its title and privileges from military duties and service, so it is The narrator’s portrait of the Physician is neither uniformly complimentary nor entirely satirical. The Tales end with Chaucer's retraction. The action begins at a tavern just outside of London, circa 1390, where a group of pilgrims have gathered in preparation for their journey to visit the shrine of St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury.
will see in the rest of the General Prologue, the Knight and Squire Inn, a great company of twenty-nine travelers entered. and any corresponding bookmarks? to set off on their journey. a pilgrimage. The miserly, wily Reeve knows all the tricks of servants and managers because he uses them himself. “Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. One spring day, the Narrator of The Canterbury Tales rents a room at the Tabard Inn before he recommences his journey to Canterbury.That evening, a group of people arrive at the inn, all of whom are also going to Canterbury to receive the blessings of "the holy blissful martyr," St. Thomas à Becket. -Graham S. The Physician is genuinely a man of learning and practices a moderate lifestyle, yet he pursues his career not for love of knowledge but for love of gold. Summary and Analysis The Prologue Summary. and their social roles reveal the influence of the medieval genre The Summoner is another one of the religious figures in the Tales who is not as devout as one would expect someone in his office to be. popular saint in England. The Canterbury Tales as they stand today appear, by the Host’s explanation of the game, to be incomplete: each pilgrim is supposed to tell two tales on the way there and on the way back, yet not every pilgrim gets even one tale, and they don’t make it to Canterbury, let alone back. The Knight’s stained, modest clothes show that he truly fights well and is not showy or vain. it is therefore surprising when the narrator reveals that he’s going The Wife of Bath, who is the last of this group to be presented, is included in this group because of her knowledge and deportment and her many other pilgrimages.The Parson and the Plowman comprise the next group of pilgrims, the virtuous poor or lower class. His as a member of the group.The narrator ends the introductory portion of his prologue After talking to them, he agrees to joi… The Prioress' prologue aptly fits the Prioress' character and position. She is a nun whose order relies heavily upon the patronage of the Virgin Mary. The Host serves as yet another layer of narrator: we have Chaucer the author of all the Tales; Chaucer the narrator, one of the pilgrims on the journey who both observes all the other pilgrims and gets to tell tales himself; and the Host, the guide to the tale-telling game. Instant downloads of all 1330 LitChart PDFs By pretending to agree that monks should abandon the commands of their orders and go hunting instead of studying in cloisters, the narrator mocks the corruption he sees in medieval monasteries. represent the military estate. as “we” beginning in line 29, asserting his status The cool droplets of awaited showers bring relief to the dry winter lands and revitalize the plants and men alike. penance and grace. The clergy is represented by the They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!” By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from Shmoop and verify that you are over the age of 13. A summary of Part X (Section2) in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. a certain length of time before sitting down and describing them. One spring day, the Narrator of The Canterbury Tales rents a room at the Tabard Inn before he recommences his journey to Canterbury.That evening, a group of people arrive at the inn, all of whom are also going to Canterbury to receive the blessings of "the holy blissful martyr," St. Thomas à Becket. The narrator is satirizing the stereotype of the poor, emaciated scholar who spends all his money on books rather than on practicalities like food and clothing; however, the narrator does admit—and seem to admire—that the student truly loves knowledge. begins is lengthy and formal compared to the language of the rest
The narrator opens the General Prologue with a description a pilgrimage, staying at a tavern in Southwark called the Tabard The Man of Laws is a social climber, a hard worker attempting to climb up the ranks through skill and networking.