Canterbury Tales Character
The Doctor
What specific occupation does the Doctor practice?
What does the need for this occupation tell us about the time period?
What is his social standing?
What might the doctors day to day life be like?
What details about the doctor does Chaucer not include?
What modern day occupation might correspond to your medieval character and why?
Part 2
Paraphrase each line of the prologue describing your character.
Which lines in the prologue best describes the Doctor's physical appearance?
¨in blood-red garments, slashed with bluish gray And lined with taffeta, he rode his way; Yet he was rather close as to expenses And kept the gold he won in pestilences. Gold stimulates the heart, or so we're told. He therefore had a special love of gold. ¨ (page 133 in book)
which lines describe his personality?
" he watched his patient closely for hours When, by his horoscope, he knew the powers of favorable plants, then ascendant, worked on the images for his dependent. The cause of every malady you'd got He knew their seat, their humor and condition. He was a perfect practicing physician. Theses causes being known for what they were, He gave the man his medicine then and there. All his apothecaries in a tribe Were ready with the drugs he would prescribe And each made money from the other's guile; They had been friendly for a goodish while.¨
Which specific words add to your understanding of the character's personality?
List at least 5 examples of spelling variations from middle to modern English.
- "grounded¨in astronomy" (line 424)
- "ascendent" (line 427)
- "malady" (line 429)
- "apothecaries" (line 435)
- "goodish" (line 438)
- "nutritives" (line 447)
What is Chaucer's opinion toward the Doctor?
What specific lines or words tell you this?
What word choices require an understanding of vocabulary from this time period?
pestilences: plagues
taffeta: a stiff, smooth fabric
supercities: excesses