1. The Yeoman by Paul Smith and Peter Smith

2. What is a Yeoman? During the Middle Ages, the yeomen were a class of peasants, who were military bound. They served under a knight and were commonly given land by their lord. They are usually trained in using a bow and a sword. Robin Hood was originally portrayed as a yeoman. More recently, a yeoman referred to a free man with his own land. Yeoman is also a rank in some country’s armed forces.

3. Characterization in Canterbury Tales Direct: “His head was like a nut, his face was brown”(Chaucer 91). “wore a coat and a hood of green”(Chaucer 91). “in his hand he bore a mighty bow”(Chaucer 91). He had a shield, a sharp sword, a hunting horn, and a shining silver medal of St. Christopher.

4. Characterization Continued Indirect: He was materialistic He kept all of his belongings in the best condition and showed them off. “Peacock-feathered arrows, bright and keen … His arrows never drooped their feathers low” (Chaucer 91). “A saucy brace (bracelet) was on his arm to ward” (Chaucer 91). “A medal of St. Christopher he wore” (Chaucer 92). He was loyal to his Knight. “There was a Yeoman with him at his side, no other servant; so he chose to ride” (Chaucer 91). He is a forester. “He was a proper forester I guess” (Chaucer 91).

5. Yeoman video

6. Social Class In the Canterbury Tales, the Yeoman is an attendant to a Knight. The Yeoman is the only servant the Knight brought with him on the pilgrimage. He upholds the proper values of his social class by being loyal to the Knight.

7. Inferences Most of the lines describe how he well he dresses and the nice things that he carries around. This leads people to believe he is a wealthy and part of the upper class, when he is not. “A medal of St. Christopher he wore, of shining silver on his breast, and bore a hunting -horn, well slung and burnished clean, that dangled from a baldric of bright green” (Chaucer 91). Moral virtue: Generosity The Yeoman is completely loyal to his knight and would do anything for him. Chaucer is criticizing the various goods and attire a yeoman (specifically one who is a forester) needs in order to serve a knight.