Physical Appearance In The Canterbury Tales

In the Canterbury Tales, a pilgrimage begins due to the spring weather. The pilgrimage is to Canterbury, and each pilgrim agrees to tell two tales on the travel. The narrator joins this group of twenty-nine pilgrims. Before each character speaks of their tales, the narrator introduces them one by one. Chaucer uses physical appearance consistently in his ways to describe the inner nature of the pilgrims. Three of the pilgrims whose inner natures are described by physical appearance are the Squire, the Wife of Bath, and the Monk.

After describing the first character, the knight, in the story, Chaucer begins to describe the Squire which is the son of the knight. The Squire has the capability of being noble like his father, but his youthfulness is flamboyant. Although he is young, he is still a respectful young man. He carves meat for his father, and can do everything a young man should do well. He is described as “A lover and lusty bachelor.” He had rosy cheeks, curly hair, and a short gown. Using these descriptions, a reader

She “was about her ample hips” and very proud of her body. The clothes she wore, and the way she acted displayed her bold sexuality. Her pants were of fine scarlet red, and it states that she “had five husbands at the door.” The wife was a very social woman who could “laugh and gossip well.” Through her appearance and actions, it is proven that she was experienced in the act of love and sex. Attention is drawn to her, especially from her many lovers. “She was gap-toothed”, stated by Chaucer, which adds to the stereotype of what people thought of as a desirable woman. The more we learn about her, the more we realize how proud she was to be an icon of this time. The wife of bath used her lustfulness to not only show off her body, but to also represent the image of a wife. Her appearance is a defensive status to the stereotype of this