Both as a character and as a writer, Chaucer loves life. His expansive waistline matches his expansive imagination: he takes equal pleasure in the lowly and the sublime. Not averse to a joke at his own expense, he’s also an irreverent critic of religious hypocrisy, the battle of the sexes, and plain old human folly.

The Host—also known as Harry Bailey—is a large, garrulous man who likes a good joke. He’s the supposed originator of the very concept of the Tales, encouraging the pilgrims to compete for the prize of a dinner at his Southwark tavern, the Tabard. He provides saucy commentary (and, on occasion, pretty stern judgment) for just about every story. In some ways, he’s the character closest to Chaucer—an alter ego with a similarly mighty paunch, the guy who orchestrates the action.

Courtly, romantic, and sometimes a bit obtuse, the Knight is a picture of both the idealism and the folly of chivalry. His tale of Palamon, Arcite, and Emily is genuinely moving in its rich imagery, but also more than a little silly in its heroes’ bickering and melodrama. The Knight seems to view the world through an idealized lens, but he never loses his sense of humor about the nature of reality.