The Doctor - Mary

## The Doctor (Canterbury Tales)

### Summary

**The Doctor** is one of the most important characters' in Geoffrey Chaucer's book The Canterbury Tales. The Doctor is part of the Middle class and is one of the best doctor's alive in Medieval England. He uses remedies like blood-letting and tricks and medicine from ancient Greek, Latin, and Arabic sources to help heal the ill. His day-to-day life is very also very busy, just like the Doctors' we have today. The Doctor was always helping the sick, both the poor and rich.

### Description

The Doctor is a very knowledgeable man during this time, which happens to be Medieval England, 1066 A.D. to 1485 A.D. He is supposedly a very well spoken character who is the best physician in Medieval England, using medieval practices such as blood-letting and keeping close ties with local apothecaries. The Doctor has expertise in diagnosing the causes and finding cures for most ailments', too. The Physician is said to keep himself in perfect health, but, however, his spiritual health has always been questioned. According to the narrator of The Canterbury Tales, he, the Physician, rarely consults the Bible and has a very unhealthy love for money. During this time the Doctor would be seen wearing blood-red garments slashed with bluish-grey and lone with taffeta, also known as silk.

### Social Status

In Medieval England, there was the rich and the poor. Just recently during this period, there was an emerging Middle Class, which we still have to this day. In Chaucer's book, the Doctor was part of the Middle Class, more specifically, the top of the Middle Class. Typically, the Merchant would also be found at the top of the Middle Class. While being part of the Middle Class, it was much harder to be taxed than those below in the social rank; this included university graduates, bishops, and archbishops.

### The Doctor's Tale

The Doctor's Tale is a delightful story towards the beginning, however, there is a aberrant ending. Geoffrey Chaucer initiates the story by confabulating about the first character, the Knight, who went by the name Virginius. Virginius was a married man and his wife bore him a child. During the story, the daughter, Virginia, is supposedly incredibly beautiful and only fourteen years of age. At the age of fourteen, whoever laid eyes on her fell in love with her immediately. One man in particular, a false judge known as Appius, decided he would try to marry the young girl, no matter what price he must pay in order to have her. In spite of that, young Virginia’s father strong-willingly killed her, rather than handing her over to the judge. The ending to this story was certainly something that nobody would've envisioned.

### Symbolism

Geoffrey Chaucer used his character, the Doctor or the Physician, to express his feelings of greediness and hypocriticalness. He also used the Doctor to express how some things/subjects during this time were quite appalling. In lines 215 to 224, 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." (The Canterbury Tales, The Knight, Geoffrey Chaucer)

### Middle English

Middle English was used to write Geoffrey Chaucer's book, "The Canterbury Tales". Middle English, at the time, was modern English. This type of English was written and spoken from the time of 1100 to 1500. Middle English was split into three periods: Early, Central, and Late Middle English. Chaucer, throughout the Canterbury Tales, he used Central Middle English. The different English were also divided into three different dialects: Southern (i.e. Kentish, Southwestern), Midland (i.e. Thames, South Yorkshire, northern Lancashire), and Northern (i.e. Scottish Lowlands, Yorkshire, Northumberland).

### Works Cited

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“Origins.” *Apothecaries*, www.apothecaries.org/charity/history/our-history.

Shmoop Editorial Team. “The Merchant in The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue & Frame Story.” *Shmoop*, Shmoop University, 11 Nov. 2008, www.shmoop.com/canterbury-tales-prologue/the-merchant.html.

“The Canterbury Tales.” *SparkNotes*, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/lit/canterbury/characters.html.

“The Canterbury Tales.” *SparkNotes*, SparkNotes, www.sparknotes.com/lit/canterbury/.

“The Doctor (Canterbury Tales).” *Prezi.com*, 14 Nov. 2012, prezi.com/yqvstwihwolz/the-doctor-canterbury-tales/.

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. “Middle English language.” *Encyclopædia Britannica*, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 28 Mar. 2016, www.britannica.com/topic/Middle-English-language.

“The Pysicians Tale.” *From "The Canterbury Tales": The Physician's Tale (Modern english and middle english)*, www.librarius.com/canttran/phystrfs.htm.