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Chaucer’s View on his characters through The Canterbury Tales



Society fills a person’s mind with stereotypes of people, evolving throughout time. In the middle ages, three stereotypes were exceptionally common: the wanton, the mercenary, and a character with high scruples. In the book, The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, each of his pilgrims would represent both a career and one of these stereotypes of his time. Three such pilgrims would have to be the Wife of Bath, the Merchant, and the Oxford Cleric. Chaucer gives each of these characters a negative/positive connotation through depending on Chaucer’s tone and/or word choices. This was specifically evident in his description of each pilgrim in the prologue. After reading this book, the reader can infer how each of these characters reflected on the stereotypes of his day and age. His words and tone are an indication of his greatness as a writer, connecting the stereotypes of his age to the present.



The first axiomatic characteristic is a wanton. A wanton can be described as a person that is careless in their behavior. Chaucer’s wanton was the Wife of Bath, a women very careless in her behavior relative to her time. This is seen through the prologue where Chaucer describes her by saying “Her hose was of the finest scarlet red/and gartered tight; her shoes were soft and new/…She’d had five husbands, all at the church door/…She had gap teeth, set widely truth to say/…Large hips, her heels spurred sharply under that/…and knew the remedies for love’s mischances/An art in which she knew the oldest dances” (Chaucer 31 and 32). Through his words, Chaucer was able to

demonstrate how the Wife of Bath was a greatly sensual person. This is established when it is stated she wore tight red hoses and large heels, had a gap in here front two teeth, and knew the remedies of love. Tight hoses and high heels themselves create the visual representation of the body. This becomes more sensual when the hoses are red; red was a color representing ambition and love, a clue of sexual activity. Gapped teeth in Chaucer’s time were a symbol of a sexual person, another clue to her behavior. Chaucer than reveals that she is knowledgeable on the dances of love; he clearly utters her great skill in making love. All of this together created a sensual women, which, especially in Chaucer’s time, was unacceptable. Women were supposed to be house wives, not obviously sensual. This carelessness in her sexual appeal, according to Chaucer, leads her to be categorized as a wanton. Chaucer continues to use his words to categorize the pilgrims through the prologue.



High scruples is a characteristic of a person with high morals. Chaucer’s pilgrim that expressed this quality was the “not too fat” and quiet Oxferd Cleric. Chaucer describes the Oxferd Cleric as a student of the clergy that enjoyed reading immensely. Chaucer says “What ever money from his friends he took/He spent on learning or another book/And prayed for them most earnestly, returning/Thanks to them thus paying for his learning” (Chaucer 27). This reflects how the Oxferd Cleric loved reading and learning greatly but always repaid his friends whichever way he could. A Cleric in Chaucer’s age was part of the Clergy, a class of religious teachers. Though a student, the Oxferd Cleric is still part of it. Therefore, Chaucer declares, when the Oxferd Cleric borrows money for his learning, he repays through religion; he would pray for them in return. His need to

repay his friends the best way possible is the indication of his high morals. Therefore, he is one pilgrim with high scruples. Chaucer is able to express the importance of this characteristic in his time through the Oxferd Cleric, showing that a high class man needs high scruples. This, however, is not the last of Chaucer’s pilgrims. Out of the numerous others, one more particular pilgrim stands out.



A mercenary is a person that is an expert in working for the gain of money. Through Chaucer’s various pilgrims, the most like a mercenary is the Merchant. The Merchant is shown as a high class worker with a Flemish beaver hat and “daintily buckled boots”. This is evidence of his expertise in the making of money, as shown by Chaucer’s prologue. He states “He was expert at dabbling in exchanges/…His wits to work, none knew he was in debt/He was stately in administration/In loans and bargains and negotiations” (Chaucer 27). Chaucer shows how the Merchant was an expert in money solutions. Like a mercenary, he is able to use his wits to make money through exchanges, loans, bargains, and negotiations. When Chaucer says that the Merchant owns a Flemish beaver hat and daintily buckled boots, it reflects the money the merchant can make, since these were expensive items in that time. As well, a merchant is one who works for production of profit. They were high in the hierarchy, another clue to his money production. Chaucer states that the Merchant was a fine fellow. The reader may infer that Chaucer believed a mercenary was respectable through his introduction of the merchant. Overall, the merchant was the mercenary of the pilgrims.



Chaucer uses his pilgrims to reflect the value of each characteristic. The Wife of Bath is shown to be a wanton, a women of careless behavior. Through his introduction,

Chaucer shows a wanton through a negative connotation. This reflects his time; a wanton was not respectable in his time since a women was supposed to be nice and loyal, not sensual. Chaucer also shows the Oxferd Cleric as a man with high scruples or high morals. This is proven through Oxferds Cleric’s repaying of his loans. By using an educated man of high class, Chaucer can convey that high scruples was respected in his society. Finally, the Merchant is expressed as a mercenary, one who is easily capable of making money. This is shown through Chaucer’s words where he states the Merchant as great with exchanges. Added to the Merchant’s luxuries of Flemish beaver hats and buckled shoes, it is obvious that the Merchant can make money. Since the merchant is of higher class and is told to be a good person, Chaucer can convey that the mercenary is a respectable man in his time. In conclusion, Chaucer himself was a respectable author, using his words to show the future generations the stereotypes of his time, which would soon reach the minds of young minds.