How does chaucer describe the doctor

He is more in the range of middle class, though he is not one short of riches, as his lust for gold keeps him financially stable. Virginia is a very beautiful lady, yet virtuous and pure. The judge of the town notices her and begins to lust over her and is dire to get her.

Desperate, he concocts a plan to make her his own. He hires Cladius to accuse Virginius of stealing his servant. Before he could defend himself, Appius the judge orders him to have his daughter turned over and be his maid. Virginia is apprehensive and disagrees with her father and her father then brings her to Appius. When Appius is given this, he attempts to violate Virginia and calls Virginius to be hanged.

Despite this, the people defend Virginius and want Appius to be imprisoned. So wealthy is he that he's able to afford expensive blue and scarlet robes of taffeta and silk. Yet, despite this one conspicuous display of wealth, the Physician is moderate overall, partaking of a diet that's modest and nourishing while saving up most of his gold. In a sly jab at the Physician, Chaucer tells us that he saves up his gold because "gold in phisik is a cordial" General Prologue It's true that medieval doctors and apothecaries used very finely ground gold in their most expensive potions, but what Chaucer probably means here is that gold is a "cordial," or pleasurable concoction, to the Physician because he loves money so much.

With the Physician, one of the most educated of the pilgrims, Chaucer provides us with an interesting contrast to the Clerk. While the Clerk's studies have been motivated by pure love of knowledge, to the detriment of the Clerk's financial situation, the Physician pursues his learning for financial gain. The comparison of these two highly-educated men allows us to weigh the consequences of both motivations for education.

Geoffrey Chaucer used his character, the Doctor or the Physician, to express his feelings of greediness and hypocriticalness. In lines to , they explain why the Doctor is rancorous about this subject, which is for killing his daughter: "Daughter," said he, "Virginia by your name, There are two ways, for either death or shame, You now must suffer.

Ah, that I was born! For you have not deserved to be thus lorn, To die by means of sword or any knife O daughter who are now my final woe Receive your death, for that is my sentence. Middle English, at the time, was modern English. This type of English was written and spoken from the time of to The different English were also divided into three different dialects: Southern i.

Kentish, Southwestern , Midland i. Thames, South Yorkshire, northern Lancashire , and Northern i. Scottish Lowlands, Yorkshire, Northumberland. Shmoop Editorial Team. Canterbury Tales English Wiki Explore.