The document provides an overview of characters from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. It describes three characters - the Knight, the Wife of Bath, and the Miller. The Knight represents an ideal medieval man-at-arms and his tale describes two kinsmen who fall for the same woman. The Wife of Bath is a wealthy businesswoman who tells a tale about a knight who must discover what women truly want. The Miller's vulgar tale describes how he deceives a carpenter and his wife through trickery.

1. The Canterbury Tales
The General Prologue
Overview of the Characters
II–THEMIDDLE
AGES

2. Fragment 1
(General Prologue + four
tales)
General Prologue
The Knight's Tale
The Miller's Tale
The Reeve's Tale
The Cook's Tale
Prologo generale
Racconto del Cavaliere
Racconto del Mugnaio
Racconto dell’Intendente
Racconto del Cuoco
Fragment 2
(one tale)
The Man of Law's Tale Racconto del Commissario di giustizia
Fragment 3
(three tales)
The Wife of Bath's Tale
The Friar's Tale
The Summoner's Tale
Racconto della Comare di Bath
Racconto del Frate
Racconto del Cursore (ossia messo)
Fragment 4
(two tales)
The Clerk's Tale
The Merchant's Tale
Racconto del Chierico
Racconto del Mercante
Fragment 5
(two tales)
The Squire's Tale
The Franklin's Tale
Racconto dello Scudiero
Racconto dell’Allodiere (ossia uomo libero posseditore di
terre)
Fragment 6
(two tales)
The Physician's Tale
The Pardoner's Tale
Racconto del Medico
Racconto dell’Indulgenziere
Fragment 7
(six tales)
The Shipman's Tale
The Prioress's Tale
Sir Thopas' Tale
The Tale of Melibee
The Monk's Tale
The Nun's Priest's Tale
Racconto del Marinaio
Racconto della Madre Priora
Racconto su Ser Topazio
Racconto su Melibeo
Racconto del Monaco
Racconto del Cappellano della monaca
Fragment 8
(two tales)
The Second Nun's Tale
The Canon's Yeoman's Tale
Racconto della Seconda Monaca
Racconto del Valletto del Canonico
Fragment 9
(one tale)
The Manciple's Tale Racconto dell’Economo del Collegio
Fragment 10
(one tale)
The Parson's Tale Racconto del Parroco
THEPILGRIMS(w/Italian
translation)

3. Aristocrat
s
Upper Class
(commercial wealth)
Specialized
Craftmen
Middle Class
(with a trade)
Virtuous Lower
Class
Immoral Lower Class
NOBILITY
thoes who
fight
knight squire
CLERGY
those
who pray
prioress
monk
friar
parson
pardoner
PEASANTRY
those who
work
plowman
THE THREE
ESTATES
INTELLECTUALS
Clerk = chierico
MIDDLE CLASS
•Miller = mugnaio
•Reeve = intendente
•Cook = cuoco
•Wife of Bath = comare di Bath
•Franklin = allodiere
•Merchant = mercante
•Shipman = marinaio
NEW
CLASSES
SOCIALCLASSES

4.  Narrator is Chaucer,
but don’t confuse
“pilgrim Chaucer”
with “author Chaucer”
 Narrator is acting as a
reporter of what
others say, not
adding/removing.
 Pretends to be
unaware of irony or
The NarratorTHE NARRATOR

5. • The Knight represents the ideal of a medieval
Christian man-at-arms. He has participated in
no less than fifteen of the great crusades of his
era. Brave, experienced, and prudent, the
narrator greatly admires him.
• The Knight’s Tale describes how two kinsmen,
Arcite and Palamon, fall in love with the same
woman named Emily, whom they first see out of
their prison window. Emily is the niece of King
Theseus. Arcite gains his freedom but is
banished from Athens. He comes back in a
disguise since he cannot bear to live away from
Emily. In the meanwhile, Palamon breaks out of
prison and coincidentally meets Arcite in a
forest grove. Here Theseus discovers them
fighting a bloody duel.
• Theseus puts an end to their fight and
organizes a contest to resolve their quarrel
about Emily. Before the contest Arcite prays to
Mars for victory while Palamon prays to Venus
for the sole possession of Emily. This creates
uproar in heaven and finally both the wishes
THE KNIGHT

6. THE WIFE OF BATH
The Wife of Bath is one of three
women on the trip.
She is a business woman with a
strong sense of self-importance,
her elaborate dress is a sign of
her character as well as her
wealth
The Wife of Bath’s tale is about a
Knight in King Arthur's time who
raped a young maiden and is
condemned to death, but Queen
Guinevere intercedes on his
behalf and tells the Knight he
will be spared his life if he can
discover what it is that women

7. • The Miller’s Tale relates how Old John, an
Oxford carpenter, was deceived by a clerk
named Nicholas. That is, he had an affair
with the carpenter’s wife. Nicholas deceives
the carpenter into believing that Noah’s
flood is about to recur and makes him hang
three tubs from the ceiling to escape the
deluge. The carpenter sleeps fitfully in one
tub while his wife Alison spends the night
with Nicholas. The young parish clerk
Absolon, who is also trying to woo Alison,
arrives beneath her bedroom window only to
be humiliated. When Absolon desperately
begs Alison for a kiss she thrusts her
posterior out of the window. He is angry and
returns to take revenge. But now Nicholas
extends his backside out of the window and
Absolon brands him with a red-hot iron.
Nicholas’s screams wakes the carpenter who
cuts the cord and plunges down breaking his
THE MILLER

8. • Described as modest and quiet, this
Prioress (a nun who is head of her
convent) aspires to have exquisite taste.
Her table manners are dainty, she knows
French (though not the French of the
court), she dresses well, and she is
charitable and compassionate.
• The Prioress’s Tale is a dedication to the
Virgin and describes how the Jews
murdered a Christian boy. The Virgin
gives the dead boy the power of speech.
He is thus able to reveal his whereabouts
and avenge his death.
THE PRIORESS