Analysis of Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (General Prologue, The Knight’s Tale, Franklin’s Tale)

Criticial Analysis in Canterbury Tales General Prologue, The Knight’s Tale, Franklin’s Tale

1. The Canterbury Tales

2. Geoffrey Chaucer (/ˈ tʃɔːsər /; c. 1343 – 25 October 1400), known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to be buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey. While he achieved fame during his lifetime as an author, philosopher, alchemist and astronomer, composing a scientific treatise on the astrolabe for his ten year-old son Lewis, Chaucer also maintained an active career in the civil service as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Among his many works, which include The Book of the Duchess, the House of Fame, the Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde, he is best known today for The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer is a crucial figure in developing the legitimacy of the vernacular, Middle English, at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin.

3. `Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London sometime around 1343, though the precise date and location of his birth remain unknown. His father and grandfather were both London vintners; several previous generations had been merchants in Ipswich. (His family name derives from the French chausseur , meaning "shoemaker".) John Chaucer married Agnes Copton , who, in 1349, inherited properties including 24 shops in London from her uncle, Hamo de Copton , who is described in a will dated 3 April 1354 and listed in the City Hustings Roll as " moneyer "; he was said to be moneyer at the Tower of London. In the City Hustings Roll 110, 5, Ric II, dated June 1380, Geoffrey Chaucer refers to himself as me Galfridum Chaucer, filium Johannis Chaucer, Vinetarii , Londonie ' .

4. While records concerning the lives of his contemporary poets, William Langland and the Pearl Poet are practically non-existent, since Chaucer was a public servant, his official life is very well documented, with nearly five hundred written items testifying to his career. The first of the "Chaucer Life Records" appears in 1357, in the household accounts of Elizabeth de Burgh, the Countess of Ulster, when he became the noblewoman's page through his father's connections. She was married to Lionel, Duke of Clarence, the second surviving son of the king, Edward III, and the position brought the teenage Chaucer into the close court circle, where he was to remain for the rest of his life.

5. He also worked as a courtier, a diplomat, and a civil servant, as well as working for the king, collecting and inventorying scrap metal. In 1359, in the early stages of the Hundred Years' War, Edward III invaded France and Chaucer travelled with Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, Elizabeth's husband, as part of the English army. In 1360, he was captured during the siege of Rheims. Edward paid £16 for his ransom,[4] a considerable sum, and Chaucer was released. Chaucer probably studied law in the Inner Temple (an Inn of Court) at this time. He became a member of the royal court of Edward III as a varlet de chambre , yeoman, or esquire on 20 June 1367, a position which could entail a wide variety of tasks. His wife also received a pension for court employment. He travelled abroad many times, at least some of them in his role as a valet.

6. In 1368, he may have attended the wedding of Lionel of Antwerp to Violante Visconti, daughter of Galeazzo II Visconti, in Milan. Two other literary stars of the era were in attendance: Jean Froissart and Petrarch. Around this time, Chaucer is believed to have written The Book of the Duchess in honour of Blanche of Lancaster, the late wife of John of Gaunt, who died in 1369. A possible indication that his career as a writer was appreciated came when Edward III granted Chaucer "a gallon of wine daily for the rest of his life" for some unspecified task. This was an unusual grant, but given on a day of celebration, St George's Day, 1374, when artistic endeavours were traditionally rewarded, it is assumed to have been another early poetic work.

7. It is not known which, if any, of Chaucer's extant works prompted the reward, but the suggestion of him as poet to a king places him as a precursor to later poets laureate. Chaucer continued to collect the liquid stipend until Richard II came to power, after which it was converted to a monetary grant on 18 April 1378. Chaucer's first major work, The Book of the Duchess, was an elegy for Blanche of Lancaster (who died in 1369). It is possible that this work was commissioned by her husband John of Gaunt, as he granted Chaucer a £10 annuity on 13 June 1374. This would seem to place the writing of The Book of the Duchess between the years 1369 and 1374. Two other early works by Chaucer were Anelida and Arcite and The House of Fame.

8. Chaucer wrote many of his major works in a prolific period when he held the job of customs comptroller for London (1374 to 1386). His Parlement of Foules , The Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde all date from this time. Also it is believed that he started work on The Canterbury Tales in the early 1380s. Chaucer is best known as the writer of The Canterbury Tales, which is a collection of stories told by fictional pilgrims on the road to the cathedral at Canterbury; these tales would help to shape English literature. Chaucer's works are sometimes grouped into first a French period, then an Italian period and finally an English period, with Chaucer being influenced by those countries' literatures in turn. Certainly Troilus and Criseyde is a middle period work with its reliance on the forms of Italian poetry, little known in England at the time, but to which Chaucer was probably exposed during his frequent trips abroad on court business.

9. One other significant work of Chaucer's is his Treatise on the Astrolabe, possibly for his own son, that describes the form and use of that instrument in detail and is sometimes cited as the first example of technical writing in the English language. Although much of the text may have come from other sources, the treatise indicates that Chaucer was versed in science in addition to his literary talents. Another scientific work discovered in 1952, Equatorie of the Planetis , has similar language and handwriting compared to some considered to be Chaucer's and it continues many of the ideas from the Astrolabe. Furthermore, it contains an example of early European encryption.[17] The attribution of this work to Chaucer is still uncertain.

10. Chaucer is sometimes considered the source of the English vernacular tradition. His achievement for the language can be seen as part of a general historical trend towards the creation of a vernacular literature, after the example of Dante, in many parts of Europe. A parallel trend in Chaucer's own lifetime was underway in Scotland through the work of his slightly earlier contemporary, John Barbour, and was likely to have been even more general, as is evidenced by the example of the Pearl Poet in the north of England.

11. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Chaucer was printed more than any other English author, and he was the first author to have his works collected in comprehensive single-volume editions in which a Chaucer canon began to cohere. Some scholars contend that 16th-century editions of Chaucer's Works set the precedent for all other English authors in terms of presentation, prestige and success in print. These editions certainly established Chaucer's reputation, but they also began the complicated process of reconstructing and frequently inventing Chaucer's biography and the canonical list of works which were attributed to him.

12. The Canterbury Tales

13. About Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales is at once one of the most famous and most frustrating works of literature ever written. Since its composition in late 1300s, critics have continued to mine new riches from its complex ground, and started new arguments about the text and its interpretation. It is both one long narrative (of the pilgrims and their pilgrimage) and an encyclopedia of shorter narratives; it is both one large drama, and a compilation of most literary forms known to medieval literature: romance, fabliau, Breton lay, moral fable, verse romance, beast fable, prayer to the Virgin… and so the list goes on. No single literary genre dominates the Tales. The tales include romantic adventures, fabliaux, saint's biographies, animal fables, religious allegories and even a sermon, and range in tone from pious, moralistic tales to lewd and vulgar sexual farces.

14. About Canterbury Tales No one knows for certain when Chaucer began to write the Tales – the pilgrimage is usually dated 1387, but that date is subject to much scholarly argument – but it is certain that Chaucer wrote some parts of the Tales at different times, and went back and added Tales to the melting pot. Chaucer drew from a rich variety of literary sources to create the Tales, though his principal debt is likely to Boccaccio’s Decameron, in which ten nobles from Florence, to escape the plague, stay in a country villa and amuse each other by each telling tales. Boccaccio likely had a significant influence on Chaucer.

15. About Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales (Middle English: Tales of Caunterbur ) is a collection of over 20 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century, during the time of the Hundred Years' War. The tales (mostly written in verse, although some are in prose) are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral . The prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.

16. About Canterbury Tales One of the things that makes The Canterbury Tales so fun to read is the great (and often grotesque) detail with which the narrator describes each of the pilgrims. Since The Canterbury Tales is a story about a storytelling competition, many of the questions it asks are about stories: what makes for a good story? Why do we tell stories? Why should we tell stories? As the pilgrims tell their stories, though, they turn out to be talking not just about fairytale people in far-off lands, but also about themselves and their society. This leads to a lot of conflict in a group of pilgrims formed by members of that same society, who often take offense at the versions of themselves they see portrayed in the tales.

