Characterization of Pilgrims

The Knight

• Title: A noble knight.

• Key Attributes:

  • Has fought in numerous battles across the Christian and heathen worlds.

  • Embodies the ideals of chivalry: truth, honor, generosity, and courtesy.

  • Appearance: Wears a plain, stained tunic, showing his humility and dedication to his craft.

  • Personality: Modest and virtuous, despite his achievements.

• Hidden Meaning: The Knight represents the ideal of medieval chivalry, but his plain, stained tunic suggests humility and a focus on duty rather than appearance. Chaucer contrasts this earnestness with other characters who are more self-serving. His recent return from battle implies he is a man of action, not merely one of words.

The Squire

• Title: The Knight’s youthful son and apprentice.

• Key Attributes:

  • Aspiring to knighthood, he has served in battles close to home to gain experience.

  • Skilled in arts like singing, writing poetry, and dancing, highlighting his youthful vigor and courtly talents.

  • Appearance: Handsome, with curly locks and a gown embroidered with red and white flowers.

  • Personality: Romantic and energetic, often up all night “serving” a lady.

• Hidden Meaning: While the Squire aspires to knighthood like his father, his interest in courtly love and arts like singing, dancing, and poetry suggests a softer, more romantic side. Chaucer may subtly highlight the generational shift from the Knight’s hardened valor to the Squire’s youthful frivolity.

The Yeoman

• Title: The Knight’s servant and forester.

• Key Attributes:

  • An expert woodsman and archer, carrying meticulously prepared gear like peacock-feathered arrows.

  • Devoutly Christian, indicated by his St. Christopher medal.

  • Appearance: Dresses in green, with a shield and sword, a hunting horn, and a dagger.

  • Personality: Competent, loyal, and resourceful.

• Hidden Meaning: The Yeoman’s meticulous equipment (well-kept arrows, shield, and sword) hints at pride in his craft, but it also suggests a focus on outward appearances. The St. Christopher medal, symbolizing the patron saint of travelers, reinforces his role as a loyal companion on the pilgrimage.

The Prioress (Madame Eglantine)

• Title: A nun and head of her convent.

• Key Attributes:

  • Strives for courtly elegance, speaking French (though imperfectly) and maintaining refined manners.

  • Deeply compassionate toward animals, even weeping over the death of a mouse.

  • Appearance: Gracefully attired with a coral rosary, a gold brooch inscribed "Amor vincit omnia" (Love conquers all).

  • Personality: Gentle, sentimental, and somewhat affected in her refinement.

• Hidden Meaning: Her courtly manners, French speech (learned in England, not Paris), and coral rosary suggest a desire for worldly refinement rather than true spiritual devotion. Swearing by St. Loy, a saint known for humility, subtly mocks her obsession with appearances and hints at vanity rather than piety.

The Monk

• Title: A hunter and cleric, more modern than traditional.

• Key Attributes:

  • Prefers hunting and riding to the study and cloistered life prescribed for monks.

  • Disregards the strict monastic rules as outdated.

  • Appearance: A fat and robust man, dressed in fine furs and a gold pin shaped like a love knot.

  • Personality: Jovial and indulgent, unconcerned with criticism of his lifestyle.

• Hidden Meaning: The Monk’s disdain for traditional monastic rules (e.g., avoiding worldly pleasures) reflects a broader critique of the Church’s growing worldliness. His gold pin in the shape of a love knot suggests materialism and a possible interest in secular or romantic pursuits.

The Friar

• Title: A beggar-priest who grants absolution.

• Key Attributes:

  • Skilled at charming wealthy patrons, particularly women, and collecting money in exchange for forgiveness of sins.

  • Avoids dealing with the poor and sick, preferring the company of tavern owners and barmaids.

  • Appearance: Dressed richly, with a lisp that adds to his charm.

  • Personality: Sociable and opportunistic, with a questionable moral compass.

• Hidden Meaning: The Friar’s jovial nature and his preference for wealthy patrons highlight corruption within the Church. His lisp, often seen as a mark of charm or cunning in medieval literature, underscores his manipulative personality. His avoidance of the poor mocks his role as a supposed servant of the downtrodden.

The Merchant

• Title: A shrewd and ambitious businessman.

• Key Attributes:

  • Skilled at navigating financial matters, but secretly in debt.

  • Emphasizes his wealth and status, boasting about his business acumen.

  • Appearance: Wears a Flemish beaver hat, motley clothes, and neatly groomed.

  • Personality: Confident and calculated, concealing his financial troubles.

