Below, find a handout with a short overview of each of the Tales as well the simple character traits of each of the pilgrims who tell tales.
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The Canterbury
Tales
Adult
Faith Formation Series, 2023 & 2024
Review of
the first Tales in The Canterbury Tales
and
preparation for the last Tales
I. The Fragments of the Canterbury Tales
Chaucer never published his
Canterbury Tales in one edition – in fact, it is quite certain that the Tales
were never finished (though, this does not necessarily indicate that Chaucer
intended to write more tales or include a return journey).
The tales are in ten fragments,
which allows us to readily see the order of certain tales – scholars then
debate about how these ten fragments are to be arranged amongst themselves. The
main variation is the placement of the tales of the Second Nun and of the
Canon’s Yeoman (Fragment VIII), as well as of the Physician and of the Pardoner
(Fragment VI).
Fragment I: General Prologue, Knight’s, Miller’s,
Reeve’s, and Cook’s Tales.
Fragment II: Man of Law’s Tale
Fragment III: The Wife of Bath’s,
Friar’s, and Summoner’s Tales
Fragment IV: The Clerk’s and
Merchant’s Tales
Fragment V: The Squire’s and
Franklin’s Tales
Fragment VI: The Physician’s and
Pardoner’s Tales
Fragment VII: The Shipman’s,
Prioress’, of Sir Topas and Melibee, Monk’s, and Nun’s Preist’s Tales
Fragment VIII: The Second Nun’s
and Canon’s Yeoman’s Tales
Fragment IX: The Manciple’s Tale
Fragment X: The Parson’s Tale and
Chaucer’s Retractions
General Prologue
We are introduced to the time and place. It is spring, on the
edge of London (at the Tabard Inn in Southwark), as people prepare to make
pilgrimages to Canterbury to honor St Thomas Beckett.
We are also introduced to our various pilgrims, according to
their social status and state in life – 29 pilgrims, making 30 with Chaucer
himself. The Host of the Inn (in the Cook’s prologue, we find his name to be
Harry Bailley) offers to join them on their pilgrimage, and proposed a contest
in which each will tell two stories on the way to Canterbury and two on the way
home – whoever tells the tale that is most entertaining and has the best moral
will win a free meal at the end, paid for by all the others.
Overview of the Characters who will tell Tales (with the order
of the Tales listed)
Knight (1) – a worthy man and noble.
Squire (11) – son of the knight, not so worthy or noble. Lusty.
Prioress (16) – depicted in a form of mock-praise. Self
important and worldly.
Second Nun (21) – little said about her individually.
Nun’s Priest (20) -
little said about him individually, but his tale of Chanticleer is very
fun
Monk (19) – very worldly and unfaithful to his vows and prayers.
Friar (7) – a lusty and sinful person.
Merchant (10) – trades in furs and silks, part of a wealthy and
powerful new middle class.
Clerk (9) – a poor student of philosophy who loves learning and
prays for his benefactors. A good boy
Man of Law (5) – a successful lawyer who knows the law well and
upholds justice
Franklin (12) – given to excessive love of food and drink, a
glutton.
Cook (4) – a bit of a drunk and tends to be argumentative.
Shipman (15) – not a great person, almost more like a pirate.
Physician (13) – tho he is a good doctor, he loves money and
cares little for the soul.
Wife of Bath (6) – lusty widow who has been married five times
and talks a lot.
Parson (24) – there is no better priest than this virtuous and
good parson.
Chaucer himself (17 & 18) – important to remember that he
speaks sometimes as the pilgrim in an ironical
way, intending us to recognize something different. “The pilgrim” is not “the
author”
Miller (2) – gruff and rough and a drunk.
Manciple (23) – his job is to get food and provisions for
lawyers, but he is very smart himself.
Reeve (3) – lean and thin and argumentative.
Summoner (8) – greedy and sinful man, sexually deviant.
Pardoner (14) – perhaps a homosexual, some sort of sexual
deviant. Sells fake indulgences/relics.
[Canon’s Yeoman, who joins the company later is not in the
prologue]
Short Overviews of the individual tales
Knights’ Tale
Love story of two noble knights (Palamon and Arcite) both in
striving for the love of the same woman (Emily). After they are imprisoned,
they get out in various ways and vie for her love. Ultimately, there is a large
sporting battle – the knight Arcite dies and receives a noble burial with great
honor given especially by the other knight Palamon and Emily. The knight
Palamon then marries Emily and they live happily ever after.
Miller’s Tale
A reaction to the Knight’s tale and is rather salacious and
lude. In this mock love story, a carpenter’s wife cheats on him with a young
student. The carpenter is named John, the wife is Alisoun, and the student is
Nicholas. Another would be suitor (Absolon) is snubbed by her and her lover,
accidentally kissing their butts but injuring the lover. The carpenter is
fooled to think that Noah’s flood is coming back upon the earth and made a
fool.
