The Canterbury Tales · Character

Griseldis

A poor peasant's daughter raised to a marquis's throne, whose unshakable patience under her husband's cruelties becomes both her glory and her chains.

major

Also known as this Griseldis, Griseld, Griselda

First appearance: The Clerk's Tale

As a major figure in The Canterbury Tales, Griseldis is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

The patient and virtuous wife who endures Walter's cruel tests without complaint.

In the storyThe Clerk's TaleOpen this moment free

Griseldis is a low-born maiden whose virtue and humility lift her to marriage with the Marquis Walter, ruler of Saluzzo. Walter tests her with escalating torments — taking her children, seeming to annul their marriage, summoning her to serve his new bride — and she answers each with a calm obedience that unsettles as much as it awes. Her story is the Clerk's answer to the Wife of Bath, an argument about what women truly want and what patience costs.

See Griseldis in The Clerk's Tale Book page

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Character Web

11 connections

A slice of how Griseldis sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Social
Other

Character groups

Patience and marital testing
Protagonist
Moral exemplars and advisors
Diverse pilgrims and tale characters
Magic and gentility
Lower-class and bawdy characters

+6 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This passage marks the story's dramatic climax because it shifts the focus from the external, ritualistic acts…

Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.

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Relationships

Palamon
social · ambivalent
Griseldis appears in the same narrative framework as Palamon, linked by the Clerk's tale… How this plays out →
Palamon
social · ambivalent
Griseldis appears in the same narrative framework as Palamon, linked by the Clerk's tale… How this plays out →

Relationship notes

How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.

See Griseldis in The Clerk's Tale

In the story

Griseldis appears across 9 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

The Clerk's Tale
The patient and virtuous wife who endures Walter's cruel tests without complaint.
The Clerk's Tale of Griselda
The patient and virtuous wife who endures extreme tests of loyalty and obedience from her husband.
Pars Secunda
The virtuous and poor maiden who becomes the marchioness, swearing total obedience to Walter.
Pars Tertia
Griselda endures the marquis's cruel test with unwavering patience, meekly surrendering her daughter and blessing the child without weeping or complaint.
Pars Quarta
Remains utterly patient and obedient, declaring she has no will but her husband's, even when her children are taken.
Pars Quinta
The patient wife who humbly accepts her husband's decree, returns to her father's house, and asks only for a smock to cover her womb.
Pars Sexta
The patient and faithful wife who endures Walter's tests and is ultimately reunited with her children.
L'Envoy of Chaucer
Referenced as the epitome of patience, now dead and buried in Italy, serving as a cautionary example.
The Prologue
The Merchant references Griselda's great patience as a contrast to his wife's cruelty.

Chapter companion notes

Spoil-light check-ins for Griseldis unlock in the free preview.

See Griseldis in The Clerk's Tale