Home
William Shakespeare
Canterbury Tales
Teacher Corner
Homework
English Literature Sites

The Clerk

picture3.gif

The Clerk
 
He is sincere and quiet.
 
He is completely devoted to his studies.
 
He is poor because he spends all his money on books.
 
Student at Oxford.
 
Loves to learn.
 
He is respected by all the pilgrims.
 
He is told by the host to tell a tale that will cheer up the pilgrims.

The Clerk's Tale
 
A poor woman,Griselda, marries a rich man, Walter.
 
Walter wants to find out if his wife loves him unconditionally so he takes her baby away and pretends to have her killed and tells her the kingdom hates the baby.
 
Even though Griselda is upset she tells him it was for the best.
 
A few years later, she has a boy and Walter does the same thing.
 
Years later he tells her that he is planning on wedding someone new and tells her that she will be invovled in making the arrangments for his new bride.
 
She agrees and plans everything never losing confidence in Walter.
 
At the wedding, Walter gives her back her two kids and praises her for being so loyal to him and loving him unconditionally.
 
He concludes his tale with "They lived happily ever after".