Class, Gender, and Character in Chaucer's General Prologue

Introduction and Thesis

It is impossible to categorize characters generically in Chaucer's "General Prologue." Although he describes men and women from both high and low classes, he does so in a way that shows them all to be wholly unique and individual—such that there are good men and good women, bad men and bad women, nobility of soul in both high and low classes, and corruption in both as well. By using literal and figurative language, Chaucer effects a depiction of character that is as reflective as a mirror for the depths of personality (or lack thereof) it produces. This paper will comparatively describe Chaucer's men and women, and higher and lower classes, and his usage of literal and figurative language in "The General Prologue" of the Canterbury Tales.

Male Characters and Masculine Virtue

Chaucer clearly shows his admiration for virtue over vice in the characters he depicts. In this sense, the Knight is depicted as one of the most virtuous characters in the Prologue. He epitomizes masculine goodness: he is strong, wise, benevolent, courteous, and virtuous. He contrasts sharply with the Miller, who is self-seeking, willful, licentious, and vulgar, as well as with the fat Monk, who does not respect the rules set forth by his religious office. The Monk hunts even though his rule forbids it and feasts like a lord at his table. Chaucer sarcastically comments on the Monk's disrespectful attitude: "And I seyde his opinion was good. / What sholde he studie and make hymselven wood, / Upon a book in cloystre alwey to poure, / Or swynken with his handes, and laboure, / As Austyn bit?" (183–187).

Thus, what Chaucer values in a man is courtesy, respect, dignity, virtue, and a desire to do one's duty. Some of the men have this and some do not—and status or class is no guarantee of good character. The poor Parson resembles Christ in his deportment, and his brother the Plowman is a simple, humble man who loves God and does good. Chaucer admires them both, demonstrating that virtue transcends social hierarchy.

Female Characters and Complexity

The women are just as equally unique as the men. The Wife of Bath, for example, is as bawdy and sensual as the Miller, and she loves to dominate men. But she in no way represents all of the women in the company: she contrasts sharply with the Prioress, whose main fault appears to be that she attempts to act too much like a lady of a royal court, always clearing her lip of grease before she takes a drink and behaving with impeccable, courtly manners. Chaucer appears to suggest that she is almost too refined.

Thus, in the Prologue, Chaucer presents two extremes of womanhood, both of different classes and two different orientations (one spiritual, the other earthly) but both proud in their own ways. In this sense, the women are just as human as the men, and both sexes are portrayed with good and bad qualities. This parallel development reveals that Chaucer grants women the same moral complexity and agency that he grants to men.

Social Class and Moral Worth

The same can be said of the higher and lower classes—both have good and bad qualities. The Miller has a host of bad, bawdy qualities, but so too do the Merchant and the Man of Law, both of whom are as devoted to money as the Miller is to drinking and crudeness, and neither appears to care much for virtue. On the other hand, the Plowman and the Parson are as virtuous and noble as the Knight, though they are of a much lower class. This distribution of virtue and vice across the social hierarchy demonstrates that moral worth is fundamentally independent of social status in Chaucer's vision.