Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices From a Medieval Village

Taggot is the blacksmith’s daughter. She is large for a girl and has been told that she is unlikely to find someone to marry. She also believes that she may be ugly. She is therefore highly self-conscious in her interactions with Hugo and feels “ashamed to be caught staring” at him (7). She is also unable to think of anything to say to him.

Despite these social difficulties, she takes pride in her skill with horses, noting that “even Robin [her brother] admits / there’s no one better to quiet a horse” (6). She knows the blacksmith’s trade well because her father has taught her the skill. Although she knows that this trade is unusual for a maid, she exhibits pride in her skills. She remembers instances of her parents praising her and comforting her about her size, and these details suggest that she has a better familial relationship than many other characters featured in the book.

Taggot is sensitive and empathetic; she cries when the hogs are slaughtered and doesn’t believe that she has the mental fortitude to endure the loss of a child. When she sees the stone in the horse’s hoof, she calls it “a grievous thing” (7) and is eager to ease the animal’s pain.

Will is characterized as obedient. He has always loved and respected his father, who has been dead for four years, and he still thinks of the man daily. He takes seriously the promise that he made to his father to work had and care for his mother and sisters: Will says, “I always did everything he told me, and I always will, so long as I live” (11). He doesn’t express concern or guilt about the time that his father hunted a hare on the lord’s land, and his attitude suggests that his highest loyalty is to his family. Will’s other main character trait is a strong work ethic. He remembers helping his father in the fields and is still committed to working to support his family in his father’s absence.

Thomas is the son of the lord’s physician. He is learning the doctor’s trade from his father and shows pride in his specialized knowledge. He opens his monologue with a long list of the remedies and aspects of medicine that he has learned. However, his strongest focus is on the fact that doctors must protect themselves by ensuring that they are paid and preventing their patients or the patients’ families from complaining in the event of poor outcomes. He has learned from his father that overstating the severity of a patient’s case from the outset is the only way to “protect” oneself in the event of that patient’s death. He also reasons that overstating the case improves people’s perceptions of the doctor’s skills if the patient lives. Thomas’s narrative takes on a wry and slightly callous tone as he discusses his high-stakes profession.

Constance’s primary character trait is her faith. Despite her difficult circumstances, she believes wholeheartedly that she will be healed when she reaches Saint Winifred’s well. She describes herself as “crooked backed, crippled, and fell” (20), reflecting the ableist views of her community. She has had a physical disability since birth and has had a difficult life as a result. She notes that “a hunchback’s life is a life of scorn” (21), reinforcing the point that her negative experiences are projected from her community, and she even admits to sometimes wishing that she “had never been born” (21). Still, she remains optimistic that she will be healed when her pilgrimage is complete.

Mogg is self-reflective. Though she remembers being relieved to learn that her abusive father was dying, she still expresses guilt about feeling that way, and she prays, “may God assail me” (24). She is protective of her little brother Jack, whose intellectual disabilities often make him the target of other abuses. She is angry at her father for hurting Jack and her mother. Later, through Jack’s narrative, Mogg is characterized by her kind, encouraging words. She is also dutiful to her family obligations and waits eight hours to grind her meal at the mill, even though she spends that time “cursing under her breath” (24).

Otho is resigned to his fate as the miller’s son, a role that inspires hatred from the other villagers due to his father’s habitual theft of their hard-earned grain. Otho is similar to Thomas, the doctor’s son, as both boys reflect on their fathers’ dishonesty. However, Otho is more negatively affected by his father’s trade than Thomas is, as he must endure the hatred of his contemporaries. Although he is resigned to the fact that he will become the miller, he is not eager to learn the trade. For example, he notes that the family business has been “drummed into [his] head” (27), and he looks forward to the day when he “will have a son” and then wryly comments, “God help him!” (29).

Otho is also philosophical, as indicated by his refrain: “God makes the water, and the water makes the river, / and the river turns the mill wheel / and the wheel goes on forever” (27). He is cynical about people’s essential nature and notes that “every man’s a cheater” (27). In addition to being thoughtful and resigned, Otho also expresses an impulse toward revenge when he declares of the other villagers, “One day I’ll show them hating me / ‘S a thing they can’t afford” (28).

