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“Now,” quod oure Hoost, “I wol no lenger pleye With thee, ne with noon oother angry man.” But right anon the worthy Knyght bigan, Whan that he saugh that al the peple lough,
“Namoore of this, for it is right ynough!”
The Host, also known as Harry Bailey, is the innkeeper and the tour guide featured in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The Host is in charge of leading a variety of people, ranging from lower to middle to upper class, on a pilgrimage to the relics of Saint Thomas Becket in the Canterbury Cathedral. Through the journey, he shows his qualification for the particular job by efficiently interacting with the vast variety of different pilgrims. For the duration of the pilgrimage, The Host calms tensions among the Pilgrims and finds solutions to disagreements in his tour group.
Description[]
Harry Bailey is cut out to be a leader. In such a diverse group, he knows how to settle arguments. He is a tolerant man, which proves to be of utmost importance when dealing with other characters such as the Wife Of Bath or The Cook.
The Host is described as a jolly fellow, but he possesses a short temper. He is not easily offended, portrayed as an individual who takes to kidding well. Harry Bailey is also known among the group of pilgrims as the peacemaker.
Physically, The Host is described in the tales as manly, striking, and bright eyed.
Class[]
The Host belongs to the Trade Class. In Middle England, The Host belonged to the "Elite" because he was an innkeeper.
Story[]
The Host, Harry Bailey, does not have his own tale in the Canterbury Tales. However, he is an essential part of all the other Pilgrim's. He is described as a good and fair leader. Several times, the responsibilities of solving squabbles between members of the group falls on his shoulders, and he handles this responsibility well.
As the innkeeper and tour guide, he is a big part of everyone's tales.
Symbolism[]
The Host role serves more as a judge of all the tales. He does not have a tale designated to himself, but he does show up in all the other's. This position is to show tolerant judgement of each of the stories.
Middle English[]
Middle English is a variation of English spoken until the late 15th century. After the language developed out of Late Old English, many of the grammatical properties had changed.
Canterbury tales is written in Middle English.
Sources[]
//www.librarius.com/cantales.htm
//www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/c/the-canterbury-tales/summary-and-analysis/the-prologue
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English
The Host (Harry Bailly or Harry Bailey) is a character who plays a key role in and throughout Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. He is the owner of the Tabard Inn in London, where the pilgrimage begins and he agrees to travel on the pilgrimage, and promises to judge both the tales the pilgrims tell, and disputes among the pilgrims. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
He discusses his marriage to his absent wife, Goodelief, when commenting on The Tale of Melibee with its message of patience . The Host says Goodelief is herself extremely impatient and speedy in urging him to violent revenge. Her name Goodelief may be a real name or just meaning, perhaps ironically, good dear one.[9]
- ^ Richardson, C. C. (1970). The Function of the Host in The Canterbury Tales. Texas Studies in Literature and Language, 12(3), 325-344.
- ^ Williams, T. (2008). The Host, His Wife, and Their Communities in the" Canterbury Tales". The Chaucer Review, 42(4), 383-408.
- ^ Page, B. (1969). Concerning the Host. The Chaucer Review, 1-13.
- ^ Shutters, L. (2020). The Host, the Man of Law's Tale, and the Fantasy of the Foreign Wife. The Chaucer Review, 55(4), 397-421.
- ^ Jungman, R. E. (1976). The Pardoner's Quarrel with the Host. Philological Quarterly, 55(2), 279.
- ^ Pichaske, D. R., & Sweetland, L. (1977). Chaucer on the Medieval Monarchy: Harry Bailly in the" Canterbury Tales". The Chaucer Review, 179-200.
- ^ Glasser, M. (1983). The Pardoner and the Host: Chaucer's Analysis of the Canterbury Game. CEA Critic, 46(1/2), 37-45.
- ^ Gray,Douglas (2003) The Oxford Companion to Chaucer Entry on Host, The, Oxford University Press
- ^ Gray,Douglas (2003) The Oxford Companion to Chaucer Entry on Goodelief, Oxford University Press
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The Host is the major mover and shaker of the frame story of The Canterbury Tales, since it's he who proposes the tale-telling game and directs it on the way to Canterbury. We get the impression that the Host is a jolly fellow – large, with piercing eyes, fit "to been a marchal in a halle" (General Prologue 754), which is in fact what he becomes as the self-styled director of the pilgrims' merriment.The Host just wants to have a good time, which is why he gets so upset with pilgrims like the Monk or the Physician, who tell stories about tragedy and death, and so delighted with those like the Nun's Priest's, whose stories are comedies. The Host takes all his tales extremely seriously, becoming very emotionally involved in them. So convinced is he of their power that, after hearing the Physician's mournful tale, he declares the only thing that will save his heart from pain is "a draughte of moyste and corny ale / or but I heere anon a myrie tale" (Pardoner's Introduction 29 – 30).He's also quick to draw lessons from the tales he hears, declaring that the Physician's tale proves that Nature's and Fortune's gifts are death to every creature, or that the Merchant's confirms lots of negative stereotypes about women. The validity of the Host's conclusions is questionable, though, which makes us question his intellect, though not his enthusiasm.The Host often tries to play the role of peace-keeper among the pilgrims. He's the one who tells the Friar to stop ribbing the Summoner, for "in company we wol have no debaat" (Friar's Prologue 24), or warns the Manciple to stop insulting the Cook lest his insults rebound upon him. Since his goal is to keep all the pilgrims having a good time, it makes sense the Host tries to be the dispeller of conflict among them.But sometimes, he creates as many problems as he solves. Take that incident with the drunken Cook, for example: the Host is the one who calls him out for drunkenness in the first place! Or look at the moment when the Pardoner tries to foist off his fake relics on the pilgrims: there, the Host responds with outrage and anger, necessitating the Knight's mediation to avoid conflict. At these times it's like the Host's strong emotions and desires get the better of him – he simply can't contain his hilarity at the Cook's drunken state, or his righteous anger at the Pardoner – and prevent him from fulfilling his goal of promoting merriment.
With the Host, The Canterbury Tales have a built-in audience. What do we mean by that? Well, the Host is the pilgrim we most often see responding to the tales, which makes him kind of a mirror image of us, the reader, who are responding to them, too. It's doubtful that the Host is an ideal responder, since his interpretations of the tales are often so off-base. But those very wrong interpretations make us, the readers, think more about what the tales really do mean. And if they do that, then the Host has served his most important purpose.