17. About Canterbury Tales The Tales constantly reflect the conflict between classes. For example, the division of the three estates; the characters are all divided into three distinct classes, the classes being “those who pray" (the clergy) , “those who fight" (the nobility) , and “those who work" (the commoners and peasantry).

18. Nobility Knight Squire Yeoman Reeve Summoner Yeoman (#2)

19. Clergy Pardoner Prioress Monk Friar Nun’s Priest Second Nun Parson

20. Commoners and Peasantry Merchant Clerk Man of Law Franklin A Haberdasher Carpenter Weaver Dyer Tapycer 10. Tapycer Cook Shipman Doctor of Medicine Wife of Bath Plowman Miller Manciple

21. The Knight’s Tale Theseus , duke of Athens, imprisons Arcite and Palamon , two knights from Thebes (another city in ancient Greece). From their prison, the knights see and fall in love with Theseus’s sister-in-law, Emelye . Through the intervention of a friend, Arcite is freed, but he is banished from Athens. He returns in disguise and becomes a page in Emelye’s chamber. Palamon escapes from prison, and the two meet and fight over Emelye . Theseus apprehends them and arranges a tournament between the two knights and their allies, with Emelye as the prize. Arcite wins, but he is accidentally thrown from his horse and dies. Palamon then marries Emelye .

22. The Miller’s Prologue and Tale He tells the story of an impoverished student named Nicholas, who persuades his landlord’s sexy young wife, Alisoun , to spend the night with him. He convinces his landlord, a carpenter named John, that the second flood is coming, and tricks him into spending the night in a tub hanging from the ceiling of his barn. Absolon , a young parish clerk who is also in love with Alisoun , appears outside the window of the room where Nicholas and Alisoun lie together. When Absolon begs Alisoun for a kiss, she sticks her rear end out the window in the dark and lets him kiss it.

23. The Miller’s Prologue and Tale Absolon runs and gets a red-hot poker, returns to the window, and asks for another kiss; when Nicholas sticks his bottom out the window and farts, Absolon brands him on the buttocks. Nicholas’s cries for water make the carpenter think that the flood has come, so the carpenter cuts the rope connecting his tub to the ceiling, falls down, and breaks his arm.

24. The Reeve’s Prologue and Tale The Reeve tells the story of two students, John and Alayn , who go to the mill to watch the miller grind their corn, so that he won’t have a chance to steal any. But the miller unties their horse, and while they chase it, he steals some of the flour he has just ground for them. By the time the students catch the horse, it is dark, so they spend the night in the miller’s house. That night, Alayn seduces the miller’s daughter, and John seduces his wife. When the miller wakes up and finds out what has happened, he tries to beat the students. His wife, thinking that her husband is actually one of the students, hits the miller over the head with a staff. The students take back their stolen goods and leave.

25. The Cook’s Prologue and Tale The Cook particularly enjoys the Reeve’s Tale, and offers to tell another funny tale. The tale concerns an apprentice named Perkyn who drinks and dances so much that he is called “ Perkyn Reveler.” Finally, Perkyn’s master decides that he would rather his apprentice leave to revel than stay home and corrupt the other servants. Perkyn arranges to stay with a friend who loves drinking and gambling, and who has a wife who is a prostitute. The tale breaks off, unfinished, after fifty-eight lines.

26. The Man of Law’s Introduction, Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue The Host reminds his fellow pilgrims to waste no time, because lost time cannot be regained. He asks the Man of Law to tell the next tale. The Man of Law agrees, apologizing that he cannot tell any suitable tale that Chaucer has not already told—Chaucer may be unskilled as a poet, says the Man of Law, but he has told more stories of lovers than Ovid, and he doesn’t print tales of incest as John Gower does (Gower was a contemporary of Chaucer). In the Prologue to his tale, the Man of Law laments the miseries of poverty. He then remarks how fortunate merchants are, and says that his tale is one told to him by a merchant.

27. The Man of Law’s Introduction, Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue In the tale, the Muslim sultan of Syria converts his entire sultanate (including himself) to Christianity in order to persuade the emperor of Rome to give him his daughter, Custance , in marriage. The sultan’s mother and her attendants remain secretly faithful to Islam. The mother tells her son she wishes to hold a banquet for him and all the Christians. At the banquet, she massacres her son and all the Christians except for Custance , whom she sets adrift in a rudderless ship. After years of floating, Custance runs ashore in Northumberland, where a constable and his wife, Hermengyld , offer her shelter. She converts them to Christianity.

28. The Man of Law’s Introduction, Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue One night, Satan makes a young knight sneak into Hermengyld’s chamber and murder Hermengyld . He places the bloody knife next to Custance , who sleeps in the same chamber. When the constable returns home, accompanied by Alla , the king of Northumberland, he finds his slain wife. He tells Alla the story of how Custance was found, and Alla begins to pity the girl. He decides to look more deeply into the murder. Just as the knight who murdered Hermengyld is swearing that Custance is the true murderer, he is struck down and his eyes burst out of his face, proving his guilt to Alla and the crowd. The knight is executed, Alla and many others convert to Christianity, and Custance and Alla marry.

29. The Man of Law’s Introduction, Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue After many adventures at sea, including an attempted rape, Custance ends up back in Rome, where she reunites with Alla , who has made a pilgrimage there to atone for killing his mother. She also reunites with her father, the emperor. Alla and Custance return to England, but Alla dies after a year, so Custance returns, once more, to Rome. Mauricius becomes the next Roman emperor. Following the Man of Law’s Tale, the Host asks the Parson to tell the next tale, but the Parson reproaches him for swearing, and they fall to bickering.

30. The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale In her tale, a young knight of King Arthur’s court rapes a maiden; to atone for his crime, Arthur’s queen sends him on a quest to discover what women want most. An ugly old woman promises the knight that she will tell him the secret if he promises to do whatever she wants for saving his life. He agrees, and she tells him women want control of their husbands and their own lives. They go together to Arthur’s queen, and the old woman’s answer turns out to be correct. The old woman then tells the knight that he must marry her. When the knight confesses later that he is repulsed by her appearance, she gives him a choice: she can either be ugly and faithful, or beautiful and unfaithful. The knight tells her to make the choice herself, and she rewards him for giving her control of the marriage by rendering herself both beautiful and faithful.

31. The Friar’s Prologue and Tale The Friar tells of an archdeacon who carries out the law without mercy, especially to lechers. The archdeacon has a summoner who has a network of spies working for him, to let him know who has been lecherous. The summoner extorts money from those he’s sent to summon, charging them more money than he should for penance. He tries to serve a summons on a yeoman who is actually a devil in disguise. After comparing notes on their treachery and extortion, the devil vanishes, but when the summoner tries to prosecute an old wealthy widow unfairly, the widow cries out that the summoner should be taken to hell. The devil follows the woman’s instructions and drags the summoner off to hell.

32. The Summoner’s Prologue and Tale In the Summoner’s Tale, a friar begs for money from a dying man named Thomas and his wife, who have recently lost their child. The friar shamelessly exploits the couple’s misfortunes to extract money from them, so Thomas tells the friar that he is sitting on something that he will bequeath to the friars. The friar reaches for his bequest, and Thomas lets out an enormous fart. The friar complains to the lord of the manor, whose squire promises to divide the fart evenly among all the friars.

33. The Clerk’s Prologue and Tale Griselde is a hardworking peasant who marries into the aristocracy. Her husband tests her fortitude in several ways, including pretending to kill her children and divorcing her. He punishes her one final time by forcing her to prepare for his wedding to a new wife. She does all this dutifully, her husband tells her that she has always been and will always be his wife (the divorce was a fraud), and they live happily ever after.

34. The Merchant’s Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue Against the advice of his friends, an old knight named January marries May, a beautiful young woman. She is less than impressed by his enthusiastic sexual efforts, and conspires to cheat on him with his squire, Damien. When blind January takes May into his garden to copulate with her, she tells him she wants to eat a pear, and he helps her up into the pear tree, where she has sex with Damien. Pluto, the king of the faeries, restores January’s sight, but May, caught in the act, assures him that he must still be blind. The Host prays to God to keep him from marrying a wife like the one the Merchant describes.

