In Chaucer's time, society had certain expectations of a monk, doctor, and summoner. All of these characters are thought to be courteous, honest, and intelligent however Chaucer depicts his characters as greedy, dishonest, and inappropriate. Throughout the tales, Chaucer finds humor in the difference between the ideal and the real in the characters that populate The Canterbury Tales. Society views people to be a certain way depending on their occupation despite not knowing who they truly are. All of the pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales have a public identity and that is how society defines them.[2]
The monk, for example, is typically seen as a deeply religious man who vowed to live in poverty, chastity, and obedience. Chaucer explains how different societies view of a monk and how a monk could actually by in this quote from his novel, “He was fat and personable priest; His prominent eyeballs never seemed to settle. They glittered like the flames beneath a kettle; Supple his boots, his horse in fine condition. He was a prelate fit for exhibition, he was not pale like a tormented soul” (Page 135) However, in Chaucer’s tales, the monk is depicted as a rich hunter who lives with many luxuries. Unlike the typical monk, Chaucer is not a religious man as he is said to live like an unholy man. [3]
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A doctor is commonly seen as someone who is highly educated, who is kind, and someone who does their best to heal a patient from any injuries or ailments. However, Chaucer depicts his doctor as untruthful. “He was well-versed in Aesculapius too and what Hippocrates and Rufus knew and Dioscorides, now dead and gone” The doctor in The Canterbury Tales lied to society by claiming he was a true doctor. He used common digestives, nutrients, and herbs to heal his patients when really the mixture he concocted did nothing to heal them. If he got caught he blamed it on the stars and other astrological reasons. The doctor was more interested in earning money rather than aiding one of his patients.[4]
In The Canterbury Tales, the summoner was equipped with the job to bring citizens to the court when called upon. The society describes him as an honest, loyal, and sophisticated man however, he was a lazy liar who accepted bribes from criminals. The summoner pretended to be fluent in Latin when he only knew two words. When showing another citizen that he knew Latin he’d make up random words to impress them. “Garlic he loved, and onions too, and leeks. And drinking strong wine ‘till all was hazy. Then he would shout and jabber as if crazy-.” In public, the summoner had no restraint as to what is appropriate and what is not.[5] All of the pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales have a public identity and that is how society defines them. Using his novel, The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer shows the differences between an identity society believes in and true identity.
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