Scottish actor Ewan McGregor would make the
ideal Knight for The Canterbury Tales.
The Knight from the story is said to
have followed “chivalry, truth, honor, generousness, and courtesy” (Chaucer
74). Not only has McGregor played characters that follow this same code of
conduct, he has also displayed it himself in his own personal life. He has done
a significant amount of work with the UNICEF program as well as other
charities. In McGregor’s film career, he relates even more to Chaucer’s Knight.
The Knight is said to have fought in a numerous number of battles, such as in
Alexandria, Granada, North Africa, and others along the Mediterranean Coast
(Chaucer 74). McGregor’s character Obi-Wan Kenobi was a similar character,
serving a beacon of hope in battles across the galaxy. Lastly, both McGregor
and Chaucer’s Knight can be described as independent. The Knight walks around
wearing a comfortable, stained tunic and is not gaily dressed (Chaucer 75).
McGregor is similar in the sense as he not ostentatious with the roles he
plays; he simply plays the roles in goes back to his own life at home. I firmly
believe that Ewan McGregor would make the best Knight in my casting of The Canterbury Tales.
American actor Morgan Freeman would make the
model Host in The Canterbury Tales.
Freeman is a warmhearted, humble, and tolerant man. This can be seen in one of
Freeman’s many roles, the most obvious one being in Bruce Almighty as he played the pivotal role of God. Here he was
able to show himself by taking a very serious character, and lightening them up
a bit. Freeman also shows the characteristic in his personal life. When he was
on an episode of “The Late Night Show with Craig Ferguson”, Josh Robert
Thompson performed a very stellar Morgan Freeman impression. Freeman took it
very well, laughed along, and congratulated the young man on such an impressive
performance. Chaucer’s Host is described as “his eyes were bright, his girth a
little wide; There is no finer burgess in Cheapside” (Chaucer 86). The Host was
warm and welcoming to the pilgrims, but had the ability to be cold and serious.
When the Pardoner tried to persuade him to buy indulgences, the Host replied
sternly with, “Not I, and may the curse of Christ descend upon me if I do!”
(Chaucer 94). This same type of attitude can be seen by Freeman, especially
when he was question on the idea of Black History month on “60 Minutes”. When
asked about it he replied with, "I don't want a black history month. Black
history is American history.” (“Comments on Race). Because of the parallels in
their personalities, I strongly believe that Morgan Freeman would make the
ideal Host in my casting of The
Canterbury Tales.
American actor Tobey Maguire seems to be the
perfect fit for the Oxford Cleric in The
Canterbury Tales. Aside from his personality matchup, Maguire looks like
the typical high school nerd that Chaucer’s Oxford Cleric is meant to resemble.
“He preferred having twenty books in red and black, of Aristotle’s philosophy,
than costly clothes, fiddle of psaltery” (Chaucer 79). The Oxford cleric would
buy book after book instead of buying food. He would even borrow money from his
friends to pay for his books. Maguire had a similar attitude towards academia
in his starring role as Peter Parker in Spider-Man.
In this film, Maguire had to play a nerdy high school teenager who favored
books and high grades over being the coolest kid in school. The role of Peter
Parker and Chaucer’s Oxford Cleric are almost identically, the only exception
being that Peter Parker was also a web-slinging superhero. Due to the physical
resemblance and experience in playing nerdy, book obsessed characters, I am
convinced that Tobey Maguire would make an excellent Oxford Cleric in my
casting of The Canterbury Tales.
Works
Cited
"Biography
for Ewan McGregor." Ewan McGregor-Biography. IMBd. Web. 1 Nov.
2012.
"Biography
for Morgan Freeman." Morgan Freeman-Biography. IMBd. Web. 1
Nov. 2012.
"Biography
for Tobey Maguire." Tobey Maguire-Biography. IMBd. Web. 1 Nov.
2012.
Chaucer,
Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales.
Trans. Nevill Coghill. Penguin Classics, 1977. Print.
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