Summary:
This tale is about a sentimental cook who keeps a very dirty restaurant and enjoys being by himself more than with others. In the prologue he has a conversation with a man named Roger who told him that it is better to stay happy then allow yourself to be upset. Basically the entire tale is about the cook dealing with his new apprentice who he eventually has to get rid of. He continually messes up and finally the cook just has to say that his work is inadequate and he is compromising the business. We find out in the last line that he has a wife for looks but his true love is his shop.
Characterization:
1. In the prologue we see indirect characterization that in line 4330 he quotes Solomon from the Bible, from that we are informed of his religious views which is reaffirmed down in line 4354 when he mentions that he continually prays.
2. Roger has to tell him to be happy and not upset in lines 4356 through 4365 which indirectly characterizes him as an angry man.
3. I sense a bit of jealousy of the new apprentice named Perkin Reveler, he goes into detail about his good looks, maybe this indirectly characterizes him as an ugly man who is jealous of the better looking Perkin.
4. The last two lines of the tale (4421-4422) say that he would rather have a shop than a wife, that directly shows that the cook cares way more about his livelihood than his family or love.
5. The cook keeps his shop dirty, but we just read that he loves his shop more than his wife, maybe (and this is definitely a stretch) he has a self destructive personality and cannot find a good way to love things.
Chaucer's Goal:
Maybe Chaucer's goal of this is to show a humble man who keeps to himself the voice he never would have, to show how much power (over his apprentice) this man really has. That he finds value in his work and there's nothing wrong in working hard and enjoying it.
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