• Hidden Meaning: His outward display of wealth (motley dress, beaver hat) conceals his debt, representing a critique of the emerging bourgeois class, which often prioritized appearances over substance. Chaucer’s tone suggests skepticism about the Merchant’s claimed business acumen.

The Clerk

• Title: A student of philosophy and learning.

• Key Attributes:

  • Spends all his money on books and learning instead of fine clothes or material possessions.

  • Appearance: Thin and poorly dressed, with a threadbare cloak.

  • Personality: Quiet, thoughtful, and respectful, speaking only when necessary and always with insight.

• Hidden Meaning: The Clerk’s thin frame and threadbare clothing symbolize his poverty and single-minded devotion to study. His quiet demeanor contrasts sharply with the verbosity of characters like the Pardoner, suggesting the value of knowledge over material wealth or deceit.

The Sergeant of the Law

• Title: A distinguished lawyer and legal expert.

• Key Attributes:

  • Thoroughly knowledgeable about English law, capable of drafting flawless legal documents.

  • Appears busier than he actually is.

  • Appearance: Dressed in a simple, multicolored coat and a silken belt.

  • Personality: Wise, discreet, and precise in his work.

• Hidden Meaning: Although he appears busier than he is, his expertise and legal cunning reflect the rising professionalism of the time. His practical, unadorned appearance hints at a lack of ostentation, but Chaucer’s tone suggests a degree of self-promotion.

The Franklin

• Title: A wealthy and generous landowner.

• Key Attributes:

  • A lover of pleasure, particularly fine food and drink.

  • Maintains a home that is always open to guests, stocked with plentiful supplies.

  • Appearance: Rosy-cheeked, with a white beard, and dressed in noble attire.

  • Personality: Cheerful, hospitable, and indulgent.

• Hidden Meaning: The Franklin’s indulgence in food and drink links him to Epicurean philosophy (the pursuit of pleasure). His open house and generosity are admirable, but Chaucer hints at overindulgence, symbolizing a critique of unchecked materialism among the wealthy.

The Guildsmen

• Title: Five tradesmen (Haberdasher, Dyer, Carpenter, Weaver, Carpet-maker).

• Key Attributes:

  • Rising middle-class professionals, proud of their success and possessions.

  • Well-dressed, with gear polished to a high shine, indicating their ambition.

  • Appearance: Dressed richly, with silver-mounted accessories.

  • Personality: Hardworking and status-conscious, aspiring for greater social influence

• Hidden Meaning: Their polished tools and silver accessories suggest a preoccupation with status rather than their trades. Their wives’ aspirations for noble titles reflect the growing ambition and social climbing of the middle class in Chaucer’s time.

The Cook

• Title: A chef for the Guildsmen.

• Key Attributes:

  • Renowned for his culinary skills, especially in preparing tasty stews and pies.

  • Appearance: Unkempt, with a visible ulcer on his shin.

  • Personality: Talented but unhygienic, hinting at a flaw in his craft.

• Hidden Meaning: While the Cook is praised for his culinary skills, the ulcer on his leg reflects a lack of hygiene, undermining his reputation. This juxtaposition hints at a deeper theme of surface-level competence hiding flaws beneath.

The Shipman

• Title: A sea captain and navigator.

• Key Attributes:

  • Familiar with every harbor from Spain to Britain, adept at navigation.

  • Ruthless, often plundering captured vessels and making prisoners walk the plank.

  • Appearance: Tanned from the sun, wearing a coarse woolen gown and carrying a dagger.

  • Personality: Pragmatic, cunning, and lacking moral scruples.

• Hidden Meaning: The Shipman’s sunburnt face and coarse attire reflect a life of hardship and experience, but his lack of morality (e.g., stealing wine, throwing prisoners overboard) mirrors the chaotic, lawless nature of the sea.

The Doctor

• Title: A physician well-versed in medicine and astrology.

• Key Attributes:

  • Treats patients based on the stars and the humors, skilled at diagnosing and prescribing.

  • Profits from his relationship with apothecaries, earning a fortune during plagues.

  • Appearance: Dresses in fine red and blue silk.

  • Personality: Intelligent but greedy, prioritizing wealth over healing.

• Hidden Meaning: The Doctor’s reliance on astrology and the humors highlights medieval medicine’s pseudo-scientific foundations. His love of gold suggests that his motivation for practicing medicine is wealth rather than healing, symbolizing greed within respected professions.

The Wife of Bath

• Title: A widow and cloth-maker.

• Key Attributes:

  • Skilled in weaving, surpassing even the renowned cloth-makers of Ypres.

