The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a collection of several tales which are all told by different characters and all convey different messages. The story presented in the general prologue is that of a group of pilgrims traveling to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket, and during their journey they take turns telling stories and talking about themselves. Chaucer uses the pilgrims to express his beliefs about religion, marriage, social class, and many other topics. One of the pilgrims is the Manciple, who is a commoner and is on a mission to provide supplies to an institution and, in this case, he is the caterer for a group of lawyers. Through the character of Manciple, his prologue and his narrative, Chaucer highlights the importance of silence and discretion of speech, or through what some assume to be indicative of the instability of Manciple's character. In the "General Prologue" of The Canterbury Tales, the Manciple is described as being calm, wise, and something of a role model, but as the general prologue progresses, it can be assumed that he is devious and dishonest. For example: “All restaurateurs could follow his example/by buying food; he was never rash/whether he bought on credit or paid with cash” (Chaucer, “General Prologue” 586-588). Chancer begins to say that people can turn to Manciple for help buying supplies and that he is careful with his money, always being careful about what he has. He reportedly works for the Inn of Courts, a law school, where he assists lawyers by preparing their meals. Chaucer describes him as being so quick-witted that he can even defraud those he works for: "He is a lewd man who will walk / The wisdom of a lot of learned men?" (Chaucer, “General Prologue”. We can infer...... middle of paper ...... the conversation in his Prologue and the tale he shares. Although in the end Chaucer used the character of the Manciple, the General Prologue, the Manciple Prologue and the Manciple's Tale to convey the importance of silence and discretion of speech It may have seemed that Chaucer's writing was long and imperfect due. of his age, but the irony of the speech is exactly how Chaucer conveyed his message. Works CitedChaucer, Geoffrey. "General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales Eds Janet Evanston: McDougal Littel, 2009, 140-62. "The Canterbury Tales. March 14, 2014. Document.Chaucer, Geoffrey. "The Tale of Manciple", The Canterbury Tales, March 14, 2014. HandoutRossignol, Rosalyn. "'The Tale of Manciple '"Bloom Literature March 14, 2014. Facts About. File, Inc. Web March 12.. 2014.