Letteratura inglese - Geoffrey Chaucer

Canon's Yeoman. It is one of the best of the tales, even if it was not

considered the funtion of a story teller in the 14th century to invent the

stories he told.

Chaucer's choice of story ranges from what he could hear to what he had

read in Boccaccio or other classic masters, or in the lives of saints.

PROLOGUE:The General Prologue, which sets out the circumstances which

bring the pilgrims together at the Tabard Inn before they set off for

Canterbury to pray at the tomb of the martyred St. Thomas Becket, also

presents them to us according to their estate. The Knight is placed first,

successed by representatives of the Church. The Third Estate is represented

by a greater variety of figures, rich, middling and poor. We move downwards

socially to the urban guildsmen, to the skilled tradesmen, and to a well-off

widow (with a trade of her own). Chaucer relegates his Parson, his

Ploughman, his Manciple, and his reprobates to the end of his troupe, though

he also modestly includes himself, a high-ranking royal official. It is this last

group that he seems to want to surprise his readers by conttrasting paragons

of virtue with the sinful lives of the people of the first two groups. If the

Knight at the top of the social scale had seemes "a worthy man", loyal to his

knightly laws and embodying the spirit of chivalry, so, in their respective

callings, the Parson stands for the true mission of the Church to the poor,

and the Ploughman for the blessedness of holy poverty. That's why when

Chaucer describes them as brothers it is likely that he sees in their fraternity

as rooted in christian meekness and closeness to God.

PRIORESS:She acts like a woman of the royal court and completes her

religious garb with a courtly love motto: Amor Vincit Omnia. Her devotion to

courtly love demonstrates the universal appeal anf influence of the courtly

love tradition in Chaucer's time.

The narrator focuses on the Prioress's table manners (that were very

elegant), openly admiring her courtlly manners. She is also portayed as a

compassionate person, especially with her pets which she treats very well,

feeding them with the best food.

She emerges as a very realistically portrayed human being, but she seems

somewhat lacking as a religious figure.

MONK:The descriptionof the Monk is more satirical than that of the Prioress.

He lives like a lord rather than a cleric. Hunting is an extremely expensive

form of leisure, the pursuit of the Upper Class. The narrator points out that

the Monk is aware of the rules of his order, but he scorns them. The Monk is

portayed as a bald man, which is a symbol for a passionate man, an erotic

passion that is also in his bulging eyes. He loves hunting, the money, cothes

and, of course, women. Infact he carries a gold pin that may be a lover's

present. As food he prefers a fat swan, that was a dish reserved for kings.

FRIAR:The Friar doesn't neglect his spiritual duties: he actually abuses them