The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales By Geoffrey Chaucer

Table of Contents

Introduction

‘The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales’ is a famous literary work written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14^th century. It is an Introduction of stories that the pilgrims tell as they journey to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The Prologue itself is a poetic masterpiece and provides a vivid description of the diverse group of pilgrims who are travelling together.

The General Prologue is the First Part of ‘The Canterbury Tales’.

The Prologue begins with a description of the season of spring which symbolizes renewal and the start of a new journey.

“Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote,
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,”

Analysis Of General Prologue

Chaucer, the narrator of the play is also a character in the story, describing how he encounters a group of 29 pilgrims at The Tabard Inn in Southwark, a suburb of London. These pilgrims come from various social classes and professions, representing a wide range of medieval society.

At dinner with the pilgrims, the host proposes a plan to the group. He says, that on the way to Canterbury, each pilgrim must tell two tales and then two on the return journey. The Host will be the judge of the tales he says. He goes on to say that the pilgrim with the best tale will get a free dinner at the tavern when the journey ends. Moreover, he also states that anyone challenging his judgement will have to pay the bill for the whole pilgrimage.

This excites the pilgrims and all of them agree to this proposal. Moreover, they also swear to follow the rules of this game. They ride out of Canterbury the next morning when the tale-telling session begins.

However, a pilgrim immediately opposes the Host authority. The Monk is invited to tell another story after the previous one is finished, but the drunken Miller wants to move on or leave. The Host’s authority is subsequently questioned in the following scenes. After all, when a drunken pilgrim and a group of mysterious strangers are together something terrible will happen. Throughout the trek, the pilgrims tell us a variety of tales.

But they soon begin insulting each other directly. For instance, the carpenter becomes insulted when Miller recounts a demeaning story about him. He fabricates a story to degrade Miller as a result. This keeps repeating, the Host’s struggle to resolve the conflicts arising continually. However, it ends only after twenty-four tales instead of the intended one hundred and twenty. It ends with a sermon which the Parson gives. It is about sin and repentance and ends with Chaucer’s departure.

Thus, the Canterbury Tales helps in giving an overview of the Characters through the general Prologue. It will help further in getting to know the pilgrims in a better manner and their mannerisms.

The prologue begins with a description of the season of spring which symbolizes renewal and the start of a new journey. The narrator who is also a character in the story, describes how he encounters a group of 29 pilgrims at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, a suburb of London. These pilgrims come from various social classes and professions, representing a wide range of medieval society.

The narrator and 29 other pilgrimages decide to begin on their spiritual and religious quest the next morning. But before the pilgrimage starts, the narrator makes a point to observe and analyze every individual and create a persona based on their visible and discernible choices, manners and appearance.

The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales Character Analysis

Chaucer begins to sketch the different characters beginning with the knight and his Son the squire.

The Knight – The Knight is a worthy man. He has noble qualities like Chivarly, Truthfulness, Honor, Courtesy and Charity. These are the codes of virtues that are supposed to have in a knight in the medieval era.

After the Prologue it is the knight who begins the first tale. He narrates a romantic story of a woman and two knights who fall in love with her.

The Squire – The squire is the son of the knight. He is around twenty years old. He has a passion for playing flute and singing. He narrates the story of a mysterious knight who comes to the court of Tartary with gifts.

The Yeoman – He is a servant to the knight and travels with him. He skillfully looks at the knight’s arrows and carries with him a great deal of weaponry used by his master. He is shown as a pious man with the mention of possessive silver St. Christopher on his chest. He doesn’t narrate any tale.

The Prioress – The name of the prioress is ‘Madam Eglentine’ As she is a nun, she often sings religious songs. She speaks French well, which was the standard language during the 14th century. She carries a golden brooch with shiny impressions that say:

“Amor vincit omnia
Love conquers all.

She narrates the tale of a child who sings on the Virgin Mary is killed by Hateful Jews who don’t like singing.

Nun – She is the secretary of Madame Eglantine, the Prioress. She narrates the life of St. Cecilia as her contribution to the pilgrimage.

The Monk – The Monk has a high rank in a monastery. He is handsome to look at. He looks at things differently and often keeps aside the Old traditions. He describes a series of tragedies about Lucifer, Sampson, Hercules, Nabugodonosor, Balthasar etc.

The Friar – The Frior’s name is Hubert. He is a joyful and lustful person. He is the best beggar who knows very well how to extract money from people. He starts to tell of summoner when a debate boils up between him and summoner.

