In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer's descriptive technique used to present the
Reeve emphasized his physical characteristics as well as the success he
attained in his occupation. It is evident that Chaucer gives two different
perceptions of the Reeve, one perception is of his physical makeup and the
other is of his success achieved in his occupation.
In Chaucer's introduction of the Reeve, he immediately begins with the
Reeve's physical makeup, as shown in this excerpt from The Canterbury
Tales:
"His beerd was shave as neigh as evere he can;
His heer was by his eres ful round yshorn;
His top was dokked lik a preest biforn;
Ful longe were his legges and ful lene,
Ylik a staf, ther was no calf yseene (590-594)."
This excerpt shows the attention to detail Chaucer selected to introduce the
Reeve. Chaucer also gives the Reeve a name, which is not commonly done
for most pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer announces the Reeve's
name in The......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 809
Approximate Pages: 4 (260 words per double-spaced page) |