CHAUCER'S ART OF CHARACTERIZATION
GEOFFREY CHAUCER is an artist who paints the real picture gallery of English nation during the
fourteenth century.
And Art of Characterization is the way that a writer makes characters in a book, play or poetry
seem real. As for as CHAUCER's art of characterization is concerned, he outlines his thirty
pilgrims in “The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales”. He is the first great painter of characters in
English Literature. He paints the whole of English nation during the fourteenth century, ranging
from knightly class to the order of Clergymen. The Character sketches are brief, yet lucid and
comprehensive.
One of the major techniques of characterization which was current in the medieval authors was
the use of humour. This term divides personalities according to the predominance of one of the
elements-fire, water, air and earth. For example, his character is dominated by the humour of
blood, which on its turn is understood to produce a large appetite and pleasure in physical
satisfaction. Thus, the entire portrait of the Franklin is just an elaboration of a single
phrase “Sanguine”:
"Of his complexioun he was sangwyn / Wel loved him by the morwe a sop in wyn."
Similarly, the medieval poets usually describe their character through their physiognomy (the
shape and features of a person’s face), to expose their inner spiritual health. CHAUCER has
successfully employed this technique in the case of the Summoner. His “Fire red cherubim
face”, “Pimples”, “Narrow eyes” and “scabby black brows” reflect his inner spiritual
corruption:
“That hadde a fyr-reed cherubynnes face / for sauce fleem he was, with eyen narwe.”
Description through physical features is also employed in the case of The Wife of the
Bath and The Prioress. He talks about the dressing of The Prioress in these lines:
“Ful semyly hir wympul pynched was......Ful fetys was hir cloke, as I was war."
CHAUCER’s most superb technique is his presentation of Characters as individuals and types.
The Characters are not only representatives of their respective classes and professions but also
at the same time they possess individual traits. For example, The Friar is a typical
representative of his class in the 14th century; he is corrupt, hypocritical, greedy and callous.
The Prioress is the type of a woman who is an epicure but she is portrayed as an individual,
with her meticulous care in eating and her courtly manners as well as care in eating and her
courtly manners as well as her tenderness of heart. The Monk is the type of Monks of those-
times interested not in religion and the study of holy books, but in hunting:
“Of prikying and of huntying for the hare / was al his lust, for no cost wolde he spare”
In short CHAUCER’s characters are types as well as individuals.
CHAUCER’s characters are real and universal because no one is like them, and they are real and
universal because they are so like us. As WILLIAM BLAKE asserts about the characters
of CHAUCER's Pilgrims:
"The characters of CHAUCER's Pilgrims are the characters which compose all ages and
nations."
His people are always on move. Never do they become shadowy or lifeless. They shout and
swear, laugh and weep, interrupt the storyteller, pass compliments and in general behave
themselves, as we might expect to be.
CHAUCER also presents a vivid picture of his characters by their vices and presents the
fourteenth century in “The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales”.
Firstly, the prevalent corruption of the Church is mirrored in most of his ecclesiastical figures,
like The Friar, The Monk, and The Pardoner. Secondly, the greed of doctors is typified in his
Doctor of Physic, who loves gold. Thirdly, his Sergeant of Law is as shrewd hard-boiled as other
members of his profession. Fourthly, the dishonesty of the Reeve and the Miller is also typical.
Finally, their traditional enmity is reflected between the Reeve and the Miller. This technique
enriches his art of characterization
Irony and Satire are undoubtedly CHAUCER’s most prominent techniques of
characterization. CHAUCER treats noble fellows with sympathy and love but his treatment of
knaves, rogues and rascals either humorous or ironical or satirical. For
example, CHAUCER call the Wife of Bath “worthy woman” and then in the very next line
ironically qualifies the word “worthy” by commenting:
“She was a worthy woman al hir lyve / Housbondes at chirche Dore she hadde five.”
CHAUCER utilizes the technique of contrast in drawing the portraits of the pilgrims. The good
and the bad rub shoulders together. We have the paragon of virtue in the characters of The
Parson and The Ploughman, we have monsters of vice in the characters of The Reeve, The
Miller and the Summoner. The Knight is a foil to his son, the lusty Squire. As CHAUCER writes
about the knight in this line:
“Ful worthy was, he in his lords were.”
CHAUCER’s art of characterization is free from personal bias. He portrays his
characters, objectively, impartially and disinterestedly. He depicts what he sees personally. He
has the Seeing Eye, the memory, the judgment to select and the capacity to expound. LEGIOUS
CAZAMIAN rightly says:
"Of all writers of genius, CHAUCER is the one with whom it is easiest to have a sense of
comradeship."
To sum up, it can be accepted that CHAUCER's art of characterization is the picture gallery of
the 14th century and he is the first great painter of characters in English Literature. Therefore,
two conclusions may be drawn from the above discussion of Chaucer’s art of Characterization.
In the words of DRYDEN:
“There is God’s plenty.”
