1. The Canterbury Tales

2. The Wife of Bath Lines 455-487 The Wife of Bath
She’s concerned w/being 1st to the 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. The Manciple
Lines 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”

7. 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

8. The Summoner
Lines 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

9. The Pardoner
Lines 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 $

10. 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