Jack is described as a “half-wit” by both himself and the others of the village, an ableist view of his intellect. He is good at milking cows and finding eggs, and he takes pride in these skills. Now that his father is dead, Jack is grateful for the support of his other family members and reflects that “Heaven must be like this: / Jesus, and his Mother, / and the dumb beasts” (31). This idea suggests that he takes solace in religion.

Jack is kind and empathetic. When Otho is assaulted by hateful townsfolk, Jack draws on his own experience of his abusive father and puts ice on Otho’s face, repeating the same soothing words that Mogg has told him in similar circumstances: “It’ll get better” (32).

Simon’s ambition to become a knight exemplifies many crusaders’ desire to kill their enemies and participate in a religious war that they see as righteous. He imagines the enjoyment of riding into battle, stating, “slash—cut— / left—right— / sharpen my sword on the Saracen’s [an Islamic person’s] throat—crush the bones of the heathen horde” (35). In an ironic contrast to these bloodthirsty thoughts, he also expresses a desire to be chivalrous and “pure of heart” (34). Schlitz thus uses Simon’s character to illustrate the contradictions that existed beneath the ideals of knighthood and the historical conflict of the Crusades.

Simon is later characterized through Edgar’s negative perception of him. Edgar, the falconer, believes that Simon “will not tend to [his sparrowhawk] / He would let thee starve and pine— / A callow, shallow, pampered youth” (39). However, the narrative never clarifies the level of bias in Edgar’s perceptions, as the boy’s main focus is on protecting a beloved hawk that he raised from a chick.

Edgar is characterized as brave. He prioritizes his affection for the sparrowhawk and declares his commitment to its well-being, even potentially sacrificing his own safety and career prospects for this cause. He plans to free the bird although he knows that such a rash action could result in severe punishment. He reasons that Simon will not take care of the bird, and he knows that the bird would have a better life if it were to be set free. His memories of training the bird reflect his deep patience and commitment, for he “hungered and forsook [his] bed. / Long in the night [he] walked the floor, / Carrying [the sparrowhawk] upon [his] glove” (39).

Isobel, an upper-class girl, is demure and remains committed to living up to the expectations of her station. She notes that she “was walking eyes down, as a modest maid should” (42) when she found herself the target of a muck-throwing peasant. Isobel is also characterized as thoughtful and fair through her refusal to tell her father who through the muck at her. She reasons that “Only one threw the clod. / Only one should be beaten” (43). However, her privileged upbringing makes her naïve enough to wonder why people hate her when she has never done anything to harm them. She also expresses an unconscious sense of entitlement when she states, “The Lord God / chose my father to rule / the same way he chose them to serve” (43).

Barbary functions as a foil to Isobel. Whereas Isobel has a difficult time imagining how hard life is for others, Barbary is keenly aware of the privileges that she lacks. She is presented as a complex character because although she is reluctant to take the twins shopping and grows disgusted with their antics, she is also compassionate when she sees her stepmother’s suffering. She knows that throwing the mud at Isobel is wrong, and she immediately feels remorse for this impulsive act. She also shows a measure of philosophical reflection when she notes that both she and Isobel will suffer equally in childbirth, regardless of their differences in class.

Jacob describes himself as a son of “the Jew” and a moneylender’s son. He has experienced bias and blame due to his religion, and he also suffers abuses such as “curses, blows, spittle, and stones” (51). Like the Christian Petronella, however, Jacob is able to put aside his biases while the he and she spontaneously play together, skipping stones. However, he eventually remembers himself and his duty, saying, “I thought of my God / I thought of my people. / I turned on my heel / and walked away” (56). While he is briefly willing to consider the idea that Petronella is just another human being, his concluding lines make it clear that his ultimate loyalty is to his family and his religion.

Petronella is the merchant’s daughter. She is characterized solely through her interaction with Jacob. Although her initial comments make it clear that she has always followed the dominant culture’s example of persecuting the Jewish people of the community, she shows a measure of compassion when she admits to being glad that she isn’t a man because she wouldn’t be able to kill an animal. Though she and her brother “always throw stones at Jews” (53), she chooses not to throw anything at Jacob. Instead, she plays with him. Both Jacob and Petronella are characterized together in a choral monologue, and they each express surprise at their ability to forget their biases about the other.

