English 12 / Unit 1: Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Literature
1.5 Chaucer's Characters and Satire
Notes
The General Prologue introduces the pilgrims one by one. Chaucer uses characterization (details of dress, habits and speech) and satire to comment on medieval society.
- Many pilgrims represent the three estates: those who fight (the Knight), those who pray (the Monk, Prioress, Pardoner), and those who work (the Miller, the Plowman).
- The Knight is idealized: "He loved chivalrie, / Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisie" (honor, truth, generosity, courtesy).
- Chaucer mocks the clergy who care for money and comfort, such as the Pardoner who sells fake relics.
- The narrator often uses verbal irony: he seems to praise a character while the details show a fault.
Practice
These lines describe the Knight: "He loved chivalrie, / Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisie." Which set of values do they name?
"Trouthe" is truth or loyalty, "fredom" is generosity, and "curteisie" is courtesy.
A medieval narrator writes: "The Pardoner sold pig bones as holy relics and bragged that he earned more in a day than a parson in two months." What is the likely target of the satire?
Selling fake relics for profit mocks corruption in the medieval church.
A narrator says of a fashion-loving Monk who hates studying: "He thought books were a waste, and I said he was right." What is this?
The narrator's fake agreement exposes the Monk's neglect of his duties.
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