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 LIT 2001: Characters in Chaucer's The General Prologue of the CT

General Questions about the Characters

  1. Chaucer tends to organize his descriptions by moving from what is most distinctive about a character to what is less distinctive, so both the description and the order of description can reveal a lot about a character. What does the description and the order of description suggest about the characters in The General Prologue?

  2. Geoffrey, the narrator of the poem, is not the same as Geoffrey Chaucer, the poet. Can you find any places where the narrator, perhaps because of his naiveté, seems distinct from Chaucer? Note in particular any places where the narrator seems to approve of questionable characteristics.

The Knight (Lines 43 to 78)

  1. What do some of the descriptive details and the order of the description suggest about the Knight?

  2. The Knight is one of three idealized characters in The General Prologue (the other two being the Parson and the Plowman). What makes the Knight an idealized character? 

The Squire (Lines 79 to 100)

  1. What do some of the descriptive details and the order of the description suggest about the Squire?

  2. How does the Squire measure up, or not measure up, to the example of ideal knighthood exemplified by his father?

The Prioress (Lines 118 to 162)

  1. What do some of the descriptive details and the order of the description suggest about the Prioress?

  2. The Prioress has been described as a perfect lady but an imperfect nun. What evidence supports each of these interpretation?

  3. The narrator seems attracted to the Prioress. What evidence supports this interpretation?

  4. The Prioress has been described as the most intriguing and ambiguous character in The General Prologue. What are we to make of her?

The Parson (Lines 479 to 530)

  1. What do some of the descriptive details and the order of the description suggest about the Parson?

  2. The Parson is one of three idealized characters in The General Prologue (the other two being the Knight and the Plowman). What makes the Parson an idealized representative of the Church?

The Pardoner (Lines 671 to 716)

  1. What do some of the descriptive details and the order of the description suggest about the Pardoner?

  2. The Pardoner has been described as the pilgrim on the journey that certainly seems destined for Hell. What evidence supports this interpretation?

  3. How does the Pardoner measure up, or not measure up, to the example of an ideal representative of the Church, as exemplified by the Parson?

Copyright Randy Rambo, 2002.