  • Widely traveled, having visited Jerusalem, Rome, and other holy sites.

  • Appearance: Gap-toothed, bold, and dressed in scarlet hose and a wide hat.

  • Personality: Assertive, worldly, and experienced in matters of love.

• Hidden Meaning: Her gap-toothed smile (a medieval sign of sensuality) and flamboyant clothing reflect her confidence and independence. Her extensive travels to Jerusalem and Rome symbolize both her worldly experience and her desire for recognition, challenging traditional notions of women’s roles.

The Parson

• Title: A poor but virtuous priest.

• Key Attributes:

  • Devoted to his parishioners, often visiting them on foot regardless of weather.

  • Practices what he preaches, living a modest and devout life.

  • Appearance: Simple, unadorned attire.

  • Personality: Compassionate, humble, and morally exemplary.

• Hidden Meaning: The Parson’s dedication to his parishioners and his humble lifestyle contrast sharply with the corrupt clergy. His walking on foot suggests a Christ-like humility, positioning him as a moral ideal among the pilgrims.

The Plowman

• Title: A laborer and the Parson’s brother.

• Key Attributes:

  • Honest and hardworking, living a life of charity and devotion to God.

  • Appearance: Wears a coarse tunic and rides a mare.

  • Personality: Kind, devout, and content.

• Hidden Meaning: As the Parson’s brother, the Plowman embodies the honest, hardworking Christian ideal. His willingness to help his neighbors and his modest dress reflect a life of genuine charity, contrasting with more self-serving characters.

The Miller

• Title: A brawny grain dealer.

• Key Attributes:

  • Cheats customers by overcharging for grain and using dishonest scales.

  • Appearance: Red beard, wart on his nose with bristles, and carries a bagpipe.

  • Personality: Loud, crude, and boastful.

• Hidden Meaning: The Miller’s physical strength and bawdy humor symbolize his coarse, brutish nature. His red hair and wart (often associated with the devil in medieval imagery) suggest a connection to deceit and sin, reinforced by his habit of overcharging for grain.

The Manciple

• Title: A steward for a law school.

• Key Attributes:

  • Expert at managing resources, often outsmarting the learned men he serves.

  • Appearance: Modestly dressed.

  • Personality: Shrewd, practical, and clever.

• Hidden Meaning: Despite being illiterate, the Manciple’s ability to outwit the educated men he serves reflects Chaucer’s theme of intelligence versus formal education. His shrewdness critiques the presumed superiority of the learned elite.

The Reeve

• Title: A manager of a large estate.

• Key Attributes:

  • Feared by his subordinates, skilled at accounts and managing resources.

  • Appearance: Thin, with closely shaved hair and a lean build, riding a grey horse.

  • Personality: Bitter, shrewd, and quietly vengeful.

• Hidden Meaning: The Reeve’s thin, pale appearance suggests both his miserly nature and his secretive personality. His skill at managing his lord’s estate, coupled with his ability to embezzle funds, symbolizes the hidden corruption within seemingly loyal servants.

The Summoner

• Title: A church official who summons people to ecclesiastical court.

• Key Attributes:

  • Corrupt and easily bribed, often blackmailing sinners.

  • Appearance: Pimply, with a red face and bad breath from eating garlic and onions.

  • Personality: Lecherous and intimidating.

• Hidden Meaning: The Summoner’s pimples and garlicky breath suggest physical and spiritual corruption. His willingness to accept bribes and his lecherous behavior highlight the moral decay within the Church’s judicial system.

The Pardoner

• Title: A seller of indulgences and relics.

• Key Attributes:

  • Sells fake relics and pardons to unsuspecting believers.

  • Appearance: Long, greasy blond hair and no facial hair, giving him an effeminate appearance.

  • Personality: Greedy, deceitful, and manipulative.

• Hidden Meaning: The Pardoner’s long, greasy hair and effeminate appearance (considered suspicious in Chaucer’s time) symbolize duplicity and deceit. His sale of fake relics represents a scathing critique of Church exploitation, with Chaucer presenting him as the epitome of hypocrisy.

The Host - Harry Bailly

• Title: Owner of the Tabard Inn.

• Key Attributes:

  • Proposes the storytelling contest to entertain the pilgrims.

  • Appearance: Large and commanding, with a genial manner.

  • Personality: Charismatic, fair, and diplomatic.

• Hidden Meaning: The Host’s genial demeanor and leadership reflect the ideals of fellowship and hospitality. His role as the organizer of the storytelling contest also symbolizes the bridging of social divides, as he brings together pilgrims from all walks of life.