As I was reading the Prologue, I immediately noticed that the characters had ironic traits. The Friar seemed a little bit corrupt in the way he charged people to give them absolution, often at unfair prices. The merchant who is supposed to be shrewd and smart with money is secretly in debt. The cook is described as one who has an ulcer on his knee, which is probably not someone you want dealing with your food. The woman in the group has had 5 husbands which was pretty unusual and ironic for the time. In fact, I find it a little ironic that Chaucer chose women to be characters at all because most authors didn't place women as main characters at the time. The characters are all very different and I predict that their strong or defining traits will end up hurting them at some point during the story.
I wonder why a dinner was the prize for having the most compelling story? I speculate that it's because food wasn't as accessible as it is now so people prized it more. I know sure though and I'm not sure if that will have significance later. Chaucer has developed a diverse array of characters and I wonder how their stories will intertwine and how they will all interact.
I would like to read the woman's story. She seems like a strong woman who is independent and that was uncommon for the time period. I am interested to see how Chaucer viewed women and what lens he decides to write about her through. The life of a woman was obviously quite different than that of a man and I wonder what attributes she will bring to the group.
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