The Merchant – According to the description the merchant is a solemn gentleman with great bargaining Skills, without having any need of debts. He narrates the story of a blind man, who longs for a union and marries a fair young girl who becomes unfaithful for her husband.

The Clerck – He is a studious man who was educated in Oxford University and has a passion for books. The tales of the Clerk is about a man of aristocratic class who wants to know about the devotion of his wife Griselde by Conducting several tests which are harsh.

The Sergeant – The sergeant of the law is full of dignity and speaks words of wisdom without any stuttering. The man of law can write legal writings that contain no flaws or errors whatsoever. He narrates the story of a woman named Constance, with numerous tragedies in her life that she overcomes by having faith in Christianity and God.

The Franklin – The Franklin is the company of the Sergeant. He is so careful about the food he takes and Selects the food and drinks based on the season. Franklin narrates a desperate tale about her husband, accepting to get associated with another man.

The Haberdasher, The Carpenter, The Weaver, The Drier, The Tapestry marker

All these appear uniform in clothing. Each of them is knowledgeable and suitable for an elder man. The five men do not contribute a tale to the Canterbury Tales during the pilgrimage.

The Cook – The cook goes with them. He can do anything concerned with the kitchen. He has an ulcerous sore on his skin. He narrates an abruptly ending story of Perking Reveller who is an apprentice.

The Shipman – The Shipman wears a cloth made of wool that only covers the body to the knees. He is very experienced at sea. He tells the story of a woman in need of money to pay off the debts her husband has made. The barque that he owns is called the Magdalene.

The Doctor of Physic – The narrator says he is skilled in medicine and surgery and knows astronomy. He knows the cause of every illness. He tells the story of Virginius, a bold knight instead of offering her daughter to sin kills her and makes her blessed by God.

The Wife Of Bath – The partially deaf woman who married to five men is the most boisterous of all the travellers. She has a great skill at making clothes and her head is clad with linen. Her travelled places, include Boulogne, Rome, St. James of Compostella and Cologne. In this way, she is an experienced traveller. He gives out a feministic note on different things such as marriage, men and women and even interprets the Bible in her own way stating that there is no. decree written in the book about marrying once.

The Parson – The Parson is a holy man in the town where he lives. Due to his devotion, he bounds only to tell the truth and earns only little to live. He says,

“That if Gold rust, what would iron do?”

It means if the priest whom we trust becomes corrupted, what would an ordinary man do?. The person is the lost of the travellers to narrate the tale and he discusses about penitence, confessions, seven deadly, sins, etc. and they end with Chaucer’s retraction.

The Ploughman – The Ploughman is Parson’s brother. He loves his neighbours. He helps the poor, without expecting any reward. However, he does not narrate a tale.

The Miller – He is big, muscular and a champion at wrestling with immense power. He carries along with him a shield and a sword. He narrates the tale of a student who longs to indulge in an affair with a carpenter’s wife.

The Manciple – He is described as the financial operator who buys religious provisions. Although he is not highly educated but he can certainly manipulate his way around those who are full of wisdom. The Manciple’s tale is about crows in relation to the story of Phoebus where a crow speaks of his wife’s unfaithfulness.

The Reeve – The Reeve is a slender, choleric and short-tempered man. He narrates the story of two Oxford students who humiliate a miller with villainous intents.

The Summor – He has a way of tricking people and suffers from skin disease. The tale seems as a response to the Friar’s tale and describes the professions of Friar in the manner of parody.

The Pardoner – He is a friend and peer of Summoner. The pardoner tells the about the death of three rioters in the form of an allegory. The cause of death in avarice.

The Host – The lost member is to be described in the prologue. Harry Bailly or the host is the owner of the Tabard Inn, where the journey starts. He is one to come up with the idea of tale telling game and plays a major role in calming down the company whenever there seems to be a possibility of an argument. The original idea of the host was that each of the travellers should give out two tales, but in the Canterbury Tales the numbers differ and some of them don’t even tell a lie.

Conclusion

Thus through ‘ The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales’ Chaucer provides detailed descriptions of each character, highlighting their appearance, clothing and personality traits. He offers insightful commentary on their individual characteristics, often satirizing the flies and vices of each person. Through this detailed portrayal, Chaucer provides a social commentary on Medieval society, exposing the corruption, hypocrisy and greed prevalent during that time.

It also showcases Chaucer’s mastery of characterization and his keen observations of human nature, providing a rich and colourful portrait of Medieval England.

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