35. The Squire’s Introduction and Tale King Cambyuskan of the Mongol Empire is visited on his birthday by a knight bearing gifts from the king of Arabia and India. He gives Cambyuskan and his daughter Canacee a magic brass horse, a magic mirror, a magic ring that gives Canacee the ability to understand the language of birds, and a sword with the power to cure any wound it creates. She rescues a dying female falcon that narrates how her consort abandoned her for the love of another. The Squire’s Tale is either unfinished by Chaucer or is meant to be interrupted by the Franklin .

36. The Franklin’s Prologue and Tale Dorigen , the heroine, awaits the return of her husband, Arveragus , who has gone to England to win honor in feats of arms. She worries that the ship bringing her husband home will wreck itself on the coastal rocks, and she promises Aurelius, a young man who falls in love with her, that she will give her body to him if he clears the rocks from the coast. Aurelius hires a student learned in magic to create the illusion that the rocks have disappeared. Arveragus returns home and tells his wife that she must keep her promise to Aurelius. Aurelius is so impressed by Arveragus’s honorable act that he generously absolves her of the promise, and the magician, in turn, generously absolves Aurelius of the money he owes.

37. The Physician’s Tale Appius the judge lusts after Virginia, the beautiful daughter of Virginius . Appius persuades a churl named Claudius to declare her his slave, stolen from him by Virginius . Appius declares that Virginius must hand over his daughter to Claudius. Virginius tells his daughter that she must die rather than suffer dishonor, and she virtuously consents to her father’s cutting her head off. Appius sentences Virginius to death, but the Roman people, aware of Appius’s hijinks, throw him into prison, where he kills himself.

38. The Pardoner’s Introduction, Prologue, and Tale His tale describes three riotous youths who go looking for Death, thinking that they can kill him. An old man tells them that they will find Death under a tree. Instead, they find eight bushels of gold, which they plot to sneak into town under cover of darkness. The youngest goes into town to fetch food and drink, but brings back poison, hoping to have the gold all to himself. His companions kill him to enrich their own shares, then drink the poison and die under the tree. His tale complete, the Pardoner offers to sell the pilgrims pardons, and singles out the Host to come kiss his relics. The Host infuriates the Pardoner by accusing him of fraud, but the Knight persuades the two to kiss and bury their differences.

39. The Shipman’s Tale The Shipman’s Tale features a monk who tricks a merchant’s wife into having sex with him by borrowing money from the merchant, then giving it to the wife so she can repay her own debt to her husband, in exchange for sexual favors. When the monk sees the merchant next, he tells him that he returned the merchant’s money to his wife. The wife realizes she has been duped, but she boldly tells her husband to forgive her debt: she will repay it in bed. The Host praises the Shipman’s story, and asks the Prioress for a tale.

40. The Prioress’s Prologue and Tale In an Asian city, a Christian school is located at the edge of a Jewish ghetto. An angelic seven-year-old boy, a widow’s son, attends the school. He is a devout Christian, and loves to sing Alma Redemptoris (Gracious Mother of the Redeemer). Singing the song on his way through the ghetto, some Jews hire a murderer to slit his throat and throw him into a latrine. The Jews refuse to tell the widow where her son is, but he miraculously begins to sing Alma Redemptoris , so the Christian people recover his body, and the magistrate orders the murdering Jews to be drawn apart by wild horses and then hanged.

41. The Prologue and Tale of Sir Thopas Sir Thopas rides about looking for an elf-queen to marry until he is confronted by a giant. The narrator’s doggerel continues in this vein until the Host can bear no more and interrupts him. Chaucer asks him why he can’t tell his tale, since it is the best he knows, and the Host explains that his rhyme isn’t worth a turd. He encourages Chaucer to tell a prose tale.

42. The Tale of Melibee Melibee’s house is raided by his foes, who beat his wife, Prudence, and severely wound his daughter, Sophie, in her feet, hands, ears, nose, and mouth. Prudence advises him not to rashly pursue vengeance on his enemies, and he follows her advice, putting his foes’ punishment in her hands. She forgives them for the outrages done to her, in a model of Christian forbearance and forgiveness.

43. The Monk’s Prologue and Tale The Host wishes that his own wife were as patient as Melibee’s , and calls upon the Monk to tell the next tale. First he teases the Monk, pointing out that the Monk is clearly no poor cloisterer . The Monk takes it all in stride and tells a series of tragic falls, in which noble figures are brought low: Lucifer, Adam, Sampson, Hercules, Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Zenobia , Pedro of Castile, and down through the ages.

44. The Nun’s Priest’s Prologue, Tale, and Epilogue The Nun’s Priest tells of Chanticleer the Rooster, who is carried off by a flattering fox who tricks him into closing his eyes and displaying his crowing abilities. Chanticleer turns the tables on the fox by persuading him to open his mouth and brag to the barnyard about his feat, upon which Chanticleer falls out of the fox’s mouth and escapes. The Host praises the Nun’s Priest’s Tale, adding that if the Nun’s Priest were not in holy orders, he would be as sexually potent as Chanticleer.

45. The Second Nun’s Prologue and Tale In her Prologue, the Second Nun explains that she will tell a saint’s life, that of Saint Cecilia, for this saint set an excellent example through her good works and wise teachings. She focuses particularly on the story of Saint Cecilia’s martyrdom. Before Cecilia’s new husband, Valerian, can take her virginity, she sends him on a pilgrimage to Pope Urban, who converts him to Christianity. An angel visits Valerian, who asks that his brother Tiburce be granted the grace of Christian conversion as well. All three—Cecilia, Tiburce , and Valerian—are put to death by the Romans.

46. The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue and Tale The Yeoman tells a tale of how a canon defrauded a priest by creating the illusion of alchemy using sleight of hand.

47. The Manciple’s Prologue and Tale The Manciple relates the legend of a white crow, taken from the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses and one of the tales in The Arabian Nights. In it, Phoebus’s talking white crow informs him that his wife is cheating on him. Phoebus kills the wife, pulls out the crow’s white feathers, and curses it with blackness.

48. The Parson’s Prologue and Tale As the company enters a village in the late afternoon, the Host calls upon the Parson to give them a fable. Refusing to tell a fictional story because it would go against the rule set by St. Paul, the Parson delivers a lengthy treatise on the Seven Deadly Sins, instead.

49. Chaucer’s Retraction Chaucer appeals to readers to credit Jesus Christ as the inspiration for anything in his book that they like, and to attribute what they don’t like to his own ignorance and lack of ability. He retracts and prays for forgiveness for all of his works dealing with secular and pagan subjects, asking only to be remembered for what he has written of saints’ lives and homilies.

50. The Canterbury Tales (General Prologue)

51. General Prologue “When April comes with his sweet, fragrant showers, which pierce the dry ground of March, and bathe every root of every plant in sweet liquid, then people desire to go on pilgrimages." Thus begins the famous opening to The Canterbury Tales. The narrator (a constructed version of Chaucer himself) is first discovered staying at the Tabard Inn in Southwark (in London), when a company of twenty-nine people descend on the inn, preparing to go on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. The narrator gives a descriptive account of twenty-seven of these pilgrims, including a Knight, Squire, Yeoman, Prioress, Monk, Friar, Merchant, Clerk, Man of Law, Franklin, Haberdasher, Carpenter, Weaver, Dyer, Tapestry-Weaver, Cook, Shipman, Physician, Wife, Parson, Plowman, Miller, Manciple , Reeve, Summoner , Pardoner, and Host.

52. General Prologue The Host, whose name, we find out in the Prologue to the Cook’s Tale, is Harry Bailey, suggests that the group ride together and entertain one another with stories. He decides that each pilgrim will tell two stories on the way to Canterbury and two on the way back. Whomever he judges to be the best storyteller will receive a meal at Bailey’s tavern, courtesy of the other pilgrims. The pilgrims draw lots and determine that the Knight will tell the first tale. Before the narrator goes any further in the tale, he describes the circumstances and the social rank of each pilgrim. He describes each one in turn, starting with the highest status individuals.

