The Canterbury Tales:The Pilgrims

The Knight

• perfect and genteel man who loved truth, freedom, chivalry and honor. The most socially  prominent person on the journey; the battles he fought were all religious wars of some nature.

The Squire

a candidate for knighthood; a lover who can sing lusty songs, compose melodies, poetry, plays the flute.

Yeoman

dressed in green; an expert woodsman, an excellent shot with the bow/ arrow

Prioress (Nun)

Overly sensitive towards animals; not much of a nun; large forehead

Monka lover of hunting, fine foods;

bald headed, ugly, fat; dressed in fine clothes.  No other monk is more worldly than he is.  Everything that  the monk does is a violation of his monastic orders. His love of the worldly goods, food, and  pleasure, and his dislike of the quiet monastery contradict his religious vows.

Friar

Hubert --a wanton and merry man who had helped many girls get married after he got them in  trouble. Fat, shaped like a bell. White throat. Always able to get money from people (thru every vicious and immoral method). The best of his type--scoundrel. Had a slight lisp.

Merchant

rich and powerful rising middle class; shrewd; knew how to bargain; well-dressed. No  one would tell he was deeply in debt

Student

student at Oxford; extremely thin on a thin horse; threadbare clothes; quiet; a real scholar; poor. Rode at the back. Next to the knight, he is one of the most admired people on the pilgrimage.

Lawyer

able attorney; makes people think that he is busier and wiser than he really is; charges a lot

Franklin

large landowner with wealth, but not of noble birth. Red face and white beard; enjoys good living; generally liked by the other pilgrims. Cheerful, confident.

Cook

a master of his trade; good at cooking, but he has a running sore on his shin, because his best dish was a creamed chicken pie whose white sauce might be the same color as the pus from the sore.

The Skipper

a huge man, uncouth; a master of vessel and knew all the ports; not ride well; like a fish out of water as sat on his horse.

Doctor

knows astronomy (astrology) and something of nature; but nothing of the Bible. Made a lot of money during the plague; love gold; wore blue and red; picky eater

Wife of Bath

a bit deaf, excellent seamstress and weaver; married 5 times; with aggressive feminism; in fancy/colorful clothes: scarlet red stockings; gap-toothed; amorous; laugh and joke

Parson

poor, but rich in holy thoughts and works; live the perfect life first and then teach it. True Christian priest; Amid the worldly clerics and the false and superficial religious adherents, the poor parson stands out as the ideal portrait of what a parish priest should be.

Manciple

steward for a law school (a dorm for lawyers) in London; cunning, though unlettered; cheating the well-educated lawyers by putting aside a tidy little sum for himself. Cautious buyer; debt free　

Miller

a big brawny man to outwrestle any man/ even a ram. Short shouldered, broad and thick set; red beard, a wart on his nose from which bristly red hairs protruded made him look fearful.

Summoner

ugly: fire-red complexion, pimples and boils, a scaly infection around the eyebrows, and a moth-eaten beard; loves garlic, onions, leeks, and strong wine. His physical appearance fits his profession well since he is paid to summon sinners for a trial before a church court.

Pardoner

a church official who had authority from Rome to sell pardon and indulgence to those charged with sins. Hypocrite, phony, ugly but in fashionable clothes--loud, high-pitched voice, greed, big eyes, yellow hair, beardless sing and preach so as to frighten everyone into buying his pardons at a great price.

Reeve

manager of a large estate. Shrewd, businesslike, capable; A skinny man/ bad temper; ride last (in the back)--suspicious, trusting nobody. Everybody is afraid of him.

Guildsmen

Had gold-digger wives; part of a guild with: The Haberdasher, the Dyer, the Carpenter, the Weaver, and the Carpet maker.

The Host

Harry Bailey; a merry man  suggests that, to tell stories to shorten the long journey--two tales on the way to Canterbury and two more tales on the way back; the man who told his story best was to be given a sumptuous dinner by the other members of the party.

The Tabard

The inn from whence the pilgrims are leaving.

Source

• http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/iacd_99F/medieval_lit/data/Chaucer.html#portrait