The Canterbury Tales

The Wife of Bath Lines 455-487 The Wife of Bath She’s concerned w/being 1st to the altar @ church & w/ wearing her best clothes (people approached altar according to social rank) Thus, more concerned w/status than spirituality. Wears read, married 5 times, been on lots of pilgrimages (this is not a luxury available to most women) Is gap-toothed – this indicates she would travel far, also suggests she is bold & suited for love Like to laugh

The Parson Lines 487-538 The Parson In contrast to other churchmen, parson is a good, simple, pious man He preaches & teaches Is genuinely concerned about his parishioners Is kind, modest, soft-spoken Is compared to a sheperd watching his sheep

The Plowman Lines 539-555 The Plowman Parson’s Brother Member of the peasant class Honest – did everything by the “book” Hard-worker: worked for pleasure, not for money Loves God, loved others as himself

The Miller Lines 561-584 The Miller Big & burly-- suggests he is rough, uncouth, wild, belligerent & ordinary as a common animal because of comparison to sow, fox, a spade, a sow’s ear & furnace door Is a wrangler– likes to argue & buffoon Tries to amuse others with tricks or jokes. Cheats when weighing things on scale

The Manciple Lines 585-605 The Manciple (a minor employee whose principal duty was to purchase provisions for a college or law firm) He’s a purchasing agent for over 30 lawyers He’s illiterate, yet could fool them, deceive them, “wipe their eye”

The Reeve Lines 605-640 The Reeve –manager of an estate His job is to inspect workers & impose fines if something is wrong Thin and bad-tempered Is feared Does job well, but is mean to the serfs & embezzles from the master

The Summoner Lines 640-688 The Summoner (a low-ranking officer who summoned people to appear in church court) Has a hideous face, covered w/pus-filled pimples, boils, sores Often gets drunk & then can only recall 2 or 3 Latin phrases People can pay him off w/wine or $ Sexual relations outside of marriage were cause for excommunication, his job was to find the offender & turn him in to Archdeacon

The Pardoner Lines 689-734 The Pardoner (minor member of the Church who bought & sold pardons for sinners) Rode w/summoner & had the same qualities Has long hair, which is a violation of the Church, plus he puts on airs Has a voice like a goat & bulging eyeballs—very unappealing Is called a gelding –like a eunuch or castrated man Sold “relics” which he said were real—actually false He “plays the part” in church & sings to get $

Black bile= depression & delusions Yellow bile= unkindness, instability & pridefulness (choler) Too much phlegm= sloth, obesity, crooked bodies & hairless skin Too much blood = sensuality or in older people, heart attacks Other info: People in this time believed 4 bodily fluids, called humors, caused disease & negatively influenced a person’s character when they were out of balance