The Knight In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales
In the story “The Canterbury Tales”, multiple pilgrims are on a long journey to a place called Canterbury to get blessed in the shrinery. While on this prolonged excursion, each character gets a chance to tell a story to pass the time. Each of the stories from the pilgrims reveals how they really are inside compared to their appearance. In other words, the way they are expected to dress or act is completely opposite from how they dress or act in society. The squire, Monk, and Reeve are each proof of Chaucer using deceptive physical appearances to reveal a character’s inner nature.
The Squire is supposed to be this manly man that serves the Knight. Although he does serve the Knight in a well-mannered fashion, he gives more of a feminine sensation …show more content…
His purpose was not to follow the Monks whose footsteps he followed for an extended amount of time; he's all about his symbols of material wealth. A customary monk normally wears solid inexpensive things. However, the monk wears very expensive clothing such as the most expensive gray fur. This choice of style suggests that he cares more about materialistic things rather than the ideas monks are supposed to believe and care about. Not only does choice in style represent this fact, but also how he rolls his eyes. In medieval physiognomy eye rolling meant that it may be a sign of impatience or lust for food or, even worse, women. The irony of this situation reveals that he really lives an easy life as well as luxury besides a nonchalant life of deprivation and hard work like every other monk.
A Reeve is simply someone in the local community that is trusted with the overall management in that village. He is also the person that works in depth to assure the lower workmen are kept in line and that the lord never loses a penny to other workers. The reeve from the Canterbury tales is trusted with the overall upkeep of the village in such a way as mentioned before, which brings in the irony of this whole situation. The reeve from the story is constantly stealing right under the lord’s nose, but he is too trusted to even have anyone expect him of
The Squire is supposed to be this manly man that serves the Knight. Although he does serve the Knight in a well-mannered fashion, he gives more of a feminine sensation …show more content…
His purpose was not to follow the Monks whose footsteps he followed for an extended amount of time; he's all about his symbols of material wealth. A customary monk normally wears solid inexpensive things. However, the monk wears very expensive clothing such as the most expensive gray fur. This choice of style suggests that he cares more about materialistic things rather than the ideas monks are supposed to believe and care about. Not only does choice in style represent this fact, but also how he rolls his eyes. In medieval physiognomy eye rolling meant that it may be a sign of impatience or lust for food or, even worse, women. The irony of this situation reveals that he really lives an easy life as well as luxury besides a nonchalant life of deprivation and hard work like every other monk.
A Reeve is simply someone in the local community that is trusted with the overall management in that village. He is also the person that works in depth to assure the lower workmen are kept in line and that the lord never loses a penny to other workers. The reeve from the Canterbury tales is trusted with the overall upkeep of the village in such a way as mentioned before, which brings in the irony of this whole situation. The reeve from the story is constantly stealing right under the lord’s nose, but he is too trusted to even have anyone expect him of