Chaucer’s pilgrims
o Prompt:
Choose one or two of Chaucer’s pilgrims. Explain that character’s strengths and weaknesses. Do you think the narrator is being ironic at all in his description of the character? In addition, do some Internet research on the significance of your character’s role in the medieval world. We do not see a lot of reeves or pardoners in our world, so learn about your character(s) and explain why they mattered in their world. o Requirement: Minimum of 200 words
Sample Solution
One of the most famous works of medieval literature is based around a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. Geoffey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, written between 1387 and 1400, is a long poem concerning a group of thirty pilgrims on their way from Southwark, in south London, to the shrine of St Thomas Becket in Canterbury. To pass the time and entertain each other on their way the pilgrims take it in turns to tell stories, many of a humorous or bawdy nature. The first pilgrim Chaucer describes in the General Prologue, and the teller of the first tale. The Knight represents the ideal of a medieval Christian man-at-arms. He has participated in no less than fifteen of the great crusades of his era. Brave, experienced, and prudent, the narrator greatly admires him.
