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The Yeoman's Tale

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The Yeoman's Tale in The Canterbury Tales: Moral & Analysis

'The Yeoman's Tale' covers two separate stories about alchemists, each of which drives home the point that alchemy does not actually work, and that people and things are not always what they appear to be.

Plot Summary

'The Yeoman's Tale' is told by the Yeoman who joins the pilgrimage just at the end of 'The Second Nun's Tale', and it is told in two parts: the first is about the Canon, an alchemist travelling with the Yeoman, someone who can transform base metals into precious metals. The second part of the tale is about a different alchemist, who is not a character in The Canterbury Tales. In the first of the two stories, the Yeoman details briefly what materials are used in alchemy …show more content…

He says at the end of the first story, 'But all thing, which that shineth as the gold, It is not gold, as I have heard it told; Nor every apple that is fair at eye, It is not good, what so men clap (assert) or cry.' This comment is made in between the two stories of the alchemists, who are not actually able to change cheap metals into valuable ones and take advantage of people who believe that they can. The moral also generally refers to the Canon and the Yeoman themselves who might have seemed like trustworthy characters when they first approached the pilgrimage, but appear less so as their story is …show more content…

In this case, the previous story is 'The Second Nun's Tale', which is about the holy life of Saint Cecilia and her martyrdom. It is possible that the moral of 'things are not always as they seem' is intended to raise questions about the veracity of the previous story; for example, was Cecilia's life as pure and her martyrdom as miraculous, as the Second Nun suggests in her story? Indeed, the moral of 'The Yeoman's Tale' suggests that we should ask how much any of the stories should be taken at face

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