"The Canterbury Tales"

Paper Summary:

This paper on Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" focuses on the personality of the "Squire". It discusses his qualities, Chaucer's attitude toward him, his appearance and what it tells of his character. It also explores the ambiguities or contradictions between inner and outer appearance.

From the Paper:

"In "The Canterbury Tales" Chaucer documents the different social tensions in the manner of the day, moreover, he wrote in the vernacular, the English that was spoken in and around London in his day. The tales are told by a group of people who are journeying from London to Canterbury in Kent so they may receive the blessings of the English martyr, Sir Thomas Becket. The group is a collage of social classes from aristocrats to the poor. It has been proposed that each in the group will tell a tale so the journey may pass more quickly and the best storyteller will be the recipient of an elaborate meal paid for by the other travelers (Chaucer 1976). Chaucer places himself in the story as one of the travelers and straws are drawn to see who will tell a tale first. The Knight draws the shortest straw and so begins his tale, followed by such characters as the Monk, the drunken Miller, the Man of Law, the Parson, the Shipman, the Wife of Bath, the Merchant, and the Knight's son, the Squire (Chaucer 1976)."

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