53. General Prologue When the sweet showers of April have pierced to the root the dryness of March and bathed every vein in moisture by which strength are the flowers brought forth; when Zephyr also with his sweet breath has given spirit to the tender new shoots in the grove and field, and the young sun has run half his course through Aries the Ram, and little birds make melody and sleep all night with an open eye, so nature pricks them in their hearts; then people long to go on pilgrimages to renowned shrines in various distant lands, and palmers to seek foreign shores. And especially from every shire's end in England they make their way to Canterbury, to seek the holy blessed martyr who helped them when they were sick.

54. General Prologue One day in that season, as I was waiting at the Tabard Inn at Southwark , about to make my pilgrimage with devout heart to Canterbury, it happened that there came at night to that inn a company of twenty-nine various people, who by chance had joined together in fellowship. All were pilgrims, riding to Canterbury. The chambers and the stables were spacious, and we were lodged well. But in brief, when the sun had gone to rest, I had spoken with every one of them and was soon a part of their company, and agreed to rise early to take our way to where I have told you. Nevertheless , while I have time and space, before this tale goes further, I think it is reasonable to tell you all the qualities of each of them, as they appeared to me, what sort of people they were, of what station and how they were fashioned. I will begin with a knight.

55. General Prologue The Knight - described first, as befits a 'worthy man' of high status. The Knight has fought in the Crusades in numerous countries, and always been honored for his worthiness and courtesy. Everywhere he went, the narrator tells us, he had a ' sovereyn prys ' (which could mean either an 'outstanding reputation', or a price on his head for the fighting he has done). The Knight is dressed in a 'fustian' tunic, made of coarse cloth, which is stained by the rust from his coat of chainmail. - he was truly a perfect gentle knight, he never yet spoke any discourtesy to any living creature.

56. General Prologue The Squire Son of the knight a lover and a lusty bachelor, only twenty years old. The Squire cuts a rather feminine figure, his clothes embroidered with red and white flowers, and he is constantly singing or playing the flute. He is the only pilgrim (other than, of course, Chaucer himself) who explicitly has literary ambitions.

57. General Prologue The Yeoman (a freeborn servant) also travels along with the Knight's entourage, and is clad in coat and hood of green. The Yeoman is excellent at caring for arrows, and travels armed with a huge amount of weaponry: arrows, a bracer (arm guard), a sword, a buckler, and a dagger as sharp as a spear. He wears an image of St. Christopher on his breast. The narrator believed that he was a woodsman because he understood all well the practice of woodcraft

58. General Prologue Prioress called 'Madame Eglantine' (or, in modern parlance, Mrs. Sweetbriar). She could sweetly sing religious services, speaks fluent French and has excellent table manners. She is so charitable and piteous, that she would weep if she saw a mouse caught in a trap, and she has two small dogs with her. She wears a brooch with the inscription 'Amor vincit omnia ' ('Love conquers all'). The Prioress brings with her her ' chapeleyne ' (secretary), the Second Nun .

59. General Prologue The Monk an extremely fine and handsome man who loves to hunt, and who follows modern customs rather than old traditions. This is no bookish monk, studying in a cloister, but a man who keeps greyhounds to hunt the hare. The Monk is well-fed, fat, and his eyes are bright, gleaming like a furnace in his head.

60. General Prologue The Friar wanton and merry, and he is a ' lymytour ' by trade (a friar licensed to beg in certain districts). He is extremely well beloved of franklins (landowners) and worthy woman all over the town. He hears confession and gives absolution, and is an excellent beggar, able to earn himself a farthing wherever he went. His name is Huberd . He also had a pleasant voice in singing, and could play fiddle

61. General Prologue The Merchant wears a forked beard, motley clothes and sat high upon his horse. He gives his opinion very solemnly, and does excellent business as a merchant, never being in any debt. But, the narrator ominously remarks, 'I noot how men hym calle ' (I don't know how men call him, or think of him).

62. General Prologue The Clerk follows the Merchant. A student of Oxford university, he would rather have twenty books by Aristotle than rich clothes or musical instruments, and thus is dressed in a threadbare short coat. He only has a little gold, which he tends to spend on books and learning, and takes huge care and attention of his studies. He never speaks a word more than is needed, and that is short, quick and full of sentence (the Middle-English word for 'meaningfulness' is a close relation of 'sententiousness').

63. General Prologue The Man of Law (referred to here as 'A Sergeant of the Lawe ') is a judicious and dignified man, or, at least, he seems so because of his wise words. He is a judge in the court of assizes, by letter of appointment from the king, and because of his high standing receives many grants. He can draw up a legal document, the narrator tells us, and no-one can find a flaw in his legal writings. Yet, despite all this money and social worth, the Man of Law rides only in a homely, multi-coloured coat. He knew in precise terms every case and judgment, and every statute fully, word for word.

64. General Prologue A Franklin travels with the Man of Law. He has a beard as white as a daisy, and of the sanguine humour (dominated by his blood). The Franklin is a big eater, loving a piece of bread dipped in wine, and is described (though not literally!) as Epicurus' son: the Franklin lives for culinary delight. His house is always full of meat pie, fish and meat, so much so that it ' snewed in his hous of mete and drynke '. He changes his meats and drinks according to what foods are in season.

65. General Prologue A Haberdasher and a Carpenter, a Weaver, a Dyer and a Tapycer (weaver of tapestries) all of them clothed in the same distinctive guildsman's dress. The Guildsmen appear as a unit. English guilds were a combination of labor unions and social fraternities: Craftsmen of similar occupations joined together to increase their bargaining power and live communally . Each of them were described as fitted to be an alderman of his guild

66. General Prologue A Cook Companion of the five guildsmen had been brought along to boil the chicken up with marrow bones and spices, but this particular Cook knows a draught of ale very well indeed, according to the narrator. The Cook could roast and simmer and boil and fry, make stews and hashes and bake a pie well, but it was a great pity that, on his shin, he has an ulcer.

67. General Prologue A Shipman from Dartmouth is next - tanned brown from the hot summer sun, riding upon a carthorse, and wearing a gown of coarse woolen cloth which reaches to his knees. The Shipman had, many times, drawn a secret draught of wine on board ship, while the merchant was asleep. The Shipman has weathered many storms, and knows his trade: he knows the locations of all the harbors from Gotland to Cape Finistere . His ship is called 'the Maudelayne '.

68. General Prologue A Doctor of Medicine the next pilgrim described, clad in red and blue, and no-one in the world can match him in speaking about medicine and surgery. He knows the cause of every illness, what humor engenders them, and how to cure them. He is a perfect practitioner of medicine, and he has apothecaries ready to send him drugs and mixtures. He is well-read in the standard medical authorities, from the Greeks right through to Chaucer's contemporary Gilbertus Anglicus . The Doctor, however, has not studied the Bible. He was well grounded in astrology and loved gold above all else

69. General Prologue The Wife of Bath deef ' (a little deaf, as her tale will later expand upon) and that was a shame. The Wife of Bath is so adept at making cloth that she surpasses even the cloth-making capitals of Chaucer's world, Ypres and Ghent, and she wears coverchiefs (linen coverings for the head) which must (the narrator assumes) have ' weyeden ten pound'. She was gap-toothed She had had five husbands through the church door, and had been at Jerusalem, Rome and Boulogne on pilgrimage. She is also described as 'Gat- tothed ' (traditionally denoting lasciviousness), and as keeping good company, she knows all the answers about love: 'for she koude of that art the olde daunce ' (she knew the whole dance as far as love is concerned!).

70. General Prologue A Parson of a Town although poor in goods, is rich in holy thought and work. He's a learned man, who truly preaches Christ's gospel, and devoutly teaches his parishioners. He travels across his big parish to visit all of his parishioners, on his feet, carrying a staff in his hand. He is a noble example to his parishioners ('his sheep', as they are described) because he acts first, and preaches second (or, in Chaucer's phrase, 'first he wroghte , and afterward he taughte '). The narrator believes that there is no better priest to be found anywhere.

