We have seen how the individual tales we have read from The Canterbury Tales,
with their similarities and differences, serve to comment on each other and so sharpen our
sense of each tale via comparison to the others.
Choose one of the pairs of characters below as the focus of an essay that explores how
the portrayal of each character serves the particular purpose of the tale in which he/she
appears.
The pairs have been constructed such that both members have a similar place within the
structure of their tales. For example, Emelye and Dorigen are both loved by two men;
Palamon and Absolon are both men with rivals in love. But the treatment or portrayal of
each character is very different, as are the issues explored in each tale. Give a contrast of
the portrayals of your chosen pair, with the object being to explain how these different
portrayals fit into the larger contexts of the two different tales. A full discussion will
require that you give a full analysis of the tales in which your chosen characters appear in
order to explain the part each character plays in fulfilling the tale’s purpose.
You will be discussing how the portrayals further both the tellers’ purposes in
constructing a particular perspective or view of the world (as we have called it), as well
as Chaucer’s purpose as he constructs multiple perspectives via this collection of tales.
Emelye and Dorigen
Damian and Nicholas
Alisoun (from The Miller’s Tale) and May
Palamon and Absolon
Damian and Aurelius
John (from The Miller’s Tale) and Januarye
Arcite and Arveragus
Your essay should demonstrate clear knowledge and good understanding of the text/tale.
Please include brief quotations in support of your points.

Sample Solution 

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