Reeve’s Tale
The Reeve used to be a carpenter is offended by the Miller and
so tells a story in reaction which makes the Miller the butt of the joke. Two
students (Aleyn/Alen and John) realize a miller (Symkin/Simon) is cheating
people out of their flour, so they manage to trick him and his family – so that
the students sleep with both the miller’s wife and his daughter (Malyne/Molly).
The miller his repaid well for his theft, being made a fool and injured.
Cook’s Tale
The Cook is very drunk and wants to follow up with another
story. A womanizing partying young man (Perkyn Revolour) loses his job and
moves in with another wild partying guy who is married but whose wife is a
prostitute. The tale ends unfinished.
Man of Law’s Tale
A virtuous saint-like story of Constance (Custance) who marries
a sultan and converts him to Christianity. The evil mother-in-law kills
everyone but Constance who is exiled. Constance goes to Northumberland and
converts more people, and marries another (King Alla). Though she is persecuted
and suffers much (again by a wicked mother-in-law), she ultimately is
exonerated and her son (Maurice) becomes emperor.
Wife of Bath’s
Prologue: A long prologue with a lot of the Wife’s
personal history about her bad husbands who tried to dominate her in marriage
and also some good husbands who gave her more authority in the marriage. She
has been married five times, and all her husbands have died. She does plan to
marry again, and enjoys both married life and sex.
Tale: Set in the days of King Arthur. Story of a knight who rapes a
girl and is sent on a quest by Queen Guenevere to find out “what women want.”
After travelling for a year, he is unsuccessful, but then an old witch-like
woman tells him that what women really want is to have the freedom to make
decisions in marriage and to have the upper hand. The knight tells this to the
queen who sent him on the journey, and all agree he is correct. The old woman
demands that the knight marry her, and he is very sad because she is so old and
ugly. However, the choice is given that he can either have her beautiful but
unfaithful or ugly but faithful – the knight tells the old woman that she can
decide which she thinks is best. Because this is what women really want, the power
to decide, the woman becomes both beautiful and faithful – and they live
happily ever after.
Friar’s Tale
A corrupt summoner (church court officer) who makes friends with
a devil disguised as a man goes about practicing extortion against poor
people. A woman curses the summoner, and
the devil drags him off into hell.
Summoner’s Tale
The Summoner is offended by the Friar’s Tale, and so tells a
story about a corrupt friar. The friar is trying to convince a dying man
(Thomas) to give his Order a lot of money so as to secure their prayers for his
soul. The dying man agrees to give him something great (which must be shared
equally with all the other friars in the Order), if the friar will reach in
under the sheets of the bed to take it – letting a huge fart loose into the
friar’s hand. While the friar is upset, the local judge and court debate how to
divide a fart equally between all the brothers of the community.
Clerk’s Tale
A retelling of the story of Griselda who is tested by her
husband (Walter) in many ways (things that seem bizarre and cruel) – taking
away the children, dismissing her, divorcing her and preparing to remarry
another woman. She remains patient and
faithful to her husband through it all, and ultimately all turns out fine – she
and her husband stay married and live happily ever after. This tale is something of the opposite of the
Wife of Bath’s Tale.
Merchant’s Tale
Continuing with Tales about marriage, this is a folk tale about
an old man named January who marries a young beautiful girl named May. January eventually goes blind. May is
unfaithful and has a secret lover who manages to meet her in a garden while
blind old January is there too. May and the lover have sex in a pear tree, but
January is suddenly healed (by the god Pluto) and sees them there. However, May
manages to talk her way out of it (with the help of the goddess Prosperine) and
fools January into thinking all is ok and nothing unseemly has happened.
Squire’s Tale
An unfinished story about a Tartar king (Cambuskan) who receives
four magic gifts: A flying brass horse, a piercing/healing sword, a mirror of
the future, and a ring that lets him speak with birds. The ring and the mirror
are gifts for the king’s daughter (Canacee). The daughter uses the ring to
speak with a female falcon who is sad because she has been betrayed and
abandoned by a false lover. The story ends abruptly.
Franklin’s Tale
A warning against rash promises. The story of Dorigen and
Averagus. The wife (Dorigen) tells a squire (Aurelius) that she would only
marry him if he could remove all the rocks from the cost of England (meaning
that she would never marry him and will remain faithful to her husband Averagus).
The squire gets the help of a magician to miraculously remove the rocks (or at
least make it look like they are removed). However, the squire sees how much Averagus
and Dorigen love each other, and decides to let them stay together. This tale
concludes the series commonly referred to as the marriage group – tales which
discuss freedom and authority and fidelity in marriage.
Physician’s Tale
A retelling of a story from Livy. A father (the knight Virginius) wants to
prevent his daughter (Virginia) from the dishonor of being taken by a rich judge
(Appius) as a mistress. The wicked judge has hired a no-good man (Claudius) to
bring a false case against Virginius and aledge that the daughter Virginia is
actually a slave girl stolen from him – demanding her back so that she can be
given as a mistress to the judge. The
father kills his daughter (with her consent, following the example Jeptha and
his daughter from Scripture) to save her from this disgrace. Eventually the
judge (Appius) is discredited and commits suicide while the lying man
(Claudius) is spared hanging and he is only exiled.
Pardoner’s
Prologue: A longer prologue with auto-biographical
info (like the Wife of Bath’s). The Pardoner explains that he is a bad man and
filled with vice, but still preaches the truth and gives strong sermons about
the dangers of sin and especially of greed. He preaches not to convert people,
but to convince them to buy his pardons and indulgences and relics (which are
all fake). Still, he says that a bad man can tell a good tale and assures us
that he will tell a moral story.
Tale: Three young men set out to kill Death, but finding treasure by a
tree they become overwhelmed by the love of money. The one plans to kill the
other two with poisoned wine but the other two kill him first – however, the
two toast to their success and die from the poison. Death has outsmarted them
all. Radix malorum est cupiditas –
[Love of] money is the root of all evils. This tale is an exemplum.
Shipman’s Tale
A woman asks a monk for $100 which the monk borrows from the
woman’s husband. She sleeps with the monk for the money. Later, the monk then
tells the husband (a merchant) that he has returned the loan by giving the $100
to the wife. The husband asks his wife for the money, but she tells him that
she spent it on cloths etc. The man is upset with his wife for wasting the
money, but she satisfies him with sex.
Prioress’ Tale
A saint story about a child who was killed by Jews, but whose
head miraculously keeps singing the Alma Redemptoris Mater until his body is
found and given a proper burial (a miraculous grain was placed on his tongue
that allowed him to continue singing), and the Jews are punished and killed. This tale is very anti-Semitic.
Chaucer’s Tale of Sir Thopas
A parody of poetic romance.
A man (Sir Thopas) wants to marry an elf queen, but the story is cut
short because all the pilgrims complain that it is unbearably terrible!
Chaucer’s Tale of Melibee
When a man (Melibee) is away, three enemies break into his house
and assault his wife (Prudence) and his daughter. Melibee wants to take action
against these men and punish them, which starts a debate. Then follows a long
and dull moral debate between Prudence and her husband Melibee on the subject
of vengeance.
Monk’s Tale
A depressing story of 17 different tragedies about the fall from
glory. Taken from stories in the Bible, also from Classic literature and
contemporary figures. The stories include: Satan, Adam, Nero, Julius Caesar,
etc. Very long and depressing, the tale
is finally interrupted and cut short by the Knight and the Host.
Nun’s Priest’s Tale
Based on the tale of Reynard the Fox, this is the story of Chauntecleer
(Chanticleer) the rooster. One of the more charming tales. Chauntecleer dreams
of being attacked, but there is a debate with his wives (the seven hens) about
whether he should take dreams seriously – his favorite hen wife (Pertelote)
convinces him not to worry. A fox (Don Russell) comes to compliment him, and
the rooster is very vain and falls for the trap. As the fox takes hold of Chantecleer
and carries him off, the rooster tricks the fox into opening his mouth – Chantecleer
escapes.
Second Nun’s Tale
A saint story: The life and death of St Cecilia. Complete with
the usual characters: St Cecilia, the guardian angel of our saint, Valerian
(her husband), Tiberuce (brother of Valerian), Almachius (the Roman prefect),
and Pope Urban.
Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale
A Canon who is an alchemist and his servant yeoman catch up with
the group of pilgrims. The Host invites the yeoman to tell a story, at which
point the canon sneaks away (worried that his yeoman’s story may make him look
bad). The yeoman tells the story of his master who is an alchemist who has
spent much time and money and energy searching for the mythical Philosopher’s
stone (which can change metals into gold). The alchemist cheats people and
tricks them into thinking he can change less valuable metals into gold or
silver – he steals a sum of money from a priest in London.
Manciple’s Tale
A story about the origin of the crow and why it is black. The
god Phoebus (Apollo) has a white crow who sees his wife having an affair. The
crow tells Phoebus who kills his wife, but later regrets it. Angry at the crow
for having brought the news that led to his jealous rage, Phoebus turns the
crow black and makes it no longer able to sing beautiful songs. The moral is
that people should mind their own business and not get involved in the marital
issues of others.
Parson’s Tale
A long sermon on the seven deadly sins and how to overcome them.
Urges confession and penance. The sermon is divided into three parts:
Contrition, confession, and satisfaction – the three classic parts of the
sacrament of reconciliation. The sermon
is mostly a translation and combination of two famous sermons by St Raymond of
Penafort and by William Perault.
Retractions
Chaucer asks forgiveness for whatever is vulgar or impure in
this book and in any of his other writings. He also takes the opportunity to
list off all the books he has written so as to clearly establish his authorial
rights. Finally, he seeks absolution for his sins and asks for prayers.
