# The Clerk — The Canterbury Tales character guide

> The Clerk in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0000-the-prologue

## Snapshot

A threadbare Oxford scholar who would rather own twenty books of Aristotle than rich robes or a merry fiddle, and tells a tale of unshakeable patience.

## Who they are

The Clerk rides last among the pilgrims, lean and hollow-cheeked, spending what little he earns on books and praying for his friends' souls. He speaks little but weighs every word, and when the Host calls on him he delivers a tale of Griselda, a wife tested past all endurance. His quiet learning and moral seriousness stand as a rebuke to the flashier, greedier figures around him.

## In the story

### [The Prologue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/chapters/the-prologue)

A scholarly pilgrim, urged by the Host to set aside his shyness and draw a cut.

### [The Clerk's Tale](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/chapters/the-clerk-s-tale)

The storyteller who narrates the tale of Griseldis and Walter.

### [The Clerk's Prologue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/chapters/the-prologue)

The Clerk is addressed by the Host and agrees to tell a tale learned from Petrarch.

### [The Clerk's Tale of Griselda](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/chapters/the-tale)

The narrator of the tale, who tells the story of Griselda and adds a moralizing envoy.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/characters/clerk
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/characters