Lowdy is the varlet’s daughter and has been raised to help her father care for the lord’s hounds. She takes care of the family household because her mother died when she was born. She is therefore characterized as responsible and older than her years. She is also capable of finding humor despite her frustration over the rampant flea infestation in the house. She suggests that the fleas “are strong as Hercules” and wryly notes, “The master raises hunting dogs, / and we raise fleas” (61). She has a good relationship with her father and is proud of his success in caring for the dogs and providing for her. According to Pask, Lowdy “looks a bit like a pup herself—she has shaggy hair, and it hangs in her eyes and flops down to her shoulders. Like ears” (63). Through Pask’s narrative, she is characterized as kind and compassionate, for she feeds him from the dogs’ food when he is cold and starving.

The son of a villein (feudal tenant), Pask has been living in town for nearly a year, having run away when his parents died. He is optimistic about the future despite his difficult circumstances, and he is hopeful that when he gains his freedom a year and a day after having run away, he wants to look for work and find a skilled tradesperson to apprentice to. He plans to work with food if possible, and he wants to go back to the kennel to give Lowdy a gift to thank her for being kind to him.

Piers’s mode of characterization is unique, for Mariot and Maud describe him in very different ways based on their contrasting perceptions of his desirability as a husband. Piers’s own narrative primarily focuses on his desire to succeed in glass-blowing so that he can make the glassblower he works under proud. He is eager to learn the trade and is “peevish and slothful” (66) when he is made to wait before he can begin to learn this skill. However, the narrative implies that he is also patient, because he only asks the question of the glassblower after “three years of pumping the bellows / and stoking the furnace” (66) without complaint. He is determined to succeed when he first tries glass-blowing and is upset that he creates a lopsided glass on his second attempt.

Although Piers is a perfectionist and is very hard on himself, the glassblower’s willingness to praise his efforts suggests that the man respects Piers’s abilities and potential, a fact that makes Piers a rarity among apprentices. Mariot and Maud’s assumption that he will inherit the business and marry one of them also speaks well for his future prospects. Mariot describes him as an orphan who is “proud and […] shy” (71), and she observes that he has “often been / lonely” (72). Conversely, Maud finds Piers disgusting and uncharitably views him as rude, “churlish and rough” (72).

Mariot is the older of the glassblower’s daughters. Her primary character traits are hesitancy and self-consciousness. She notes that she is “constantly shrinking” and that she “should have more courage, / and follow [her] conscience” (73). She is aware that Maud dislikes Piers, but her conscience tells her that she should befriend and help him. Her impulse is to be kind, but she lacks the courage to do so.

Maud is the younger of the glassblower’s daughters. She is a foil to Mariot. Whereas Mariot is timid, Maud assertively expresses even her most unkind opinions. She naively assumes that Mariot shares her views and is repulsed by Piers. Maud also plans to take action on her own behalf, noting that she “must find a way / to change Father’s mind” (73) about having her marry Piers. She resolves that she will “tell father / we simply hate Piers” (74) even if she has “to accost” him and beg.

Nelly is a “snigger,” or eel-catcher. Her family’s story is one of few that contains upward mobility, but when she admits that her father nearly drowned her at birth to avoid raising yet another hungry mouth to feed, her tale also reflects the Brutality of Life in the Middle Ages. She has experienced both extreme poverty and relative comfort in her life, and these days, she is proud of her family’s improved circumstances and her ability as an eel-catcher. She lists things that she knows and is good at, including knowing the location of the eels’ burrows, luring them in, and catching frogs as bait. She is competitive and revels in her ability to swim better than Drogo, the tanner’s son. She has a positive, humorous attitude about her near-drowning as a child, and she appreciates her good luck and takes pride in it. Drogo describes Nelly’s attitude as biting, declaring that “her tongue could scrape the hair off a hide!” (77).

Compared to Nelly, Drogo is more sensitive to the common accusation that the noxious scents of his trade make the river stink. Whereas Nelly treats the conflict as an amusing competition, Drogo is offended. He says, “I do mind the townsmen, / nattering on, / saying we foul the waters” (77). Despite these difficulties, he is hardworking and remains grateful for his profession because “tanners make good money” (77). He accepts the difficult, messy aspects of the job, insisting that “work is work” and that he enjoys having “bread in [his] belly / and ale in [his] cup” (77).