The Canterbury Tales: The General Prologue

I like the reading of the General Prologue from The Canterbury Tales because of two reasons: (1) for every two lines, there’s a line in Middle English, and the line that’s translated in Modern English. (2) Some of the characters in the poem are portrayed differently. Now in this poem, I would see why the travelers would pick the seasonal time to go on a pilgrimage. In April, the wind is blowing softly, flowers growing, but there’s nothing wrong with going in the rain. All you gotta do is cover up!!!! One of the interesting things was that the narrator (who was Geoffrey Chaucer himself), was one of the travelers. So it was easier for him to talk about those who were with him. I wan to start with the Knight. He is a noble guy who’s all about loyalty, honor, and always kind to others. He has a particular son, the Squire, who’s really good-looking, well-dressed, and also knows how to ride a horse. He also impresses the ladies by playing the rote (a string instrument). The Yeoman, who follows the Knight and the Squire, wears green all over his body like he’s a turtle or something. I thought he was trying to be Robin Hood when it stated that he carried a big bow with arrow. Ummm ok…Robin Hood wears green and has a bow and arrows….The Yeoman wears green and has a bow and arrows…Hmmm…I don’t want to think they are brothers…lol. The Prioress I can is pretty much a decent woman who knows her table manners. She kind of has a childish side if something happens to her animals. She would cry when she sees a mouse caught in a trap. She would cry when she’s roasting her dog. Why would you cry about that and you are killing an animal you care about? That’s sick!! The next person on the list is the Monk who’s quite handsome. I was confused about his situation when I read about his profile. If the Monk has an order he suppose to go by, why would he want to ignore it to go hunting and do other things? It got me thinking that he loves outside activities more than what he suppose to be doing as a Monk. The Friar on the other hand is alike to the Monk because he has a religious order, but lives with it in a different way. I think he’s a lady’s man because he’s making himself known with the innkeepers and barmaids. I also think that he’s mean because he doesn’t pay any attention to the beggars and lepers. Yes they are sick and they couldn’t do much help for him, but he could’ve least show them that he did noticed them. I like the Merchant because he’s different than the other characters, he wouldn’t tell anybody that he’s in debt. That’s what I like about him…he doesn’t say anything!!! But he would borrow money though just to get his way through. The Clerk, who is studying in philosophy, is a weird man. He’s either a man or a beast. He eats books instead of reading them. Why? I don’t know. He probably been eating those books because he probably thought the books looked delicious, and he had the need to eat them. Hmmm…the Man of Law…I can’t say much about him except that he’s always on the run when it seems that he gets busy. Franklin is kind of a happy person who loves his bread and wine. I love bread; I use bread to make Pb&J’s...lol. The Shipman is a sneaky little thing. He steals from others when he’s broke. He even stole from the merchant while he was sleeping. The Doctor of Medicine takes care of people when they are down, and he knows not so much of the Bible, which is ok as long as you know who God is. But what I didn’t get is that the narrator said that the doctor’s favorite’s medicine is gold!!! Like there’s ever such thing… is there??? My favorite character of them all is the Wife of Bath. She gets pissed when someone gets to the Mass before her. I’m afraid that she can break someone’s head off if she doesn’t goes first. She may be deaf but she’s not blind. She even married five husbands with her nasty self!! It’s not like she needs five guys to please her. I hate the Miller!!! All he does is make rude jokes, drinks, and break things. The good thing is is that he has a wart on his nose. Now that’s funny!! The Summoner is one ugly guy!!! His face is all red like a raw red velvet cake. Taking control of women for your own power is very wrong and I think that the narrator was trying to put it in a seductive way. The Pardoner I believe likes to sing and loves his beautiful hair. I think he loves himself a whole lot.
While the travelers were on their way to Canterbury, the Host explained to them that if anybody can tell two good tales, then one of them will be treated with supper and he will ride with that person. That’s a gamble to me just for a little supper. But everybody had drawn straws and the Knight was up to go first.