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The Yeoman by Paul Smith and Peter Smith. What is a Yeoman?. During the Middle Ages, the yeomen were a class of peasants, who were military bound. They served under a knight and were commonly given land by their lord. They are usually trained in using a bow and a sword.
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What is a Yeoman? • During the Middle Ages, the yeomen were a class of peasants, who were military bound. They served under a knight and were commonly given land by their lord. They are usually trained in using a bow and a sword. • Robin Hood was originally portrayed as a yeoman. • More recently, a yeoman referred to a free man with his own land. Yeoman is also a rank in some country’s armed forces.
Characterization in Canterbury Tales • Direct: • “His head was like a nut, his face was brown”(Chaucer 91). • “wore a coat and a hood of green”(Chaucer 91). • “in his hand he bore a mighty bow”(Chaucer 91). • He had a shield, a sharp sword, a hunting horn, and a shining silver medal of St. Christopher.
Characterization Continued • Indirect: • He was materialistic • He kept all of his belongings in the best condition and showed them off. • “Peacock-feathered arrows, bright and keen … His arrows never drooped their feathers low” (Chaucer 91). • “A saucy brace (bracelet) was on his arm to ward” (Chaucer 91). • “A medal of St. Christopher he wore” (Chaucer 92). • He was loyal to his Knight. • “There was a Yeoman with him at his side, no other servant; so he chose to ride” (Chaucer 91). • He is a forester. • “He was a proper forester I guess” (Chaucer 91).
Social Class • In the Canterbury Tales, the Yeoman is an attendant to a Knight. • The Yeoman is the only servant the Knight brought with him on the pilgrimage. • He upholds the proper values of his social class by being loyal to the Knight.
Inferences • Most of the lines describe how he well he dresses and the nice things that he carries around. This leads people to believe he is a wealthy and part of the upper class, when he is not. • “A medal of St. Christopher he wore, of shining silver on his breast, and bore a hunting -horn, well slung and burnished clean, that dangled from a baldric of bright green” (Chaucer 91). • Deadly Sin: Pride • The way that the yeoman dresses and presents himself shows that he thinks highly of himself and that he is proud to serve his knight. • Chaucer is criticizing the various goods and attire a yeoman (specifically one who is a forester) needs in order to serve a knight.