71. General Prologue Plowman a good, hard-working man, who lives in peace and charity, and treats his neighbor as he would be treated. He rides on a mare, and wears a tabard (a workman's loose garment). He loves God at best with his whole heart Brother of the Parson

72. General Prologue A Miller He is big-boned and has big muscles, and always wins the prize in wrestling matches. There's not a door that he couldn't lift off its hinges, or break it by running at it head-first. He has black, wide nostrils, carries a sword and a buckler (shield) by his side, a wart on the tip of his noes and has a mouth like a great furnace. He's good at stealing corn and taking payment for it three times. But then, Chaucer implies, there are no honest millers . He was also described as a teller of dirty stories and it was mostly of sin and obscenity

73. General Prologue A noble Manciple (a business agent, purchaser of religious provisions) is the next pilgrim to be described, and a savvy financial operator. Though a common man, the Manciple can surpass the wisdom of the great learned men because of his wits and deceive them.

74. General Prologue The Reeve a slender, choleric man, long-legged and lean (" ylyk a staf "). He knows exactly how much grain he has, and is excellent at keeping his granary and his grain bin. There is no bailiff, herdsman or servant about whom the Reeve does not know something secret or treacherous; as a result, they are afraid of him 'as of the deeth '.

75. General Prologue The Summoner his face fire-red and pimpled, with narrow eyes. He has a skin disease across his black brows, and his beard (which has hair falling out of it) and he is extremely lecherous. There is, the narrator tells us, no ointment or cure, or help him to remove his pimples. He loves drinking wine which is as 'reed as blood', when he’s drunk he would cry out mad and speak nothing but Latin words and he loves eating leeks, onions and garlic. He knows how to trick someone.

76. General Prologue Pardoner He carries a wallet full of pardons in his lap, brimful of pardons come from Rome. The Pardoner is sexually ambiguous - he has a thin, boyish voice, and the narrator wonders whether he is a ' geldyng or a mare' (a eunuch or a homosexual). Travels with the Summoner

77. General Prologue Host the last member of the company described, a large man with bright, large eyes - and an extremely fair man. The Host welcomes everyone to the inn, and announces the pilgrimage to Canterbury, and decides that, on the way there, the company shall ' talen and pleye ' (to tell stories and amuse themselves). Everyone consents to the Host's plan for the game, and he then goes on to set it out. What the Host describes is a tale-telling game, in which each pilgrim shall tell two tales on the way to Canterbury, and two more on the way home; whoever tells the tale 'of best sentence and moost solas ' shall have supper at the cost of all of the other pilgrims, back at the Inn, once the pilgrimage returns from Canterbury. The pilgrims agree to the Host's suggestion, and agree to accord to the Host's judgment as master of the tale-telling game. Everyone then goes to bed.

78. General Prologue The Narrator - in the General Prologue, the narrator presents himself as a gregarious and naïve character. Later on, the Host accuses him of being silent and sullen. The narrator writes down his impressions of the pilgrims from memory. What he chooses to remember about the characters tells us as much about the narrator’s own prejudices as it does about the characters themselves.

79. General Prologue "Gentle people," said he, "please listen now, but take it not, I pray you, disdainfully. To speak briefly and plainly, this is the point, that each of you for pastime shall tell two tales in this journey to Canterbury, and two others on the way home, of things that have happened in the past. And whichever of you bears himself best, that is to say, that tells now tales most instructive and delighting, shall have a supper at the expense of us all, sitting here in this place, beside this post, when we come back from Canterbury. And to add to your sport I will gladly go with you at my own cost, and be your guide. And whoever opposes my judgment shall pay all that we spend on the way. If you agree that this will be so, tell me now, without more words, and without delay I will plan for that."

80. General Prologue Without delay every one began to draw, and in short, whether it were by chance or not, the truth is, the lot fell to the Knight, at which every one was merry and glad. He was to tell his tale, as was reasonable, according to the agreement that you have heard. What need is there for more words?   When this good man saw it was so, as one discreet and obedient to his free promise he said, "Since I begin the game, what, in God's name, welcome be the cut! Now let us ride on, and listen to what I say." And at that word we rode forth on our journey. And he soon began his tale with a cheerful spirit, and spoke in this way.

81. The Canterbury Tales (The Knight’s Tale)

82. The Knight’s Tale Cast of Characters Theseus A great conqueror and the duke of Athens in the Knight’s Tale. The most powerful ruler in the story, he is often called upon to make the final judgment, but he listens to others’ pleas for help.

83. The Knight’s Tale Cast of Characters Palamon One of the two imprisoned Theban soldier heroes in the Knight’s Tale. Brave, strong, and sworn to everlasting friendship with his cousin Arcite , Palamon falls in love with the fair maiden Emelye , which brings him into conflict with Arcite .

84. The Knight’s Tale Cast of Characters Arcite The sworn brother to Palamon . Arcite , imprisoned with Palamon in the tower in the Knight’s Tale, falls equally head-over-heels in love with Emelye . Arcite gets released from the tower early and become a page of Emelye because he disguised himself.

85. The Knight’s Tale Cast of Characters Emelye The sister to Hippolyta, Theseus’s domesticated Amazon queen in the Knight’s Tale. Fair-haired and glowing, we first see Emelye as Palamon does, through a window. Though she is the object of both Palamon’s and Arcite’s desire, she would rather spend her life unmarried and childless.

86. The Knight’s Tale Cast of Characters Aegeus Theseus’s father. Egeus gives Theseus the advice that helps him convince Palamon and Emelye to end their mourning of Arcite and get married.

87. The Knight’s Tale (I) The Knight begins his tale with the story of Theseus, a prince, who married Hippolyta, the queen of Scythia, and brought her and her sister, Emelye , back to Athens with him after conquering her kingdom of Amazons.

88. The Knight’s Tale Once on a time, as old tales tell to us, There was a duke whose name was Theseus: Of Athens he was lord and governor, And in his time was such a conqueror That greater was there not beneath the sun. Full many a rich country had he won ; What with his wisdom and his chivalry He gained the realm of Femininity, That was of old time known as Scythia. There wedded he the queen, Hippolyta, And brought her home with him to his country. In glory great and with great pageantry, And, too, her younger sister, Emily .

89. The Knight’s Tale - When Theseus returned home victorious, he became aware of a company of women clad in black who knelt at the side of the highway, shrieking. The oldest of the women asked Theseus for pity.

90. The Knight’s Tale A company of ladies, two by two, Knelt, all in black, before his cavalcade; But such a clamorous cry of woe they made That in the whole world living man had heard No such a lamentation, on my word; Nor would they cease lamenting till at last They'd clutched his bridle reins and held them fast. "What folk are you that at my home-coming Disturb my triumph with this dolorous thing?" Cried Theseus. "Do you so much envy My honour that you thus complain and cry? Or who has wronged you now, or who offended? Come, tell me whether it may be amended; And tell me, why are you clothed thus, in black?"

91. The Knight’s Tale Now help us, lord, since it is in your might. "I, wretched woman, who am weeping thus, Was once the wife of King Capaneus , Who died at Thebes, oh, cursed be the day! And all we that you see in this array, And make this lamentation to be known, All we have lost our husbands at that town During the siege that round about it lay . And now the old Creon, ah welaway ! The lord and governor of Thebes city, Full of his wrath and all iniquity, He, in despite and out of tyranny, To do the dead a shame and villainy, Of all our husbands, lying among the slain, Has piled the bodies in a heap, amain , And will not suffer them, nor give consent, To buried be, or burned, nor will relent, But sets his dogs to eat them, out of spite."

92. The Knight’s Tale Theseus swore vengeance upon Creon, and immediately ordered his armies toward Thebes. Theseus vanquished Creon, and when the soldiers were disposing of the bodies they found two young knights, Arcite and Palamon , two royal cousins, not quite dead. Theseus ordered that they be imprisoned in Athens for life. They passed their time imprisoned in a tower in Athens until they saw Emelye in a nearby garden. Both fell immediately in love with her.

93. The Knight’s Tale In honour of the May, and so she rose. Clothed, she was sweeter than any flower that blows; Her yellow hair was braided in one tress Behind her back, a full yard long, I guess. And in the garden, as the sun up-rose, She sauntered back and forth and through each close, Gathering many a flower, white and red, To weave a delicate garland for her head; And like a heavenly angel's was her song.

94. The Knight’s Tale PALAMON: "Cousin , indeed in this opinion now Your fancy is but vanity, I trow . It's not our prison that caused me to cry. But I was wounded lately through the eye Down to my heart, and that my bane will be. The beauty of the lady that I see There in that garden, pacing to and fro, Is cause of all my crying and my woe. I know not if she's woman or goddess; But Venus she is verily, I guess."

95. The Knight’s Tale ARCITE: “The virgin beauty slays me suddenly Of her that wanders yonder in that place; And save I have her pity and her grace, That I at least may see her day by day, I am but dead; there is no more to say."

96. The Knight’s Tale Pirithous , a prince and childhood friend of Theseus, had come to Athens. Pirithous had known Arcite at Thebes, and at his request, Theseus set Arcite free on the promise that Arcite would never again be seen in Theseus' kingdom. He now had his freedom, but not the ability to pursue Emelye , and lamented the cruelty of fate. Palamon , however, envied Arcite , since he did now have the option of raising an army against Theseus to conquer Athens.

97. The Knight’s Tale ( II) Two years passed. After spending two years in Thebes, one night Arcite dreamt that he saw the god Mercury standing before him, bidding him to be free of hope and care, and telling him to go to Athens to relieve his grief. Arcite decided to disguise himself, return to Athens and pass unknown. Arriving at the court, Arcite offered his services, and took a post with Emelye's steward under the name of Philostratus . Arcite worked as a page in Emelye's house and was so well loved that Theseus soon made him squire of his chamber.

98. The Knight’s Tale Meanwhile Palamon had lived for seven years in his dungeon, before, eventually, he escaped from the tower and fled the city, with the intention of disguising himself and making toward Thebes. That morning Arcite went horseback riding. In the area outside of the city, he dismounted and began to speak to himself, lamenting life without Emelye . Palamon , overhearing, leapt out and revealed himself to Arcite . Since neither had weapons, they made a vow to meet in the same place tomorrow and fight to the death over Emelye .

99. The Knight’s Tale ARCITE: Now I'm Philostrates , not worth a mite. Alas, thou cruel Mars! Alas, Juno! Thus have your angers all our kin brought low, Save only me, and wretched Palamon , Whom Theseus martyrs yonder in prison. And above all, to slay me utterly, Love has his fiery dart so burningly Struck through my faithful and care-laden heart, My death was patterned ere my swaddling-shirt. You slay me with your two eyes, Emily; You are the cause for which I now must die. For on the whole of all my other care I would not set the value of a tare, So I could do one thing to your pleasance!"

100. The Knight’s Tale They returned the next day armed for battle. At the same time, and in the same place, Theseus, Hippolyta and Emelye were out hunting, and, reaching the area where Arcite and Palamon were fighting, Theseus stopped the battle. Palamon told Theseus that Arcite is the man who was banished (and that he has returned, disguised as Philostratus ), while he himself is the escaped prisoner. He also told Theseus that both men love Emelye . Theseus ordered the death of both, but the queen and Emelye took pity on the two men, and begged Theseus for mercy.

101. The Knight’s Tale (III) Theseus commissioned the building of a stadium a mile in circumference for the duel between Arcite and Palamon . This stadium was opulent, featuring carvings and portraits as well as temples honoring Mars, Diana and Venus. When the day of the duel approached, Palamon brought Lycurgus, the king of Thrace, to fight with him, while Arcite brought Emetreus , the king of India.

102. The Knight’s Tale When the day of the duel approached, Palamon brought Lycurgus, the King of Thrace, to fight with him, while Arcite brought Emetreus , the King of India. The night before the duel, Palamon prayed to Venus to solace his pains of love, asking Venus (goddess of love) to let Arcite murder him if Arcite will be the one to marry Emelye . Emelye prayed at the shrine to Diana, the goddess of chastity. She prayed that she could remain a maiden all her life and not be a man's lover nor wife. She prayed, moreover, for peace and friendship between Arcite and Palamon . Arcite prayed to Mars. He prayed for victory in battle.

103. The Knight’s Tale PALAMON’s prayer to VENUS: "Fairest of fair, O lady mine, Venus, Daughter of Jove and spouse to Vulcanus , Thou gladdener of the Mount of Citheron , By that great love thou borest to Adon , Have pity on my bitter tears that smart And hear my humble prayer within thy heart. Alas! I have no words in which to tell The effect of all the torments of my hell; My heavy heart its evils can't bewray ; I'm so confused I can find naught to say. But mercy, lady bright, that knowest well My heart, and seest all the ills I feel, Consider and have ruth upon my sore As truly as I shall, for evermore, Well as I may, thy one true servant be, And wage a war henceforth on chastity. If thou wilt help , thus do I make my vow, To boast of knightly skill I care not now, Nor do I ask tomorrow's victory, Nor any such renown, nor vain glory Of prize of arms, blown before lord and churl, But I would have possession of one girl, Of Emily, and die in thy service;

104. The Knight’s Tale EMILY’S prayer to DIANA: "O thou chaste goddess of the wildwood green, By whom all heaven and earth and sea are seen, Queen of the realm of Pluto, dark and low, Goddess of maidens, that my heart dost know For all my years, and knowest what I desire, Oh, save me from thy vengeance and thine ire . That on Actaeon fell so cruelly. Chaste goddess, well indeed thou knowest that I Desire to be a virgin all my life, Nor ever wish to be man's love or wife. I am, thou know'st , yet of thy company, A maid, who loves the hunt and venery, And to go rambling in the greenwood wild, And not to be a wife and be with child. I do not crave the company of man

105. The Knight’s Tale ARCITA’S prayer to MARS: I'm young, and little skilled, as knowest thou, With love more hurt and much more broken now Than ever living creature was, I'm sure; For she who makes me all this woe endure, Whether I float or sink cares not at all, And ere she'll hear with mercy when I call , I must by prowess win her in this place; And well I know, too, without help and grace Of thee, my human strength shall not avail Then help me, lord, tomorrow not to fail, For sake of that same fire that once burned thee, The which consuming fire so now burns me; And grant, tomorrow, I have victory.

106. The Knight’s Tale (IV ) BATTLE : Duke Theseus ordered that, during the war between the two sides, nobody would suffer a mortal blow. If an opponent was overcome, he was to leave the battle. The people raised their voices in exultation. The two armies were equal in prowess, age and nobility, and Arcite pursued Palamon viciously, and Palamon returned with equal severity. But Emetreus seized Palamon and pierced him with his sword. In the attempt to rescue Palamon , King Lycurgus was struck down, and then Emetreus himself was wounded. Theseus declared that Arcite had won.

107. The Knight’s Tale As Arcite was proclaimed victorious, there was an earthquake sent by Pluto that frightened Arcite's horse, which swerved and fell, throwing off Arcite and mortally wounding him. Before he died, Arcite tells Emelye that she could have no more worthy husband than Palamon . His last word before he died was her name. Arcite was buried to the place where he and Palamon had fought over love – in the woods.

108. The Knight’s Tale ARCITE to EMILY: "Naught may the woeful spirit in my heart Declare one point of how my sorrows smart To you, my lady, whom I love the most; But I bequeath the service of my ghost To you above all others, this being sure Now that my life may here no more endure. Alas, the woe! Alas, the pain so strong That I for you have suffered, and so long! Alas for death! Alas, my Emily! Alas, the parting of our company! Alas, my heart's own queen! Alas, my wife! My soul's dear lady, ender of my life! What is this world? What asks a man to have? Now with his love, now in the cold dark grave Alone, with never any company. Alone, with never any company. Farewell, my sweet foe! O my Emily! Oh, take me in your gentle arms, I pray, For love of God, and hear what I will say. "I have here, with my cousin Palamon , Had strife and rancour many a day that's gone, That is to say, truth, honour , and knighthood, Wisdom, humility and kinship good, And generous soul and all the lover's art- So now may Jove have in my soul his part As in this world, right now, I know of none So worthy to be loved as Palamon , Who serves you and will do so all his life. And if you ever should become a wife, Forget not Palamon , the noble man."

