@article{article_1037408, title={More than a pilgrim less than a wife: Harry Bailly in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales}, journal={RumeliDE Dil ve Edebiyat Araştırmaları Dergisi}, pages={1140–1150}, year={2021}, DOI={10.29000/rumelide.1037408}, author={Yıldız, Nazan}, keywords={Geoffrey Chaucer, the Canterbury Tales, medieval period, Harry Bailly}, abstract={Geoffrey Chaucer’s pilgrims in his monumental work The Canterbury Tales have been widely treated by the scholars who produced copious articles and books on the countless matters focusing on each pilgrim. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to Harry Bailly, the striking innkeeper of the text. Bailly guides a group of medieval people of different ranks to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury which introduces the reader to the greatest panorama of the medieval period. As the main framework of the text, Bailly asks pilgrims to tell stories on their way to Canterbury. Bailly does not tell a story himself; yet, he becomes so successful in handling of the disputes among the pilgrims and putting all of them in order; and every time he has a say for the stories as well as the story tellers. He is also very cautious about the traditional three estates order which constitutes the backbone of the medieval society. The Canterbury Tales can be envisaged without any of its pilgrims, but not without a Harry Bailly. He is the authoritative figure, and a know-it-all. Throughout the text, he performs divergent roles as a host, a leader, a judge, a critic and a governor. Although his commanding position is impeded by his domineering wife, taken as another Wife of Bath in the paper, Bailly occupies a unique position as the maestro of the pilgrims. Accordingly, this paper aims to dwell on Harry Bailly in the Canterbury Tales to present him as the inalienable yet neglected character of the masterpiece of Geoffrey Chaucer.}, number={25}, publisher={Yakup YILMAZ}