manciple, a parson, and a summoner. Set between the two groups is the Host, who is to act as judge of their stories.
While it seems clear that Chaucer intended to balance groups of stories as he had the storytellers, the fact that the project was not completed and that the precise order intended is not known creates some uncertainty as to how he would have accomplished his task and how he would have balanced the various elements. Yet it is possible to see relationships among the stories that do exist so that some idea of what was intended can be inferred. The fact that the various characters are not named also points to a larger intent--these people, while drawn as individuals, are also to be seen as representative types so that their behavior reflects on a broader segment of the population, just as their stories show their preoccupations and illuminate further how they relate to the world in which they live. The Narrator of the Prologue manages to make these people both individuals and types at one and the same time. The narrator describes the Merchant, for instance, in some detail, pointing to the fact that his business dealings might be both honest and dishonest at different times. He is also outspoken:
His resons he spak ful solempnely,
Sownynge alwey th' encrees of his wynnyng (274-275).
At the same time, the man is left anonymous by the fact that he is not named and so is the Merchant, a type:
For sothe he was a worthy man with alle,
But, sooth to seyn, I noot how men hym calle (lines 283-284).
These different types interact in their roles and illuminate those roles by the stories they choose to tell.
These different types also represent certain vices and virtues. The shady dealings of the Merchant have been noted, while the shady dealings of certain of the clerics--notably the Summoner and the Pardoner--are also indicated. These characters are also individuals, however, and interact with ...