Dramatis Personae
The list below includes the major fictional characters referred to on multiple occasions in this work. The intent is to remind readers of the key aspects of the characters’ stories. Chaucerian characters mentioned only once are not included, since all I have to say about them will be found in that particular spot. There is nothing in this section or the next not well-known to Chaucer experts, who are free to skip it.
Alisoun, the Wife of Bath — Character in the Canterbury Tales. Very beautiful in her youth, she has had five husbands. The first three, older and wealthy, left her well-to-do; now middle-aged, she is seeking a sixth husband — and is likely to have to offer up some of her own wealth. She tells the tale of the Loathly Lady; her theme is that women should have sovereignty in marriage.
Arcite — Character in The Knight’s Tale. He and his cousin Palamon become suitors for the hand of Emelye. Theseus arranges a tournament between the two to determine who will wed the girl. Before their final conflict, Arcite prays to Mars to have victory in the contest. He wins the battle, but is mortally injured in a freak accident after that, leaving Emelye to Palamon.
King Arthur — In the context of this writing, simply a character in the tale of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnall. Arthur, unable to face Sir Gromer Somer Joure, is forced to find out what it is that women want — and, to learn, is compelled to ask his nephew Sir Gawain to marry the Loathly Lady, Dame Ragnall.
Arveragus — Character in The Franklin’s Tale. He courts and marries Dorigen, a woman socially above him, promising not to exercise sovereignty over her, then leaves Brittany to make his reputation. In his absence, Dorigen makes a rash promise to Aurelius, saying she will sleep with him if he can perform an impossible task — which he does. Arveragus, on his return, tells her to keep her trouthe, so she prepares to fulfill her promise to Aurelius. The ending is happy because Aurelius respects her trouthe and releases her.
Aurelius — Character in The Franklin’s Tale. Enamored of Dorigen, he induces her to make the rash promise to accept his love if he can make the rocks off Brittany vanish. With the help of the Clerk of Orleans, he accomplishes the feat. But, when Dorigen reluctantly comes to fulfill her trouthe, he is so impressed that he releases her from her promise.
Black Knight — Character in The Book of the Duchess. The husband of White/Blanche, who laments her death. This makes him an avatar of John of Gaunt.
Geoffrey Chaucer — Character/Narrator in several of his own tales. In most of these tales, we see him as bookish but naïve, rather shy, insomniac, and ignorant about love.
Chauntecleer — Character in The Nun’s Priest’s Tale. A chicken — the cock of a small flock. One night he dreams of a creature — a fox. He and his favorite hen Pertelote discuss the matter with high rhetoric but little learning; they do nothing — until an actual fox arrives and seizes Chauntecleer. He fortunately escapes by inducing the fox to open its jaws so he can fly away.
Criseyde — Character in Troilus and Criseyde. Daughter of the Trojan priest and prophet Calchas. At the time the story opens, she is a widow. She becomes involved with the Trojan prince Troilus — but, when she is exchanged to the Greeks for Antenor (who later betrays Troy), she quickly abandons her promises to Troilus and becomes involved with the Greek Diomedes. She ends up sending Troilus a “Dear John” letter. In later writings, she is treated as nothing but a strumpet, but Chaucer’s treatment is much more nuanced; he does not condemn her although he does not approve of her as much as Troilus.
Diomedes — Character in Troilus and Criseyde. Greek leader, one of their greatest fighters, who induces Criseyde to abandon her promises to Troilus and become involved with him.
Dorigen — Character in The Franklin’s Tale. Married to Arveragus, who has promised not to exercise sovereignty over her. While her husband is absent from Brittany, she is courted by Aurelius. She promises to sleep with Aurelius if he can remove the rocks off the coast of Brittany. When he does so, she goes to her husband to ask what to do. He tells her to fulfill her pledge. When Aurelius sees her trouthe, he releases her from her promise.
Emelye — Character in The Knight’s Tale. The sister-in-law of Theseus, both Palamon and Arcite desire her — and fight over her. Having herself no desire to wed, she prays that she at least end up the bride of the man who loves her most. After Arcite dies in a freak accident despite defeating Palamon, she becomes the wife of Palamon, and they are said to be very happy.
The Franklin — Character in the Canterbury Tales. A member of the gentry, well-to-do and seemingly kindly, a former member of parliament (like Chaucer himself), he tells the Franklin’s Tale of the eternal triangle of Dorigen, Arveragus, and Aurelius, which gives us the theme that trouthe is the highest thing that man may keep and seems to show that respect within marriage is the ideal state.
