Writer's example

As a writer as well as a reader, my favorite part of the Canterbury Tales is the General Prologue. The actual "tales" part of the collection are secondary to the way that Chaucer creates his characters.

He's a perfect example of characterization for writers, even now - his methodology in drawing his characters for the first time is absolutely timeless. He's relatively brief, even his longer descriptions such as the Wife of Bath's and the Parson's only taking up about a page of verse. But he packs in so much detail about each person - relevant, striking detail - that it goes a long way to painting a vivid picture.

Chaucer also has a skill for wittiness and irony, engaging more than one emotional sense in how he portrays his characters to his audience. Not to mention his diversity! People from all walks of life and from all moral spectrums are represented, men and women both. Many of the character sketches can be seen as parody but it's never overpowering, and it never takes away from the main purpose of description.

The novelist in me adores the General Prologue. A lot of writers now could take some examples from Chaucer on how they develop their characters.

PS: I commented on Abbie's post.