Preview

Chaucer's Social Class

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
738 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Chaucer's Social Class
In Chaucer's General Prologue there varies many different characters of all sorts within every social class. Many of these characters kind of reflect off of each other or they are polar opposite of another as well. It goes both ways. But within this prologue i've learned there's not just one or two different people there are many different types of people i'm assuming of all races. So many roles back then compared to now.
These characters resemble and reveal the author’s purpose by showing how they interact with each other and how you would be if you were in their shoes. Also how lower classes are compared to upper classes. Like if you were a monk you were supposed to be shone and heavily isolated in the outside world to often. If you were a monk you would be
…show more content…
Today kind of relates from the very rich and wealthy to the barely making a living but doing okay, to having nothing but cigarettes. We relate and originate from Chaucer's time in way but we also came along way of changing. There are still plenty of types of flaws though. Like such of the Miller or the Doctor. The Miller is a strong boaster, a liar, a thief, and a pro stealer. In reality he was just one huge douchebag. Meanwhile the doctor was good, he was a real healthy guy, but he was also really greedy. He cared for his money way more then anything else. Chaucer’s story also gives a different point of view based on characters we thought we knew but who were actually not that mental image we created. For example the Prioress Nun (Madame Eglantine) who was suppose to be your little average good perfect girl who worshiped and only worried about god. Meanwhile she was by far not little but fulombtious, she was by far more slutty than perfect, and she worried about her jewelry as much as god. She does have good manners but she uses them on men which she is seen as a Nun who does not participate with men. So it's a definition of behind the scenes in Chaucer’s time

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot is searching for the identity of…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The way each particular character speaks gives us an inside view of their life and…

    • 874 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Social classes in the Elizabethan era were quite different than those we have today. These days we have a few generic classes that everyone gets grouped into. Back then, there were many diverse classes that you were basically born into. During this period, the main classes that people were separated into were The Monarch, Nobility, Gentry, Merchant, Yeomanry, and Laborers.…

    • 369 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Canterbury Tales is about a man named Geoffrey Chaucer who’s going on an adventure to Canterbury with a group of people and Chaucer describes the people who they are, about them. The people are very interesting in many ways that I myself would never expect from people now or then so it’s very interesting to think of people and to think oh hey I’m sure there’s people like this now days. The way they dressed then is different it looks like they’re wearing leggings and the dresses with different pieces of material just randomly sewed onto it.…

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies

    • 1696 Words
    • 7 Pages

    2. In the overall effect of the book the character descriptions assist you to better understand the boys’ personalities, strengths, and weaknesses.…

    • 1696 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Miller’s tale played as a fabliaux, in the sense that as it deals with adultery and with bawdy wordplay leading up to the tale’s bittersweet conclusion. As well as the Miller’s Tale being exemplar because of the way equal control of marriage was related to both tales of rape, The Wife of Bath and The Reeves’s Tale. In the Miller’s Tale, Chaucer gives his reader a hypothetical replacement to the disapproving views on sexuality by the Church. In the likeness of a peasant, Chaucer presents a freer, more innocent, portrait of the character Allison of Oxenford. Through her characterization Chaucer portrays the image of sexual nature, and only in this tale the nature maintains by a character. Since her sexual nature defies sexual restrictions imposed by the Church while at the same time creating its own meaning to love, I feel like she placed her love over her religion. Chaucer simply wanted to express through the Miller that the “common man” could tell a tale that others within the audience at that time…

    • 756 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chaucer’s attack on the hypocrisy of the whole church is found repeatedly in the General Prologue as well as The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale. The fight against patriarchy clashes with the blindness of people and fraud in the church. He in his…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hilarious Flaws

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” celebrates and satires humanity, especially the “everyman”, in his story he included to characters in particular, one representing the best of humanity and the other illustrating the worst. Chaucer practically idolizes the Knight, who represents everything us humans aspire to be. “He was of sovereign value in all eyes. And though so much distinguished, he was wise and in his bearing modest as a maid. He never yet a boorish thing had said in all his life to any, come what might; he was a true, perfect gentle-knight.” (Chaucer 69-74) Chaucer says that though the knight had been through so many brave and amazing situations, from Alexandria to Prussia, fought against the Turks, and in Granada, he had never once been over confident; he remained as modest as one could be. The Knight symbolizes everything good in a human, Chaucer does not satire him at all; however, it is the complete opposite with the Pardoner. The Pardoner symbolizes the lowest a man could get, he cheats, he steals,…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essay On Texas Bureaucracy

    • 1796 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Bureaucracy within the government of Texas may be thought of as nothing more nor less than a form of organization. Bureaucracy is a system of government or business that has many complicated rules and ways of doing things. I will be exploring this interpretation of bureaucracy and bureaucrats within in relation to a system and rational factor. There are two models of bureaucracy, which are rational models and non-rational models. The lobbyist is an individuals employed by the interest groups who tries to influence the government.…

    • 1796 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In essence, both authors are able to create a compelling distinctive voice for the protagonist. Chaucer is able to adopt a satirical approach through the wife’s narrative to explore how power is assigned…

    • 681 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    tale, three friends begin a journey in order to murder Death. On their journey, though, an…

    • 638 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A night terror is an episode in which a person who is sleeping becomes extremely frightened and is unable to fully wake up. When the episode is finished, the person normally settles back to sleep. Upon waking, he or she does not remember the episode.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    (Characters show racism) In order to represent different aspects of society and to contrast different views, the author uses different characters in order to expose society’s general prejudice. In the novel,…

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” Chaucer uses the old woman’s unexpected contrasts between good poverty and bad wealth to show that poverty is actually better than being wealthy. The old woman describes “The poor can dance and sing in the relief / Of having nothing that will tempt a thief/ Though it can be hateful, poverty is good, / A great incentive to a livelihood” (270). Although her life is near the bottom of the social hierarchy, “dance and sing” suggests hope, happiness, and celebration. Adding on, “great incentive” adds a positive perspective towards poverty as if it is not as bad as one thinks because the poor have a lot of motivation to work for a living. She suggests that if one is not wealthy, one can enjoy their lives by looking in a positive direction. Furthermore, the old woman illustrates her life as a lower class, and suggests that “Poverty often, when the heart is lowly/Brings one to God and teaches what is holy /gives knowledge of oneself” (290). The old woman is poor and taught herself to become self-sufficient, and poverty taught her “what was holy.” and also taught morals of what is right and wrong, and one’s true talents. Wealth might seem as a success, but the Old Woman says “Poverty is, though wanting in estate/ a kind of wealth that none calumniate” (290). “Wanting” is to lack, “estate” as social class or the possession of money, and “calumniate” meaning making false and defamatory statements, suggesting that “Poverty” can not be criticized. Although the old woman’s family is destitute, the real poverty lies in the rich’s avarice, where the wealthy are unable to stop their greediness. The old woman suggests the humorous contrast that the poor value their possessions, whereas the high class’s visions are clouded due to not appreciating towards their surroundings which leads to avarice for material possession. Lastly, the repetition of “poverty” signifies the position of the woman is in, and although her status may not be superior, the wisdom…

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the General Prologue of the Canterbury Tales, author Geoffrey Chaucer introduces his character through brief descriptions of their lives. He offers information on things such as their occupations, personalities, and even appearances. For the majority of the characters’ descriptions, Chaucer maintains either a negative or neutral opinion of the characters. However, as he describes the Wife of Bath, it is clear that Chaucer thinks differently of her than he does of the other characters in the General Prologue. Through his use of tone, imagery, and the topics of his discussion of her, Chaucer shows his approval of the Wife of Bath.…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays