The Canterbury Tales

Michael Pfaff
ENG 221
Dr. Steven A. Estep
The
Knight
“A Knight ther was, and that a worthy man, That fro
the time that he first biganTo riden out, he loved
chivalrye, Trouthe and honour, freedom and
curteisye. Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre, And
therto hadde he riden, no man ferre,0 As wel in
Cristendom as hethenesse.” (Chaucer 262)

This painting, Godspeed by Edmund Leighton,

reflects the character of The Knight in totality. A
chivalric warrior on his horse about to set off to war.
The Wife of Bath

“She coude0 muchel of wandring by the

waye: Gat-toothed9 was she, soothly for
to saye. Upon an amblere1 esily she sat,
Ywimpled0 wel, and on hir heed an hat As
brood as is a bokeler or a targe,2 A foot-
mantel0 aboute hir hipes large, And on hir
feet a paire of spores0 sharpe.” (Chaucer
271)
This portion of the painting by
Ambrogio Lorenzetti called the Effects
of Good Government on the City Life
(1338) evokes the scene of the Wife of
Bath riding astride her horse.
Springtime
The Spring is an important setting
element and theme in The Canterbury
Tales. This painting by Claude Monet
titled Springtime (1872) perfectly
captures the essence of Spring in these
stories.

“Whan that April with his° showres

soote° The droughte of March hath
perced to the roote, And bathed every
veine1 in swich° licour, Of which vertu2
engendred is the flowr; Whan Zephyrus
eek° with his sweete breeth Inspired hath
in every holt° and heeth” (Chaucer 259)

Courtly Love
Courtly love, as we’ve seen
in many medieval writings
up until now, is an
important motif in The
Canterbury Tales. This
painting by Renaissance
artist Vittore Carpaccio of a
“young knight” (1510)
reflects what I imagine the
“lusty bachelor” character
of The Squire to appear like,
curly hair and all.
The Squire
“He was a verray,0 parfit,0
gentil0 knight. But for to
tellen you of his array, His
hors were goode, but he was
nat gay. Of fustian0 he wered
a gipoun Al bismotered with
his haubergeoun, For he was
late0 come from his viage,
And wente for to doon his
pilgrimage. With him ther was
his sone, a yong Squier, A
lovere and a lusty bacheler,
With Iokkes crulle0 as they
were laid in presse.” (Chaucer
261)
The Monk
“A Monk ther was, a fair for the maistrye, An outridere that loved
venerye, A manly man, to been an abbot able. Ful many a daintee0
hors hadde he in stable, And whan he rood, men mighte his bridel
here Ginglen0 in a whistling wind as clere And eek as loude as dooth
the chapel belle Ther as this lord was kepere of the celle.” (Chaucer
264)
While typical monks look to be in brown ropes with their bald
heads, I imagine this monk much differently. I see him bearded
like the Woodsman in this painting by Ivan Kramskoy circa
1874.
The Pardoner
& Church Corruption
“Of avarice and of swich cursednesse Is al my preching, for to make hem free To yiven hir
pens, and namely0 unto me, For myn entente is nat but for to winne, And no thing for
correccion of sinne” (Chaucer 328)
The Pardoner is a character who sells absolution for profit. He admits that he is in
it for the money and in this we can see a theme that pervades this time period’s
works: corruption in the church. It’s a theme of Christian origin.
Two works that I believe reflect The Pardoner and Church Corruption are St.
Wolfgang and the Devil by Michael Pacher (1471-75) [right] and The Cleansing of
the Temple by Giovanni Paolo Panin (1775) [next slide].
The Summoner
“A Somnour was ther with us in that place That
hadde a fir-reed0 cherubinnes face, For
saucefleem0 he was, with yen narwe, And hoot he
was, and lecherous as a sparwe, With scaled0
browes blake and piled beerd: Of his visage
children were aferd.” (Chaucer 274)
The Summoner is a character revolting both
physically and spiritually. He is ugly and
lecherous. This old man with an ugly face as
depicted in Domenico Ghirlandaio’s painting
called An Old Man and his Grandson (grandson
not shown here) is what I imagine the summoner
in the Canterbury Tales to look like with his
knobby face.
John of The Miller’s Tale
John the Carpenter of The Miller’s Tale is the jealous
husband of the young and fair wife. Poor John ultimately
becomes the laughing stock of the village. The painting
to the right by Gerrit van Honthorst called The Holy
Family in the Carpenter Shop captures how I might have
envisioned John (alongside his much younger wife).
“The folk gan laughen at his fantasye. Into the roof they
kiken and they cape, peer/gape And turned al his harm
unto a jape, jolte For what so that this carpenter
answerde, It was for nought: no man his reson herde;
argument With othes grete he was so sworn adown, That
he was holden0 wood in al the town, considered For every
clerk anoonright heeld with other: They saide, "The man
was wood, my leve brother,“ And every wight gan
laughen at this strif.” (Chaucer 298)
 A character in The Miller’s Tale,
Nicholas is a student who lives with
the carpenter, John. Nicholas studies
astrology and is quite well-liked. Of
course, Nicholas is the classic musician
that girls swoon at and before long he
Nicholas is making moves on poor John’s
young, pretty wife!
of Just about the perfect painting for this
Nicholas guy is The Guitarist by Jean-
The Baptiste Greuze (1757).

Miller’s Tale “And thus they been accorded and

ysworn To waite a time, as I have told
biforn Whan Nicholas hadde doon this
everydeel, And thakked0 hire upon the
Iendes0 weel He kiste hire sweete, and
taketh his sautrye, And playeth faste, and
maketh melodye.” (Chaucer 286)
 “So swetely that al the
chambre roong, And Angelus
ad Virginem he soong,And
after that he soong the Kinges
Note: Ful often blessed was
his merye throte. And thus this
sweete clerk his time spente
After his freendes finding and

Angelus ad Virginem his rente.” (Chauncer 284)

The student in The Miller’s
Tale, Nicholas, likes to sing
(click to listen) a song called Angelus ad
Virginem, or The Angel to
the Virgin, a hymn. We can
hear this song on YouTube
sung by The Choir of the
Church of the Advent,
Boston.
 Fabliau Examples:

Though French in origin, the

The term fabliau refers to a  “And prively he caughte hire
Miller’s Tale humorous story that uses
debaucherous language and
by the queinte” (Chaucer
286)
as a sexual content to engage the
readers. The Miller’s Tale is a
 “And heeld hire harde by the
Fabliau perfect example of a fabliau, as
haunche-bones” (Chaucer
286)
we see some pretty direct and
what might have been taboo or  “And thakked0 hire upon the
pornographic dialogue and Iendes0 weel” (Chaucer 286)
descriptions here.
Alisoun

This painting by Francisco de Goya titled “The Nude Maja” (circa 1800)
probably captures my vision of the seductress Alisoun in The Miller’s Tale
most aptly.

“She was ful more blisful on to see Than is the newe perejonette0 tree, And
softer than the wolle0 is of a wether; And by hir girdel0 heeng0 a purs of
lether, Tasseled with silk and perled with latoun. In al this world, to seeken up
and down, Ther nis no man so wis that coude thenche0 So gay a popelote0 or
swich0 a wenche.” (Chaucer 285)
A Scene of Dancing Girls
 Perhaps my favorite scene in all the tales can be evoked with Simon Hollosy’s
Dancing Girls at the Edge of the Forest (1895). A knight rides along and sees a
number of girls dancing by the edge of a forest, though when he comes nearer he
finds only an elderly woman.
 “But hoom he gooth, he mighte nat sojourne: The day was come that hoomward
moste0 he turne. And in his way it happed him to ride In al this care under0 a forest side,
Wher as he sawgh upon a daunce go Of ladies foure and twenty and yit mo Toward the
whiche daunce he drow ful yerne, In hope that som wisdom sholde he lerne. But
certainly, er he cam fully there, Vanisshed was this daunce, he niste where. No creature
sawgh he that bar0 lif, Save on the greene he sawgh sitting a wiP— A fouler wight ther
may no man devise.0 Again the knight this olde wif gan rise, And saide, "Sire knight, heer
forth lith no way. Telle me what ye seeken, by youre fay. Paraventure it may the better
be: Thise olde folk conne muchel thing," quod she.” (Chaucer 322)
  Brave Sir Robin, Monty Python
A  I Get Around, Beach Boys

Canterbury  Dancing Days, Led Zeppelin

 Highwayman, The
Tales Highwaymen
Playlist  Your Cheatin’ Heart, Hank
Williams
Works Cited
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. The Norton Anthology of English
Literature: The Sixteenth Century and The Early Seventeenth Century, edited
by Stephen Greenblatt, Norton, 2018, pp. 259-363.