The Clerk in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales belongs to the middle class. He is depicted as a student of philosophy, which places him in an educational and intellectual realm that was respected but not aristocratic.
As a character, the Clerk is often seen as a representative of the rising middle class during the late medieval period. He is diligent, studious, and focused on acquiring knowledge rather than wealth or social status. His thin frame and threadbare clothing symbolize his poverty; he spends all his money on books and education, prioritizing learning over material possessions.
This emphasis on intellectual pursuits rather than wealth or lineage reflects the values of the emergent bourgeois class of Chaucer’s time. Interestingly, the Clerk does not engage in the same social competitions as his higher-born counterparts; he instead embodies the virtues of knowledge and wisdom, making him a unique figure in the Tales.