English Literature / Unit 4 ENL 0307 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The General Prologue: Portraits and Estates
Captions available
The idea
The Prologue describes each pilgrim in turn, sketching the medieval three estates: those who fight, those who pray, and those who work. The anchor observes that the travellers do nothing pilgrim-like: they feast, drink, dress richly, ride, and tell stories instead of praying.
In practice
A society in portraits.
Where people slip
Estates satire measures each against an ideal.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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