Canterbury Tales (II): What a Character!

Monk

Approach to Characterization (In/Direct, When, Why):

Chaucer uses both indirect and direct characterization in potraying the Monk to his reader through his text. The use of indirect characterization is used when describing the Monk's lifestyle and regality, when he rides his horse one could her jingling as loud as the chapel bell which alludes to his wealth amd power in society. It's also used to characterize the monk as being modern and straying away from the traditional and being a rather lazy person, stated when Chaucer wrote that he would forget any mishaps or conflicts regarding the Church the day after they happened which tells the reader thst he is a calmer, more laid-back, modern priest. Direct characterization is used to describe the Monk in straight-foward ways, i.e., wealthy, masculine, active hunter, overweight, personable, etc. to give the reader a sense of his appearance to paint an image in his/her mind. (Even though there is an image of him in our crappy textbook [prologue-page 99] but, thankfully, most read Canterbury Tales on another platform)

Indirect

"His bridle,  when he rode, a man might hear
Jingling in a whistling wind as clear,
Aye, and as lound as does the chapel bell
Where my lord Monk was prior to the cell."

"That was a text he held not worth an oyster;

And I agreed and said his views were sound;
Was he to study till his head went round
Poring over books in cloisters? Must he toil
As Austin bade and till the very soil?
Was he to leave the world upon thr shelf?
Let Austin have his labor himself."

Direct

"...one of the finest sport.
Who rode the country; hunting was his sport.
A manly man, to be an Abbot able..."

"His head was bald and shone like a looking-glass;
So did his face, as if it had been greased.
He was a fat and prominent priest..."

Tone

Chaucer's tone towards the Monk is satirical. Chaucer, while distinguishing the Monk as a wealthy man with a lot of power in society, almost belittles the Monk when describing his appearance, discusing his lazyness and his somewhat air-headedness.

Humor

Chaucer uses humor to aid in his in/direct characterization of the Monk. The humor is used when Chaucer talks about the Monk's appearance, foolish lifestyle, and tremendously baubuled wardrobe to  help the reader understand that the Monk is realistically a rather silly man who holds too much power for someone with a personality and life like his on society.