Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on “The Canon’s Yeoman’s Prologue and Tale” in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales”. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 5 page paper which examines the theme of deception (through the science of alchemy) and its conflict with religion through contemporary criticism. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGyeoman.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
This is unfortunate, for it is perhaps Chaucers most thought-provoking work. It is recommended that the student who is writing about this topic consider the times in which
these tales were composed was prior to the European Enlightenment, when fascination with scientific principles was in its infancy. The prologue and tale concern a canon and his yeoman
servant who employed alchemy in order to defraud unsuspecting people (including a priest) out of their savings. The prologue and tale are, interestingly, told by the yeoman and not
the canon. As soon as the Yeoman offers the host and his pilgrims details of the alchemists experiments with turning metals into gold and silver, the enraged canon exclaims,
"You hold your tongue, dont speak another word / Or if you do youll pay for it, dyou see? / Youre slandering me before this company. / Whats more, youre
telling things that should be hidden" (Chaucer 469). He then rides off into the sunset, leaving the yeoman behind to tell his story. It is also significant that
the yeoman tells only the canons story, from his own perspective, and although he is one of the characters featured within the "General Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales, is one
of only two pilgrims who tells no story of his own (Conlee 36). While critic John W. Conlee asserts that this was because Chaucer died before having the opportunity
to pen the yeomans tale, the omission may well have been intentional so that the yeoman would serve less as a character himself than as a symbolic moral conscience designed
to warn people against being deceived by the illusion of science, which promises to assist humankind but is achieved through supernatural practices that ultimately conflicts with the will of God.
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