Chaucer's Thirty Pilgrims and Activa Vita.

Author / Editor
Steadman, John M.

Title
Chaucer's Thirty Pilgrims and Activa Vita.

Published
Neophilologus 45 (1961): 224-30.

Description
Suggests that the number of participants in Chaucer's CT pilgrimage--"Wel nyne and twenty" (GP 1.24) plus the narrator--can be seen to signify the "active life," consisting "essentially of penitence and good works." Offers evidence that thirty signifies "activa vita" elsewhere in medieval "framed story-collections" and in medieval number symbolism, and explores the implications of such symbolism in CT.

Chaucer Subjects
Canterbury Tales--General
General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales