nun
concerned
only with
spiritual
matters, this
tale tells the
story of Saint
Cecilia.
The
Hagiographica
l story was a
popular story
format during
the life of
Chaucer.
Like many of
the tales told
by the
pilgrims,
The Second
Nun's tale
incorporates
elements
from Dante.
Canon's
Yeoman
TheCanon
and his
Yeoman are
not
mentioned in
theGeneral
Prologue of
The
Canterbury
Tales, where
most of the
other
pilgrims are
described,
The tale the
Canon'sYeoman
tells is in two
parts.
The first part is an
exposé of the
shady business of
his master the
Canon as an
alchemist.
The second part
is about another
canon who is also
an alchemist who
is even more
devious than the
first.
Fragment
IXH
Manciple
A purchasing
agent for a
law court,
tells a fable
about
Phoebus
Apollo and
his pet crow,
which is both
an etiological
myth
explaining
the crow's
black
feathers, and
a moralistic
injunction
against
Gossip.
Fragment X
Parson
The subject
of the
parson's
"tale" (or
rather,
treatise)
is penitence.
It may thus
be taken as
containing
inferential
criticism of
the behavior
and
character of
humanity
detectable in
all the other
pilgrims,
knight
included.