Sir Gawain — Not a Chaucerian character, but one well-known from other romances of the time; he is the epitome of Arthurian courtesy, and was also perhaps Arthur’s greatest knight until French versions of the Arthurian legend gave us Sir Lancelot. Gawain is the leading character in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, where his courtesy allows him to survive the Beheading Game almost intact; he is also (more significantly for us) the hero of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnall, the parallel to The Wife of Bath’s Tale in which Gawain undertakes to marry the Loathly Lady for King Arthur’s sake.
Griselda — Character in The Clerk’s Tale. A woman of humble origins, the Marquis Walter marries her in return for a vow never to disobey him. She pledges never to disobey or even question him. He then abuses her endlessly, steals away their children, says he has killed them, degrades her, calls on her to wait on a woman he says will be his new wife — and she puts up with it until he finally relents and restores her to her place as his wife.
Harry Bailly, the Host — Promoter of the Canterbury tale-telling scheme; he induces the pilgrims to each tell tales, with the winner being served a dinner at his inn in Southwark. He controls the proceedings most of the time, but does not tell a tale himself.
The Knight — Character in the Canterbury Tales. An old soldier (the Squire is his adult son), which experience in many battles, often on campaigns that are labelled crusades. The highest-ranked person on the Pilgrimage, he also seems to be genuinely respected by the others for his history, piety, and humility. He tells the first of the tales, the story of Palamon and Arcite fighting over which one of them will marry Emelye.
Loathly Lady — Character in The Wife of Bath’s Tale. Her type — of a woman of hideous appearance and poor manners — is common in folklore. In the Wife’s tale, she alone can tell the rapist-hero what women want, and in return for the answer, demands that he marry her. He consents, unhappily, but does not wish to have anything to do with her. She then turns beautiful, part of the time, and asks whether he would have her fair and faithless or foul and faithful. When he throws up his hands and leaves the choice to her, she becomes beautiful (and, we assume, faithful) all the time.
The Merchant — Character in The Canterbury Tales. A man who seems to have had financial but little marital success, his tale is a bitter one of old January, who purchases a young wife, May, goes blind, recovers his sight to see her making out with a younger man, but is induced to accept her explanation.
The Miller — Character in The Canterbury Tales. A stereotype of the typical folkloric miller, he is crude and bawdy and plays the bagpipe. After the Knight finishes his tale, the Miller breaks in and tells a bawdy fabliau of a local contest to sleep with a pretty girl, Alisoun, who is married to an old carpenter (a tale which offends the Reeve, a former carpenter himself, who responds with a tale directed at millers).
Orfeo — Character in Sir Orfeo, the best of the “Breton Lays” other than The Franklin’s Tale. He is the Orpheus of Greek mythology, but transformed: whereas in the classical legend Orpheus won Euridice back from the dead, only to lose her when he looks back at the last moment, Orfeo finds his wife Heurodis in Faërie and is able to bring her back to the mortal world.
Palamon — Character in The Knight’s Tale. He and his cousin Arcite, imprisoned after the destruction of Thebes, become suitors for the hand of Emelye. Before their final conflict, Palamon prays to win Emelye’s hand. He loses the battle, but Arcite is mortally injured in a freak accident after that, leaving Emilye to Palamon.
Pandarus — Character in Troilus and Criseyde. Unlike Shakespeare’s character, he is not really a master manipulator; he is simply Criseyde’s uncle and Troilus’s friend, a failed lover himself who hopes to bring his two companions happiness. He of course succeeds in the short run but ultimately fails — and, when he fails, he has little to suggest to Troilus in the way of consolation.
Theseus — Character in The Knight’s Tale. The mastermind of the action; the tale opens with him conquering Thebes and taking Palamon and Arcite prisoner. When he finds them fighting over Emelye, it is he who sets up the tournament in which the two will fight over her. And, when Arcite dies, he uses the marriage of Palamon and Emilye to bring peace in his country.
Troilus — Character in Troilus and Criseyde. Son of King Priam. Other than Hector, perhaps the greatest warrior on the Trojan side. Initially, he disdains love — until he sees the beautiful widow Criseyde. He idolizes her and, with the aid of Pandarus, wins her — only to have her exchanged to the Greeks. He remains true even though she is false, is eventually killed by Achilles, and is taken to a sort of heaven, where he is given a philosophical insight into how the world works.
Walter — Character in The Clerk’s Tale. A nobleman, his courtiers urge him to marry. He decides to marry the commoner Griselda, from whom he extracts an oath of absolute obedience. He proceeds to test her mercilessly to see if she will keep her trouthe. When she withstands far more than any reasonable person would put up with, he relents and reaffirms her status as his wife.
Wife of Bath, The — see Alisoun, the Wife of Bath