The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales

Chaucer's Prologue describes various people in connection with their profession. Analyze the Skipper's description. Explain two things the Skipper's description reveals about people in his occupation. Provide details from the poem referencing specific line numbers to support each idea

Asked by
Last updated by Aslan
Answers 1
Add Yours

Primarily, the tale continues the idea, previously raised in The Wife of Bath’s tale, that money, sex, and women are closely inter-connected. It is interesting that, in the second fragment, the Shipman promises to tell his tale, mentioning his “joly body” (attractive figure). Scholars have argued that, in fact, the lines about the Shipman’s “joly body” were intended to be adapted into the mouth of the Wife of Bath, and it is the Wife of Bath’s Tale which immediately follows the Shipman’s promise. The bawdy fabliau of the Shipman’s Tale is usually assumed to have been intended to be The Wife of Bath’s tale before the version we currently have was composed.