Chaucer's Pilgrims

A reference that examines the various vocations of the pilgrims in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Each expert chapter describes a particular pilgrim's specific funtion in 14th-century Englans. The emphasis is on the historical position of the various vocations foreworded in the "General Prologue." Other considerations are the link between the profession and tale in terms of the pilgrim's character as defined in the "General Prologue", and the ways in which the pilgrim's character goes beyond what might normally be expected from a member of such a group. Each chapter concludes with a bibliography of recent critical works relative to that pilgrim.