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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page research paper that examines how the characterizations in the General Prologue of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales offers the reader some of the best characterization in literature. Bibliography lists 8 sources.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khgenpro.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. The descriptions that Chaucer offers of each of the pilgrims constitutes a "thumbnail" sketch of thats individuals character. These gems of characterization draw on the
setting of the individual, what he or she is wearing, how they act, their mannerisms in dealing with their other travelers. An examination of a few of the pilgrims
mentioned in the prologue illustrates this point. A feature of The Canterbury Tales that adds to these character sketches, as well as to the following stories, is that Chaucer keeps
the entire pilgrimage, "in the General Prologue and the various prologues and links," in the simple past (Howard 81). The "historical present" is never used; however, the present
tense is employed at the immediate moment of the telling (Howard 81). This gives the descriptions a greater sense of immediacy. The reader stands with the narrator as he notices
details of his fellow travelers for the first time. The Knight As the Knight is the highest ranking figure in this social hierarchy, and the Middle Ages generally honored
such recognition of order, it is logical that the Knights story will come first (Coghill 3). In the victory of the Knight in drawing straws to see who will begin,
the "decorum of natural, as well as social, order," is preserved (Williams 31). The description of the Knight in the General Prologue falls in to three parts: his virtues, his
behavior and his physical appearance (Williams 31). After listing his military victories, the narrator states that "And though that he were worthy, he was wys,/ And of his port as
meeke as is a mayde" (lines 68-69). As this indicates, the Knights decorum has already conveyed to the narrator a great deal about his personality. The Knight is not
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