Individualization of Language in the Canterbury Frame Story

Description: Close reading of the speech patterns of the Canterbury pilgrims in the links between the tales, focusing on level of diction (Romance vocabulary), syntax, and figurative language, and relating these features to characterization. Comments at length on the Man of Law, Prioress, Franklin, and Reeve, and examines in detail passages that typify the Host as boisterous, the Wife of Bath as enthusiastic, and the Pardoner as cold-blooded and egotistical. Appends a statistical table of Romance words used in each link, analyzed by speaker.