Chaucer's Use Of Direct Characterization Essay

In the prologue Chaucer talks about many of the characters. He often tells stories and describes how they act and how they are. From being members in the church to having a good and bad reputation in the town, all the characters are unique in their own way. Chaucer describes the summoner, pardoner, and the friar by using indirect characterization in each of their stories.

The Knight’s true character is portrayed through his modest apparel. His character is displayed by the way he chooses to show himself in public, which is a noble knight, that is why he wears dirty clothes and chooses to come on the pilgrimage straight from battle. “A Knight there was and that a worthy man, that from time that he first began. To riden out, he loved chivalry. Truth and honour, freedom and courtesy,”

In the time period between 1066 and 1485, better known as the medieval age, a set of standards and how people are placed into order of importance in society is known as feudalism. In this caste system there are four groups; Kings, Barons, Vassals, and Serfs. The main individual of focus comes from the vassals, better known as the knight. Knights from this time period start out around 7 years old and are taught a code of chivalry (code of conduct) and the basics of knight hood. The knight in the Wife of Bath’s tale forcibly violates a young madden and punished with execution by decapitation. He is saved by the queen but is sent on a twelve month and a day quest. The knight in the Wife of Bath’s Tale doesn’t display chivalry by his actions

In the late 14th century that is represented in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, the most perceived element of a true gentleman was conceivably chivalry. This element is demonstrated in two of the many characters in the story, the Knight and the Squire. The Knight and the Squire are father and son who are both members of the aristocrat class; both ride honorably on their horses and have the aura of a true gentleman, but despite their similarities, they are different. Though the Knight and the Squire share the same profession and are both members of the same aristocratic class, they differ in the fact that the Knight portrays the ideal society while the Squire displays the reality of society.

(Line 73) The Knight, according to Chaucer takes the code of chivalry very seriously and straight-forth. He based his values on the code of chivalry and doesn’t intend to break it. His attire also contributes to why Chaucer thinks highly of him. His clothes are made from a coarse cloth and his coat is rust-stained. We can infer that the Knight isn’t very wealthy but regardless, when compared to the other characters, he lives the best life of all.

In the Medieval Period, knights dedicated their lives to following the code of chivalry. In Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, a number of characters performed chivalrous acts to achieve the status of an ideal knight. Their characteristics of respect for women and courtesy for all, helpfulness to the weak, honor, and skill in battle made the characters King Arthur, King Pellinore, and Sir Gryfflette examples of a what knights strove to be like in Medieval society. Because of the examples ofchivalry, Le Morte d’Arthur showed what a knight desired to be, so he could improve theworld in which he lived.

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s poem, The Knight’s Tale, the author encapsulates chivalrous characteristics in his telling of a battle for love. In its fundamental form, chivalry idealizes a knight’s conduct, both on and off the battlefield (Gregory-Abbott). Chaucer employs this “heroic code [of] bravery, loyalty, and service to one's lord” to illustrate the idillic knight throughout the narrative (Rossignol). Chaucer’s poem, The Knight’s Tale, exhibits the ideals of chivalry in the form of two knights, desperately in love with the same woman, and a wise Duke who embodies the voice of reason. Each knight upholds honor through compassion, troths, and heroism on the battlefield, despite their afflictions with each other.

In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer shows both the corruption and the good in the characters through their physical appearance. The appearance of each character has a deeper meaning. The characters morals and character traits are not specifically mentioned in the “Prologue.” This is where the reader has to infer specific morals based on the physical appearances of the characters. Some of the characters have very good morals and others have no moral compass. The reader gets insight on the Knight, Merchant, and Summoner through Chaucer’s description of their physical appearance.

Chaucer uses indirect characterization when he tells how each character looks and dresses, thinks, feels, speaks, and acts. It is evident that Chaucer uses this pattern for every character he introduces. For example, Chaucer uses indirect characterization when he talks about the yeoman and his coat, “this yeoman wore a coat and hood of green, and peacocked-feathered arrows, bright and keen”. As well as “the monk’s sleeves were garnished at the hand, with fine gray fur, the finest I the land.” These are just one of the many examples of the use of indirect

of the poor outfit of the Knight. Instead he attempts to point out that the

In The Canterbury Tales, the knight is a modern type of knight. Although the description of this character’s personality is vague, it is not hard for modern day people to visualize him. In the prologue, it mentions that the knight follows the five basic ideals that a good knight should possess: “chivalry, Truth, honour, generousness, and courtesy” (Chaucer 4). The knight fought in the Crusades, wars in which Europeans traveled by sea to non-Christian places and tried to convert people’s culture by brute force, which was considered noble and brave hearted. From his love of the five basics ideals previously mentioned to his impressive military career, the knight is a perfect example of how a knight should be represented. Indirectly, the tale is discussing both the knight and the idea of how a knight should be. The tale does not describe much about the knight as in physical appearances and characteristics of this knight but as the tale comes to an end, the book starts to unfold how this story connects with this character. The tale itself is not important yet it’s what the tale represents that is important, such as pursuing courtly love, risking death, and respecting women. All of the previously mentioned attributes are ones that knights should possess to achieve expected standards.

Chaucer satirizes knights and chivalry in two different ways: in the prologue and in the Knight's Tale. The first way in the prologue is with the pilgrim Knight's character. Chaucer wanted to present a realistic knight, but he also wanted to give the Knight some very

The Knight and the Nun are two significant pilgrims in Geoffrey Chaucer’s famous poem The Canterbury Tales. The Knight is respected by many and his main job was to defeat enemies successfully. The Nun had a lower social position than the Knight and her overall job was to praise the Lord and serve others. While the Knight appears to be a more respected pilgrim in comparison to the Nun, Chaucer uses both of the characters to contribute to the overall theme of humankind’s tendency to strive to be accepted and respected by their peers.

The portraits do not follow any particular order after the first few pilgrims have been introduced; the Knight who comes first is socially the highest person present (the Host calls him 'my mayster and my lord' in line 837). The Knight is the picture of a professional soldier, come straight from foreign wars with clothes all stained from his armour. His travels are remarkably vast; he has fought in Prussia, Lithuania, Russia, Spain, North Africa, and Turkey against pagans, Moors, and Saracens, killing many. The variety of lords for whom he has fought suggests that he is some kind of mercenary, but it seems that Chaucer may have known people at the English court with similar records.

being, he begins to poke fun at him. He insists that the Knight was “a