BRIT LIT MIDTERM CHAUCER

knight

• approved

• humble, respected, distinguished, good christian

Squire

• approved

• very skilled: drawing, poems, riding

• knight in training

• lover/ladies man

Nun

• disapproved

• materialistic, ugly

Monk

• disapproved

• did not conform to religious norms

Friar

• Disapprove

• weird towards young girls

• sold indulgences

Skipper

• disapprove

• kills people

• works on boat

• theif

Wife of Bath

• approve

• confident, wise, chatty

• wealthy widow, 5 husbands

• gone on pilgrimages before

• laughs

Parson

• approve

• priest

• cares for people, not too proud, not hypocritical

• practices what he preaches

Miller

• disapprove

• runs a mill

• ugly

• big in brawn

• steals, destructive

Summoner

• disapprove

• involved with justice system

• drunk, gross

• tricks people for money

Pardoner

• disapprove

• sold indulgences

• corrupt, manipulative, hypocrite

• sold fake relics

• performative

Prologue

• returning of spring

• Chaucer uses physical description, clothing, behavior to reveal personality

• all preparing for religious journey to Canterbury Cathedral to visit St. Thomas A Becket’s shrine

Wife of Bath Tale

• Knight must discover what women most desire

• Answer: sovereignty in marriage

• themes of marriage, sovereignty, authority, & gender roles

Pardoner’s Tale

• story of 3 drunken friends vowing to kill death after friend dies

• instead find a hoard of gold under tree

• each friend is greedy and plots to kill the others

• they all ultimately die

• “greed is the root of all evil”

• asks for indulgences to save those listening from evil

• ironic bc he told other travelers the story to trick people into giving him money

• then tells the story & gets money

Social class and satire

chaucer exposes corruption across ALL classes

hypocrisy in the church

many religious figures fail morally

gender and power

the Wife of Bath argues for female authority & independence

Greed

the Pardoner’s tale shows this as self destructive

Appearance vs reality

characters often contradict their roles