Questions on Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

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4. Chaucer does not believe people are basically good, nor basically bad. He takes the middle ground and says that people are good, but they are flawed. For instance, the knight. He is a man who kills without mercy (“in fifteen mortal battles he had been”) and believes he is in-vincible. He takes the seat of honor at the table, signifying that he has too much pride, the sin of hubris. The nun is also flawed. She cannot pass by any food and is known to let “no morsel from her lips did she let fall.” She eats way too much food for an average person, and has the sin of gluttony. The friar possesses the flaw of avarice or greed. He does not care about promoting the Christian faith, but rather getting donations from people.

6. Chaucer’s emphasis on social roles suggests that medieval society was based on classes and thus professions. The upper class consisted of the clergy (monks and nuns) and nobles (knights). There was no defined middle class at that time, though there was one forming. It consisted of people with specialized labor such as millers and artisans. The lower class in-cluded peasants and serfs.


1. “No one alive could talk as well as he did”: indirect characterization because it is inferring he is articulate. “Gold stimulates the heart…He therefore had a special love of gold:” indirect characterization because Chaucer says that the Doctor likes gold a lot so he has the sin of avarice. “He was a perfect practicing physician”: indirect characterization because Chaucer is ironical describing the Doctor’s profession because he only does it for the gold.

2.
a. Direct Statement: “There was a Friar, a wanton one and merry…”
Physical Appearance: “A manly man, to be an Abbot able…”
Action: “No morsel from her lips did she let fall.”

b. Physical appearance suggests something about them. A monk who is manly is unders-tood to have exercised a lot and is hardworking. Actions suggest a relationship between the action and a characteristic. For instance, the nun eats a lot; therefore, she is most likely fat.