# Meliboeus — The Canterbury Tales character guide

> Meliboeus in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** quoth Meliboeus

**First appearance:** 0059-chaucer-s-tale-of-meliboeus

## Snapshot

A rich man whose wounded daughter and ransacked house leave him weeping, raging for revenge, and deaf to the one counselor who speaks sense.

## Who they are

Meliboeus is a wealthy lord whose home is broken into by old enemies, his wife beaten and his daughter Sophia left for dead. When he summons a counsel of surgeons, lawyers, flatterers, and feigned friends, his heart burns for war even as he asks their advice. His refusal to govern his grief is the hinge on which the tale's long debate about patience, vengeance, and wise counsel turns.

## Relationships

### [Dame Prudence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/characters/dame_prudence)

_family_

Dame Prudence is Meliboeus's wise and patient wife who counsels him toward forgiveness and peace.

### [Dame Prudence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/characters/dame_prudence)

_family_

Dame Prudence is Meliboeus's wise and patient wife who counsels him toward forgiveness and peace.

## In the story

### [Chaucer's Tale of Meliboeus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_canterbury_tales_se/chapters/chaucer-s-tale-of-meliboeus)

The protagonist, a wealthy man who initially seeks vengeance after his house is attacked.

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

The wealthy protagonist who initially reacts with grief and rage to the attack on his family, but gradually yields to his wife's wise counsel.

## Links

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