The General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales is a particularly engaging and significant text. Before the journey begins, Chaucer describes the twenty pilgrims who are about to set out for Canterbury. The interest of this section lies precisely in the fact that Chaucer provides a vivid cross-section of English society in his time. This portrayal is especially noteworthy because the pilgrims come from almost every social class. The only groups missing are the high nobility, who, when they went on pilgrimage, travelled in their own carriages and avoided mixing with others, and the very poor, who were unable to go on pilgrimage at all because they were forced to work in order to survive.
Chaucer’s descriptions are vivid and concrete: he does not depict abstract characters, but real people. For example, the portrait of the Prioress, quoted above, offers a clear illustration of this approach.
“There was also a Nun, a PRIORESS,
That of her smiling was full simple and coy;
Her greatest oathe was but by Saint Loy;
And she was cleped* Madame Eglentine. *called
Full well she sang the service divine,
Entuned in her nose full seemly;
And French she spake full fair and fetisly* *properly
After the school of Stratford atte Bow,
For French of Paris was to her unknow.
At meate was she well y-taught withal;”
“She let no morsel from her lippes fall,
Nor wet her fingers in her sauce deep.
Well could she carry a morsel, and well keep,
That no droppe ne fell upon her breast.
In courtesy was set full much her lest*. *pleasure
Her over-lippe wiped she so clean,
That in her cup there was no farthing* seen *speck
Of grease, when she drunken had her draught;
Full seemely after her meat she raught*: *reached out her hand
And *sickerly she was of great disport*, *surely she was of a lively
And full pleasant, and amiable of port, disposition*
And *pained her to counterfeite cheer *took pains to assume
Of court,* and be estately of mannere, a courtly disposition*
And to be holden digne* of reverence. *worthy
But for to speaken of her conscience,
She was so charitable and so pitous,* *full of pity
She woulde weep if that she saw a mouse
Caught in a trap, if it were dead or bled.
Of smalle houndes had she, that she fed
With roasted flesh, and milk, and *wastel bread.* *finest white bread*
But sore she wept if one of them were dead,
Or if men smote it with a “arde* smart: *staff
And all was conscience and tender heart.
Full seemly her wimple y-pinched was;
Her nose tretis;* her eyen gray as glass;<13> *well-formed
Her mouth full small, and thereto soft and red;
But sickerly she had a fair forehead.
It was almost a spanne broad I trow;
For *hardily she was not undergrow*. *certainly she was not small*
Full fetis* was her cloak, as I was ware. *neat
Of small coral about her arm she bare
A pair of beades, gauded all with green;
And thereon hung a brooch of gold full sheen,
On which was first y-written a crown’d A,
And after, *Amor vincit omnia.* *love conquers all*”
The Prioress is portrayed through a wealth of physical, behavioural, and moral details that make her appear as a fully rounded individual. Chaucer dwells on her refined manners, her careful table etiquette, and her attempts to imitate the elegance of courtly life. At the same time, the description subtly reveals a degree of affectation, suggesting a gap between the Prioress’s religious role and her worldly aspirations.
A similarly vivid and revealing portrait is that of the Wife of Bath, also taken from the General Prologue. Unlike the Prioress, she is not a religious figure but a laywoman, and her description highlights her strong personality, independence, and worldly experience.
“A good WIFE was there OF beside BATH,
But she was somedeal deaf, and that was scath*. *damage; pity
Of cloth-making she hadde such an haunt*, *skill
She passed them of Ypres, and of Gaunt. <37>
In all the parish wife was there none,
That to the off’ring* before her should gon, *the offering at mass
And if there did, certain so wroth was she,
That she was out of alle charity
Her coverchiefs* were full fine of ground *head-dresses
I durste swear, they weighede ten pound <38>
That on the Sunday were upon her head.
Her hosen weren of fine scarlet red,
Full strait y-tied, and shoes full moist* and new *fresh <39>
Bold was her face, and fair and red of hue.
She was a worthy woman all her live,
Husbands at the church door had she had five,
Withouten other company in youth;
But thereof needeth not to speak as nouth*. *now
And thrice had she been at Jerusalem;
She hadde passed many a strange stream
At Rome she had been, and at Bologne,
In Galice at Saint James, <40> and at Cologne;
She coude* much of wand’rng by the Way. *knew
Gat-toothed* was she, soothly for to say. *Buck-toothed<41>
Upon an ambler easily she sat,
Y-wimpled well, and on her head an hat
As broad as is a buckler or a targe.
A foot-mantle about her hippes large,
And on her feet a pair of spurres sharp.
In fellowship well could she laugh and carp* *jest, talk
Of remedies of love she knew perchance
For of that art she coud* the olde dance. *knew”
Elements of Interest in the Descriptions
Several aspects of these portraits are particularly noteworthy.
Social Analysis
The first and most obvious point of interest is that the protagonists of these passages are women—and not just women, but women in positions of power. Chaucer challenges the traditional idea of a social order entirely based on patriarchy. The Prioress is the head of a female convent, the equivalent of an abbot, and therefore holds a form of real, not merely symbolic, authority. This is not an isolated case. The Wife of Bath represents an even more striking example: she is not a nun, that is, not part of an institution that formally allowed women a recognized role, but a cloth merchant, a member of civil society, in which women were theoretically expected to occupy a subordinate position to men.
The Characters
A second important aspect of these descriptions is that what Chaucer presents are portraits of people rather than characters. He does not aim to introduce archetypes or universal figures, but rather individuals with their own virtues, flaws, and small idiosyncrasies. The tone he adopts is amused and gently ironic, as if he were playfully mocking the two women for their habits and minor vices.
A particularly effective example of this tone can be found in the passage describing the Prioress’s knowledge of French. Although French was traditionally associated with the court—especially in the early period following the Norman Conquest—the Prioress speaks the variety taught at Stratford-at-Bow rather than the prestigious French of Paris. This detail suggests her desire to appear refined and worthy of her position of authority, while at the same time exposing a certain inadequacy that produces a comic effect for the reader.
In a similar way, the Wife of Bath is portrayed as extremely vain. She is always the first to approach the altar for communion and is consistently dressed in the finest fabrics. Her pilgrimage to Canterbury is only the latest in a long series of journeys: she has previously travelled, among other places, to Rome and Jerusalem. This implies an exceptional availability of time and financial resources, all the more remarkable for a woman who does not belong to the nobility. Moreover, the Wife of Bath is depicted as a woman of strong will and forceful character, particularly in matters concerning her emotional and sexual life. Chaucer tells us that she has had five husbands—all lawfully married at the church door, as he is careful to emphasize—as well as several lovers. She is not an idealized, angelic figure meant simply to be admired, but a real woman, one who actively chooses her partners rather than being chosen by them.
The quoted passages are taken from Project Gutenberg, The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer:
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2383/pg2383-images.html
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