History Characters / TheCanterburyTales

* KnightInShiningArmor: He fits this personality wise, but actually has rather dirty, worn-out armor, because he's an experienced horseman who has got a lot of use out of it.

* OldMaid: She is clearly middle-aged, but still concerned about her appearance.

* TheLadysFavour: An unorthodox example, as the Monk basically acts like a typical nobleman in spite of his religious profession. He is described wearing a gold pin with a "love knot" (a lock of his sweetheart/mistress' hair) inside it.

* StylisticSuck: The Monk has his tale booed down by the other pilgrims because everyone expected him to tell a light, bawdy story, but instead he chose to recite a list of the tragic ends of various powerful people from ancient times to the present. Part of Terry Jones' reinterpretation of the Knight is to dispute whether the Monk's Tale was bad, but in any case, it's been traditionally accepted that it's intentionally bad.

* SexyPriest: The Host alleges the Nun's Priest is one of these (see UnwantedHarem below), but the Nun's Priest denies it. Most of the other examples are more along the lines of "lecherous priest" than necessarily "good looking priest", and the Nun's Priest is probably the only example who isn't a slimy bastard.

* StrawHypocrite: He constantly preaches against greed and covetousness (referring to it as "the root of all evil"), yet [[LampshadeHanging freely admits]] that that he himself is motivated entirely by it, preaching, selling salvation and peddling phony miracle cures to make a swift profit. He takes it a step further by claiming that ''all'' forms of preaching are done for evil or selfish reasons.

* ButLiquorIsQuicker: The extremely candid Wife of Bath admits that she gets real slutty when she's drunk on wine.

* TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes / HypocriticalHumor: It's commented in the Prologue that while the Merchant is always giving financial advice, he is actually flat broke. He's also telling his tale with an intent to show that marriage is terrible and women are lying liars who lie, which is kind of hilarious considering that he's drawing this from all of two months' experience in the realm of marriage.

* GoodShepherd / TokenGoodTeammate: He's just about the only religious character who isn't corrupt. In fact Chaucer uses the former metaphor, comparing the parson to a shepherd guarding his sheep, and noting how bad a "shiten" shepherd is for his flock.

With LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters going on pilgrimage with Chaucer, it's only natural that there has to be a character list for Literature/TheCanterburyTales.

* TenderTears: She is said to weep whenever one of her little dogs gets injured. Intentional MoralDissonance, perhaps.

* TheParagon: The only pilgrim who is not a hypocrite or a subversion of an ideal.

* BoisterousBruiser

* AltumVidetur: His (hypocritical) motto is, "Radix malorum est cupiditas" (greed is the root of all evil).

* PrettyBoy: Subverted. He's rather androgynous, but this is meant to make him creepy rather than attractive. That and it's subtly implied that he's [[EvilEunuch a eunuch]].

* StylisticSuck: The Monk has his tale booed down by the other pilgrims because everyone expected him to tell a light, bawdy story, but instead he chose to recite a list of the tragic ends of various powerful people from ancient times to the present. Part of Terry Jones' reinterpretation of the Knight is to claim that the Monk's Tale was actually good, but in any case, it's been traditionally accepted that it's intentionally bad.

* StrawHypocrite: He constantly preaches against greed and covetousness (referring to it as "the root of all evil"), yet [[LampashdeHanging freely admits]] that that he himself is motivated entirely by it, preaching, selling salvation and peddling phony miracle cures to make a swift profit. He takes it a step further by claiming that ''all'' forms of preaching are done for evil or selfish reasons.

* StylisticSuck / SelfDeprecation: Chaucer assigns himself a pair of awful stories, the first of which is so bad it's [[CutShort forcibly halted]] by Harry Bailey, who orders him to tell a better tale.

* StylisticSuck: His tale was CutShort, perhaps intentionally, because it was too bawdy.

* SexyPriest: Given the "love knot" he wears.
* StylisticSuck: The Monk has his tale booed down by the other pilgrims because everyone expected him to tell a light, bawdy story, but instead he chose to recite a list of the tragic ends of various powerful people from ancient times to the present. Part of Terry Jones' reinterpretation of the Knight is to claim that the Monk's Tale was actually good, but in any case, it's been traditionally accepted that it's intentionally bad.

* SexyPriest: The Host alleges the Nun's Priest is one of these (see UnwantedHarem below), but the Nun's Priest denies it. Most of the other examples are more along the lines of "lecherous priest" than necessarily "good looking priest", and the Nun's Priest is probably the only example who isn't a slimy bastard.

* RefugeInAudacity: He begins his tale by bragging about his hypocrisy and all the fake relics he sells. At the end of his tale, an effective moral tale, he offers the same relics to the other pilgrims.
* SexyPriest / GirlfriendInCanada: He says he would like to keep a wench in every town.
* SnakeOilSalesman
* StrawHypocrite: He constantly preaches against greed and covetousness (referring to it as "the root of all evil"), yet [[LampashdeHanging freely admits]] that that he himself is motivated entirely by it, preaching, selling salvation and peddling phony miracle cures to make a swift profit. He takes it a step further by claiming that ''all'' forms of preaching are done for evil or selfish reasons.

* ReallyGetsAround: The Wife of Bath talks about how she liked to bonk all over town, especially with her first three husbands, while intimidating them into silence by falsely accusing them of infidelity.

* SexyPriest: He loves associating with the fairer sex, and is kind enough to perform [[ShotgunWedding marriages which he has made necessary]].

* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: He is an UrExample of this trope; despite not actually wearing glasses in the text, he is mentioned as having terrible eyesight due to the long nights he's spent studying by candlelight. This hints that the trope might actually [[EvolvingTrope be descended from]] [[ForgottenTrope an older "Smart People Have Bad Eyesight" trope]].
* StarvingStudent: Whenever he gets paid, he tends to spend his money on new books rather than food. He lives mostly by borrowing from his friends.

!!The Clerk:

* BoisterousBruiser:

!!The Friar:

* TheCobblersChildenHaveNoShoes / HypocriticalHumor: It's commented in the Prologue that while the Merchant is always giving financial advice, he is actually flat broke. He's also telling his tale with an intent to show that marriage is terrible and women are lying liars who lie, which is kind of hilarious considering that he's drawing this from all of two months' experience in the realm of marriage.

* InnocentInaccurate: Here, he is a naive, guileless rube who gushes admiration on his fellow pilgrims, but in a way that the reader can figure out what's going on. For example, Chaucer the narrator speaks of the Monk admirably, but his description of things like the Monk's "love knot" lets the reader know that the Monk is an unchaste libertine.

* KnightInShiningArmor: He fits this personality wise, but actually has rather dirty, worn-out armor, because he's an experienced horseman who has got a lot of use out of it.

* FlowerMotifs: Her name is Madame Eglantine, referring to a kind of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_rubiginosa rose]], also known as a sweetbrier. Having a name that means "rose" is right in line with her sentimentality and bracelet reading "Love Conquers All."
* GoshDangItToHeck: "Her greatest oath was but 'By Saint Loy!'"
* {{Hypocrite}}: The Prioress, who after all is a nun, wears a necklace of beads with the motto "amor vincit omnia" ("love conquers all"). She also makes a great show of getting upset when a mouse is caught in a trap, yet she feeds her dogs raw meat on a regular basis.

* {{Hypocrite}}: He's definitely not the chaste monk he's supposed to be.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Perhaps the worst example of all the hypocritical churchmen in this collection.
* ItsAllAboutMe

* DirtyOldWoman
* GoodBadGirl: Thanks to her multiple marriages, she may well be the UrExample.
* ICallHimMrHappy: When the Wife of Bath isn't simply referring to her private parts as "[[CountryMatters queynte]]", she is calling it her bele chose (French for "beautiful thing") or quoniam (that's Latin).
* NoAccountingForTaste: The Wife of Bath's fifth husband used to [[DomesticAbuse verbally berate her, beat her until she appeared dead, and is the reason she's half-deaf]]. He's also the husband she loved the most.

* GoodShepherd / TokenGoodTeammate: He's just about the only religious character who isn't corrupt. In fact Chaucer uses the former metaphor, comparing the parson to a shepherd guarding his sheep, and noting how bad a "shiten" shepherd is for his flock.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: He is described as the ideal priest.

* AndYourRewardIsDinner: He is the one who proposes that the one who tells the best tale will get treated to dinner with everyone else footing the bill.

!!The Prioress:

* AwfulWeddedLife: After all of two weeks of experiencing it, the Merchant is dissatisfied with his marriage and has little faith in the HappilyMarried trope.

!!The Parson:

* AuthorAvatar

* AndYourRewardIsDinner: He is the one who proposes that the one who tells the best tale will get treated to dinner with everyone else footing the bill.
* AwfulWeddedLife: If the Merchant has little faith in the HappilyMarried trope, Harry Bailey has none due to living with a shrewish wife.
* BoisterousBruiser
* HenpeckedHusband: See AwfulWeddedLife above.

* ButIDigress: Does this all the time. Naturally, everybody else mocks him for it.

* BoisterousBruiser:

* BoisterousBruiser: The Monk much prefers hunting and sports over sticking to his monastic vows.
* BreakTheHaughty: The theme of his tale. It's not just one story, he picks a famous great figure, then tells about how he failed and died, then moves onto another one, over and over again. He says he has a hundred, but the Knight [[CutShort cuts him off after seventeen]].

* AltumVidetur: His (hypocritical) motto is, "Radix malorum est cupiditas" (greed is the root of all evil).
* AmbiguouslyGay: Due to his [[CampGay effeminate]] looks, the Pardoner's sexuality has been much debated.
* BlatantLies: He is particularly wrong about the Bible.
* CardCarryingVillain
* CluelessAesop: In-universe example: he gives a story teaching the evils of greed, but he himself is incredibly greedy. [[LampshadeHanging He even mentions how ironic this is]].
* FauxAffablyEvil: He may act soft-spoken and polite, but it is clear to everyone that he is a corrupt hypocrite, [[CardCarryingVillain and proud of it]].

* AllWomenAreLustful: Invoked, but also subverted, lampshaded, and deconstructed.
* ButLiquorIsQuicker: The extremely candid Wife of Bath admits that she gets real slutty when she's drunk on wine.
* CountryMatters: She uses the word "queynte".

* AmbiguouslyGay: He may well be the Pardoner's MachoCamp companion.

* AwfulWeddedLife: After all of two weeks of experiencing it, the Merchant is dissatisfied with his marriage and has little faith in the HappilyMarried trope.
* TheCobblersChildenHaveNoShoes / HypocriticalHumor: It's commented in the Prologue that while the Merchant is always giving financial advice, he is actually flat broke. He's also telling his tale with an intent to show that marriage is terrible and women are lying liars who lie, which is kind of hilarious considering that he's drawing this from all of two months' experience in the realm of marriage.
* HenpeckedHusband: The Merchant claims he has a nagging wife.

* BoisterousBruiser

!!The Miller:

!!The Reeve:

!!The Cook: