The General Prologue
A little intro to the Canterbury Tales for the uninitiated: It is the best-known of Chaucer's works. It is also woefully unfinished.
The framing device is that a group of people of all sorts find themselves making the same pilgrimage to Canterbury, and spend a night at an inn together, swapping stories.
Chaucer originally intended for thirty-four characters to tell two stories on the way to Canterbury, and two on the way back. However, only twenty-four characters start stories on the first night.
The General Prologue is where the characters will be introduced. Again, unfinished; not all storytellers are introduced, and not all who are introduced tell stories.
In the month of April, the narrator meets a group of twenty-nine pilgrims traveling to the shrine at Canterbury, all staying the night in the same hostel.
This group includes:
- The KNIGHT, a noble and honorable man, dressed plainly and a little unkempt from setting off for pilgrimage immediately after returning from overseas. He has participated in fifteen battles all over the place, and fought in the Crusades. It earned him great renown, but it has not gone to his head.
- His SQUIRE, who is also his son. A young man, recently returned from his first campaign in France. Youthful gallantry and pride. Skilled in music and art, and a real ladies' man.
- The Squire's YEOMAN, a forester, clad in green, with bow and arrow and other assorted armaments. His gear is astutely maintained, in fine condition.
- The PRIORESS, a nun, a very dignified and well-mannered woman who keeps up appearances, but who is also generally pleasant and can enjoy a good joke. She's fluent in French, but the kind you learn in high school; it's obvious she's never been there. She's dressed simply, but her clothes and jewelry are high quality. Still, she takes good care of her dogs, and it's said she would cry if she saw a mouse come to harm.
- Also in the Prioress's party is another NUN and THREE PRIESTS, undescribed.
- The MONK, a man who doesn't much care for old, restrictive church doctrine, because he likes to go on hunts, eat well, and wear expensive clothes.
- The FRIAR, a jolly, laid-back man, beloved by his congregation because he is quick to absolve them of their sins. Of course, a happy congregation is more likely to be willing to donate to their poor local friendly friar...
- The MERCHANT, a respectable man of some wealth, excellent at cutting a deal but solemn in his words
- The STUDENT from Oxford; poor, shabby, and underfed. All his money goes to purchasing books. Soft-spoken but well-mannered, he loves to learn, and he's equally happy to teach.
- The SERGEANT AT LAW, more of a lawyer than a sheriff. He's memorized the law codes like the back of his hand, and he can speak eloquently and wisely to crowds of people. Dressed simply, but well.
- The FRANKLIN (basically, a person who owns land but is not nobility), an older, bearded, jovial man and a bit of a lush. His pantries and larders are well-stocked with an impressive assortment of foods.
- The HABERDASHER, CARPENTER, WEAVER, DYER, and UPHOLSTERER, all members of the same guild, and as such, are all fairly well-off.
- Their COOK, who is characterized as being a good cook.
- The SEAMAN, a grizzled salt who knows all the ports, is scrappy in a fight, and is the ablest body you'll find on a ship. Bit crap at riding a horse though.
- The DOCTOR OF PHYSIC, a capable and studied doctor who's got ins with Big Pharma, so he's got a fair deal of gold, which he mostly just hoards. He doesn't overeat, but he's also not a particularly religious man.
- The GOOD WIFE, a charismatic woman, quick with a joke, who is quite adept at swaying men. She's been married five times, and yet has still found time to be both widely-traveled and an expert at making clothes. Very self-confident, she's the type who gets offended if others are charitable to her.
- The PARSON, the only clergyman of a small town. He is dutiful and wise, is forgiving to the sinful, and donates his own money if the church's donation box is empty.
- His brother, the PLOWMAN, who works hard and has carted a lot of dung, but is equally as charitable as the Parson.
- The MILLER, a big, sturdy, boastful man, who is exceptionally strong and great at wrestling. He also plays the bagpipes.
- The MANCIPLE, who works for a courthouse. I did look up the definition of "manciple" and it's basically a steward or purveyor, so I guess he's the guy who manages the office equipment? Anyway he's supposedly very good at it.
- The REEVE, a skinny and slightly distrustful chap. He manages the estate of a lord who's a little on the young side yet. Like everyone else, he's good at his job and makes sure his lord's property is in order, and is very bureaucratic when it comes to tax collection . Of course, he's able to put a little aside for himself.
- The SUMMONER, who... I guess also works for the church? I think Chaucer is running out of churchy jobs. Uh, the book spends an embarrassingly long time talking about how bad the guy's pimples are. Also he's somehow described as a both good chap and a guy you do not want to cross. I think this bit was maybe a little on the obtuse side.*
- The Summoner's traveling companion, the PARDONER. He travels around, delivering the church's pardons to people. Basically another guy who's managed to turn a decent profit working for the church. Chaucer is really fixated on how long and straight this guy's hair is, and how he never needs to shave, so he obviously must be a eunuch, or a woman.*
And that rounds out our cast of characters. Chaucer tells us that he is relating the stories and events as factually as he can, regardless of how rude they might be, because that is the duty of an author.
The pilgrims stay at a hostel, and the HOST—a large, merry man—treats them all very highly, and then he goes, yeah, actually I'ma come with, and I'll even pay for gas.
He also proclaims, okay, to have a bit of fun on the road, let's tell a bunch of stories as we go, and to whoever tells the best story, I'll comp you dinner on the way back, and if anyone disagrees then THEY'RE paying for gas instead.
Everybody agrees, and they set out the next day, and the Host has everyone draw straws to see who goes first.
The Knight draws the shortest straw, and he's like, fair's fair, I don't mind going first. And with that, we are off to the races.