109. The Knight’s Tale Arcite was buried in a Greek’s culture way. He was burned to death and Emily was the one who lighted up the fire of the straws prepared for the burial. Palamon , Emily and Theseus mourned over Arcite’s death. Theseus wept so much that his father, Aegeus , advises him saying that death is a natural occurrence in a man’s life. Theseus, in a very long speech referred to as the “First Mover” speech, then ordered Emelye to marry Palamon after a funeral ceremony honoring Arcite . Emily and Palamon heeded to the advise of the duke, they fall in love and they married.

110. The Knight’s Tale Duke Theseus’ MOVER’s SPEECH: "The Primal Mover and the Cause above, When first He forged the goodly chain of love, Great the effect, and high was His intent; Well knew He why, and what thereof He meant; For with that goodly chain of love He bound The fire, the air, the water, and dry ground In certain bounds, the which they might not flee; That same First Cause and Mover "Has stablished in this base world, up and down, A certain length of days to call their own For all that are engendered in this place, Beyond the which not one day may they pace, Though yet all may that certain time abridge ; Authority there needs none, I allege, For it is well proved by experience, Save that I please to clarify my sense. Then may men by this order well discern This Mover to be stable and eterne. Well may man know, unless he be a fool, That every part derives but from the whole. For Nature has not taken his being From any part and portion of a thing, But from a substance perfect, stable aye, And so continuing till changed away. And therefore, of His Wisdom's Providence, Has He so well established ordinance That species of all things and all progressions, If they'd endure, it must be by successions, Not being themselves eternal, 'tis no lie:

111. The Knight’s Tale " Sister," quoth he, "you have my full consent, With the advice of this my Parliament, That gentle Palamon , your own true knight, Who serves you well with will and heart and might, And so has ever, since you knew him first- That you shall, of your grace, allay his thirst By taking him for husband and for lord: Lend me your hand, for this is our accord . Let now your woman's pity make him glad. For he is a king's brother's son, by gad; And though he were a poor knight bachelor, Since he has served you for so many a year, And borne for you so great adversity, This ought to weigh with you, it seems to me, For mercy ought to dominate mere right." Then said he thus to Palamon the knight: "I think there needs but little sermoning To make you give consent, now, to this thing. Come near, and take your lady by the hand."

112. The Knight’s Tale Ending Between them, then, was tied that nuptial band, Which is called matrimony or marriage, By all the council and the baronage. And thus, in all bliss and with melody, Has Palamon now wedded Emily. And God Who all this universe has wrought, Send him His love, who has it dearly bought. For now has Palamon , in all things, wealth, Living in bliss, in riches, and in health; And Emily loved him so tenderly, And he served her so well and faithfully, That never word once marred their happiness, No jealousy, nor other such distress. Thus ends now Palamon and Emily; And may God save all this fair company! Amen.

113. The Canterbury Tales (Franklin’s Tale)

114. Franklin’s Tale Cast of Characters Arveragus He is a brave Knight who seeks a wife that will enter into a marriage where both parties show patience to each other.

115. Franklin’s Tale Cast of Characters Dorigen She becomes Arveragus ’ wife who is unhappy when her husband is away.

116. Franklin’s Tale Cast of Characters Aurelius He is a wealthy neighbor who harbors a secret love for Dorigen .

117. Franklin’s Tale Prologue to the Franklin's Tale The old Bretons, in their time, made songs, and the Franklin’s Tale, the narrator says, is to be one of those songs. However, the Franklin begs the indulgence of the company because he is a “ burel man” (an unlearned man) and simple in his speech. He has, he says, never learned rhetoric, and he speaks simply and plainly – the colors he knows are not colors of rhetoric, but colors of the meadow.

118. Franklin’s Tale These ancient gentle Bretons, in their days, Of divers high adventures made great lays And rhymed them in their primal Breton tongue, The which lays to their instruments they sung, Or else recited them where joy might be; And one of them have I in memory, Which I shall gladly tell you, as I can. But, sirs, because I am an ignorant man, At my beginning must I first beseech You will excuse me for my vulgar speech ; I never studied rhetoric, that's certain; That which I say, it must be bare and plain. I never slept on Mount Parnassus, no, Nor studied Marcus Tullius Cicero. Colours I know not, there's no doubt indeed, Save colours such as grow within the mead, Or such as men achieve with dye or paint. Colours of rhetoric I find but quaint; My spirit doesn't feel the beauty there. But if you wish, my story you shall hear."

119. Franklin’s Tale The Franklin's Tale begins with the courtship of the Breton knight Arviragus and Dorigen , who came to be married happily. Their marriage was one of equality, in which neither of the two was a master or servant. However, soon after their marriage, Arviragus was sent away to Britain to work for two years. Dorigen wept for his absence, despite the letters that he sent home to her. Her friends would often take her on walks where they would pass the cliffs overlooking the ocean and watch ships enter the port, hoping that one of them would bring home her husband.

120. Franklin’s Tale For all his absence wept she and she sighed, As noble wives do at a lone fireside. She mourned, watched, wailed, she fasted and complained; Desire for him so bound her and constrained, That all this wide world did she set at naught. Her friends, who knew her grief and heavy thought , Comforted her as they might do or say; They preached to her, they told her night and day That for no cause she killed herself, alas! And so long did they comfort her that she Received at last, by hope and reason grown, Imprinted consolations as her own, Whereby her sorrow did somewhat assuage; She could not always live in such a rage.

121. Franklin’s Tale Although her friends’ comforting eventually started to work, Dorigen remained distressed by the grisly, black rocks visible from the cliff-side, near to the shore. She asked God why he would create “this werk unresonable ” (this unreasonable work), whose only purpose was to kill people. Her friends, seeing how terribly Dorigen feared that whatever ship brought her husband home would crash on these rocks and sink, provided further distractions.

122. Franklin’s Tale DORIGEN: But , Lord, these grisly, fiendish rocks, so black, That seem but rather foul confusion thrown Awry than any fair world of Thine own, Aye of a perfect wise God and stable, Why hast Thou wrought this insane work, pray tell ? For by this work, north, south, and west and east, There is none nurtured, man, nor bird, nor beast; It does no good, to my mind, but annoys. See'st Thou not, Lord, how mankind it destroys? A hundred thousand bodies of mankind Have died on rocks, whose names are not in mind, And man's a creature made by Thee most fair, After Thine image, as Thou didst declare. Then seemed it that Thou had'st great charity Toward mankind; but how then may it be That Thou hast wrought such means man to destroy,

123. Franklin’s Tale One day, her friends had organized a party and a dance in a beautiful garden. It was at this dance that Aurelius, a squire, danced in front of Dorigen , who was as fresh and well-dressed as the month of May. His singing and dancing were better than any man’s, and he was one of the most handsome men alive. Unbeknownst to Dorigen , Aurelius had been in love with her for two years, but had never dared tell her how he felt. It was during the dancing, then, that Aurelius addressed Dorigen , wishing that he, and not her husband, had been sent across the sea, before begging her to have mercy on him and revealing his love.

124. Franklin’s Tale AURELIUS: Unto his purpose drew Aurelius, And when he saw his time addressed her thus: "Madam," said he, "by God Who this world made, So that I knew it might your sad heart aid, I would, that day when your Arviragus Went overseas, that I, Aurelius, Had gone whence never I should come again; For well I know. service is in vain . My guerdon is the breaking of my heart; Madam, have pity on my pains that smart; For with a word you may slay me or save, Here at your feet would God I found my grave! Time to say more, at present naught have I; Have mercy, sweet, or you will make me die!"

125. Franklin’s Tale Dorigen responded by sternly rebuking Aurelius, telling him that she would never be an untrue wife, and had no intention of cuckolding her husband. And then, “in pley ” (playfully, flirtily , in fun), Dorigen added that she would be Aurelius’ love on the day that all of the rocks were removed from the coast. This made Aurelius sigh heavily: “Madame”, he said “this were an inpossible !” (an impossibility). The dance ended and the guests went home, except for poor, sorrowful Aurelius, who fell to his knees, and holding his hands to heaven, prayed to the gods for mercy.

