Which Member Of The Emerging Middle Class Does Chaucer Portray In The Most Favorable Light?
Q: Which member of the emerging middle class does Chaucer portray in the most favorable light? In what way does his description of this character differ from other members of this class or estate? In your response, cite specific text-based evidence.
A: In the medieval period, English society was divided into three general categories, known as estates (a term which is derived from the Latin word status). These three estates consisted of the clergy (officials in the Christian Church), the nobility (those holding honorary titles, including members of the military), and the peasantry (or laborers who belonged neither to the clergy or nobility). Together, these three estates were meant to ensure that all members of the population could expect material
sustenance, physical protection, and spiritual salvation. We find representatives of all three estates in the General Prologue. Indeed, The Canterbury Tales is often considered an estate satire, a common form of the period in which authors criticized one or more of these main social classes. However, some scholars argue that the poem does not fit neatly in the genre, as Chaucer offers more complex and ambiguous characters than one might expect in a pure satire. Furthermore, although many of the character portraits in the General Prologue are satirical, Chaucer also ensured that sympathetic, virtuous characters were included for all three estates. For instance, note the glowing terms in which the narrator describes the knight.
A: In the medieval period, English society was divided into three general categories, known as estates (a term which is derived from the Latin word status). These three estates consisted of the clergy (officials in the Christian Church), the nobility (those holding honorary titles, including members of the military), and the peasantry (or laborers who belonged neither to the clergy or nobility). Together, these three estates were meant to ensure that all members of the population could expect material
sustenance, physical protection, and spiritual salvation. We find representatives of all three estates in the General Prologue. Indeed, The Canterbury Tales is often considered an estate satire, a common form of the period in which authors criticized one or more of these main social classes. However, some scholars argue that the poem does not fit neatly in the genre, as Chaucer offers more complex and ambiguous characters than one might expect in a pure satire. Furthermore, although many of the character portraits in the General Prologue are satirical, Chaucer also ensured that sympathetic, virtuous characters were included for all three estates. For instance, note the glowing terms in which the narrator describes the knight.