Editing Yeoman (section)

==== The Canon's Yeoman's Prologue ====
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{{anchor|Canon Yeo}}
{{Main|The Canon's Yeoman's Tale}}
[[File:The Canon%27s Yeoman - Ellesmere Chaucer.jpg|thumb|Painting of the Canon's Yeoman in the Ellesmere Manuscript]]
Chaucer constructed this tale quite differently than the other ones. The [[Canon (priest)|Canon]] and his Yeoman are not part of the original party. They are introduced when the group reaches [[Boughton under Blean]], only 5 miles from Canterbury. From the top of Boughton Hill, those traveling along the [[Pilgrim's Way]] from London can see the towers of [[Canterbury Cathedral]] for the first time. This close proximity to Canterbury makes the entrance of the Canon and his Yeoman suspicious. Even more suspicious is the sudden exit of the Canon, leaving his Yeoman to tell the tale himself.{{r|Harvard_Canons_Tale|p=lines 554–702}}

Two Chaucerian scholars have different but complementary interpretations, and neither concern a satire on [[alchemy]]. Albert E Hartung proposes that the ''Canon's Yeoman's Prologue'' is a device to include a previously written story into ''the Canterbury Tales'' as the ''Pars Secunda''{{r|1977_Hartung|p=111-128}}. Jackson J. Campbell proposes the interruption of the pilgrims' journey by the Canon and his yeoman so near to Canterbury is a device to prepare for the Parson's Tale, which is actually a sermon.{{r|1982_Campbell|p=171–181}} Both interpretations place importance on the characterization of the Yeoman.

Hartung proposes that the real reason the Canon rode so fast and so hard to join the pilgrims is that he was seeking new victims.{{r|1977_Hartung|p=124}} The Yeoman urges that it would be to the pilgrims' advantage to know the Canon better; that he is a remarkable man.{{r|Harvard_Canons_Tale|p=lines 609–614}} The Canon knows the secret of turning the road they are traveling upside down, and repaving it with silver and gold.{{r|Harvard_Canons_Tale|p=lines 620–626}} When The Host asks why The Canon is dressed in dirty rags, when he can afford clothes of the finest material, the Yeoman deftly replies that the Canon will never prosper, because his faith will not allow him to enrich himself though his knowledge.{{r|Harvard_Canons_Tale|p=lines 627-51}}

The impression that it was time for the Canon and his Yeoman to move on is reinforced by the Yeoman's description of where they lived:
:"In the outskirts of a town," said he,
:"Lurking in hiding places and in dead-end alleys,
:Where these robbers and these thieves by nature
:Hold their private fearful residence, ..." (lines 657–660)
At this point the Canon reins his horse in beside his Yeoman, demanding that he not reveal any secrets. The Host dismisses the Canon's threats as mere bluster, and the Canon gallops away. The Yeoman's reaction implies that he may have hoped that this would happen.{{r|Harvard_Canons_Tale|p=lines 703–719}} It was the Yeoman who noticed the Pilgrims leaving the hostelry that morning, and informed the Canon.{{r|Harvard_Canons_Tale|p=lines 589-90}}

At this point, at the beginning of the ''Prima Pars'' ("First Part"), Campbell draws attention to the Yeoman's manner of speaking. He notes that the Yeoman rambles on impulsively in an unorganized fashion. His speech is full of [[Free association (psychology)|free association]] and [[stream of consciousness]].(p 174, 176) Seeing the Canon ride off unleashes a torrent of inventive against the Canon – and against himself. He sorrowfully remembers when his face was fresh and ruddy; now it is the color of lead. He used to wear fine clothing and have "splendid furnishings", now he wears a legging on his head. When their experiments failed to convert one gold coin into two, he borrowed the gold to pay the customer.{{r|Harvard_Canons_Tale|p=lines 722–736}} Campbell describes the self-revulsion felt by the Yeoman for the futility of alchemy, and the deception and dishonesty employed while searching for the philosopher's stone. He hates it, but is fascinated by it at the same time.{{r|1982_Campbell|p=174-75}}

Hartung agrees that Chaucer is presenting the pursuit of the [[philosopher's stone]] as an affliction{{r|1977_Hartung|p=124}} He contrasts the Yeoman's Canon in the ''Prima Parta'' with the charlatan alchemist in the ''Pars Secunda'' ("Second Part") of the ''Yeoman's Tale''. Huntung proposes that this part of the Tale was composed for an audience of clergymen.{{r|1977_Hartung|p=126}} The alchemist is compared with the devil, and the "worshipful canons" who pursue the study of alchemy are no better than [[Judas]], who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. But the tirade is not against alchemy itself.{{r|1977_Hartung|p=126}}

The penitent Yeoman reinforces the overall theme of [[Christian pilgrimage|pilgrimage]], with its emphasis on [[repentance]], and [[Forgiveness#Christianity|forgiveness]]. Chaucer is preparing the reader (or listener) for the ''Parson's Tale'', which a sermon about penitence, "which can not fail to man nor to woman who through sin has gone astray from the right way to Jerusalem celestial".<ref name=Harvard_Parsons_Tale/>