126. Franklin’s Tale DORIGEN: So then she looked upon Aurelius: "Is this your will?" asked she, "And say you thus? Never before have I known what you meant. But since, Aurelius, I know your intent, By that same God Who gave me soul and life, Never shall I become an untrue wife In word or deed, so far as I have wit: I will remain his own to whom I'm knit; Take this for final answer as from me." DORIGEN: " Aurelius," said she, "by God above, Yet would I well consent to be your love, Since I hear you complain so piteously, On that day when, from coasts of Brittany, You've taken all the black rocks, stone by stone, So that they hinder ship nor boat- I own, I say, when you have made the coast so clean Of rocks that there is no stone to be seen, Then will I love you best of any man; Take here my promise- all that ever I can."

127. Franklin’s Tale For comfort in this long time had he none, Save from his brother, who was a good clerk; He knew of all this woe and all this work. For to no other human, 'tis certain, Dared he his cause of illness to explain . In breast he kept more secret his idea Than did Pamphilius for Galatea. His breast was whole, with no wound to be seen, But in his heart there was the arrow keen. And well you know that of a sursanure In surgery is difficult the cure, Unless they find the dart or take it out.

128. Franklin’s Tale Arviragus then returned from abroad, and Dorigen was delighted to have him back. Two years passed, and Aurelius lay in torment, and without comfort – except, that is for his brother, a clerk, who suggested that he meet a student of law at Orleans who was versed in the sciences of illusion and “ magyk ”. Heading toward Orleans, the two came across a young clerk, roaming by himself, who greeted them in Latin, and claimed to know why they came. And before they went a step further, he told them exactly what they were travelling to achieve.

129. Franklin’s Tale Aurelius leapt down from his horse, and went with this man to his house, where he fed them and showed them wondrous illusions of various kinds. The man eventually agreed to remove the rocks from the coast for a thousand pounds. The next morning, having stayed at the man’s house, they travelled to Brittany, where, by illusion, the man made it so that, for a week or two, it would appear that the rocks had vanished.

130. Franklin’s Tale AURELIUS: "To love me best, God knows you promised so, Howe'er I may unworthy be thereto. Madam, I say it for your honour's vow More than to save my heart's dear life right now; I have done all that you commanded me; And if you will, you may well go and see. Do as you please, but hold your word in mind, For quick or dead, as you do, me you'll find; In you lies all, to make me live or die, But well I know the rocks are vanished, aye!" He took his leave, and she astounded stood, In all her face there was no drop of blood; She never thought to have come in such a trap. "Alas!" said she, "that ever this should hap! For thought I never, by possibility, That such prodigious marvel e'er might be! It is against the way of all nature."

131. Franklin’s Tale Arvigarus was out of town, and Dorigen was overcome with grief, realizing that she must forfeit either her body or her reputation. She thought about the numerous instances in which a faithful wife or a maiden destroyed herself rather than submitting herself to another. She cited the maidens of Lacedaemon who chose to be slain rather than defiled, Hasdrubal's wife, who committed suicide during the siege of Carthage, and Lucrece , who did the same when Tarquin took her by force.

132. Franklin’s Tale DORIGEN: "Of thee," she cried, "O Fortune, I complain, That, unaware, I'm bound within thy chain; From which to go, I know of no succour Save only death, or else my dishonour ; One of these two I am compelled to choose . Nevertheless, I would far rather lose My life than of my body come to shame, Or know myself untrue, or lose my name; By death I know it well, I may be freed; Has there not many a noble wife, indeed, And many a maiden slain herself- alas!-

133. Franklin’s Tale When Arviragus returned home and Dorigen told him the truth of what had happened, he told that he will bear the shame of her actions, and that adhering to her promise is the most important thing. He therefore sent her to submit to Aurelius.

134. Franklin’s Tale Home came Arviragus , this worthy knight, And asked her why it was she wept so sore. And thereat she began to weep the more. "Alas!" cried she, "that ever I was born! Thus have I said," quoth she, "thus have I sworn"- And told him all, as you have heard before; It needs not to re-tell it to you more. Nevertheless, I would far rather lose My life than of my body come to shame, Or know myself untrue, or lose my name; By death I know it well, I may be freed; Has there not many a noble wife, indeed, And many a maiden slain herself- alas!-

135. Franklin’s Tale ARVIRAGUS: This husband, with glad cheer, in friendly wise, Answered and said as I shall you apprise: "Is there naught else, my Dorigen , than this?" "Nay, nay," said she, "God help me, as it is This is too much, though it were God's own will ." "Yea, wife," said he, "let sleep what's lying still; It may be well with us, perchance, today. But you your word shall hold to, by my fay! As God may truly mercy have on me, Wounded to death right now I'd rather be,

136. Franklin’s Tale For sake of this great love of you I have, Than you should not your true word keep and save. Truth is the highest thing that man may keep." But with that word began he then to weep , And said: "I you forbid, on pain of death, That ever, while to you last life and breath, To anyone you tell this adventure. As I best may, I will my woe endure, Nor show a countenance of heaviness, That folk no harm may think of you, or guess."

137. Franklin’s Tale Dorigen went to the middle town, in the busiest street where Aurelius accidentally saw her and followed her. She went to the garden where she pledged her word towards Aurelius.

138. Franklin’s Tale " Unto the garden, as my husband bade, My promise there to keep, alas, alast " Aurelius then pondered on this case, And in his heart he had compassion great On her and her lamenting and her state, And on Arviragus , the noble knight , Who'd bidden her keep promise, as she might, Being so loath his wife should break with truth; And in his heart he gained, from this, great ruth , Considering the best on every side, That from possession rather he'd abide Than do so great a churlish grievousness Against free hearts and all high nobleness;

139. Franklin’s Tale " Madam, say to your lord Arviragus That since I see his noble gentleness To you, and since I see well your distress, That he'd have rather shame (and that were ruth ) Than you to me should break your word of truth, I would myself far rather suffer woe Than break apart the love between you two. So I release, madam, into your hand , Each bond that you have given and have sworn, Even from the very time that you were born. And do return, discharged, each surety and My word I pledge, I'll ne'er seek to retrieve A single promise, and I take my leave As of the truest and of the best wife That ever yet I've known in all my life. Let every wife of promises take care, Remember Dorigen , and so beware! Thus can a squire perform a gentle deed As well as can a knight, of that take heed."

140. Franklin’s Tale Aurelius then went to pay the law student, even though his affair remained unconsummated , he even cursed the day that he was born because of his debt towards the law student.

141. Franklin’s Tale AURELIUS: "Alas !" cried he, "Alas! that I did state I'd pay fine gold a thousand pounds by weight To this philosopher! What shall I do? I see no better than I'm ruined too. All of my heritage I needs must sell And be a beggar; here I cannot dwell And shame all of my kindred in this place, Unless I gain of him some better grace. And so I'll go to him and try, today, On certain dates, from year to year, to pay, And thank him for his princely courtesy; For I will keep my word, and I'll not lie."

142. Franklin’s Tale AURELIUS: " Dear master, I may well protest I've never failed to keep my word, as yet; For certainly I'll pay my entire debt To you, however after I may fare, Even to begging, save for kirtle, bare. But if you'd grant, on good security, Two years or three of respite unto me, Then all were well; otherwise must I sell “Dear master, I may well protest I've never failed to keep my word, as yet; For certainly I'll pay my entire debt To you, however after I may fare, Even to begging, save for kirtle, bare. But if you'd grant, on good security, Two years or three of respite unto me, Then all were well; otherwise must I sell My heritage; there is no more to tell."

143. Franklin’s Tale "Dear brother, Each one of you has nobly dealt with other. You are a squire, true, and he is a knight, But God forbid, what of His blessed might, A clerk should never do a gentle deed As well as any of you. Of this take heed ! "Sir, I release to you your thousand pound, As if, right now, you'd crept out of the ground And never, before now, had known of me. For, sir, I'll take of you not one penny For all my art and all my long travail. You have paid well for all my meat and ale; It is enough, so farewell, have good day!"

144. Franklin’s Tale Ending Masters, this question would I ask you now: Which was most generous, do you think, and how. Pray tell me this before you farther wend. I can no more, my tale is at an end.

145. The Canterbury Tales