How Is Love Presented In The Pardoner's Tale
Elissa Nunnally
Ms. Pettijohn
English IV- DE
16 September 2014
[Title]
The Canterbury Tales is a work written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the late fourteenth century about a group of pilgrims, of many different occupations and personalities, who are on a journey to visit the shrine of Thomas a Becket. Chaucer discloses corruption in the church that was prevalent to society of the time. Within this work, Chaucer satirizes the pilgrims in ways to mock the practices of the church during the fourteenth century. The Wife of Bath, Friar, and Pardoner are three of the pilgrims in these tales that Chaucer uses to ridicule the church. In Chaucer’s tales, the Pardoner is the most detestable, the Friar is next, which leaves the Wife of Bath as the least abhorrent character. …show more content…
The least abhorrent character in the Canterbury Tales is the Wife of Bath.
Chaucer satirizes the Wife of Bath by describing her as overweight, gap toothed, and well-practiced in the art of love. She is a lady that travels the world to find pleasure and is confident about her knowledge of love and sexuality. By having five husbands and many lovers before them, she has learned to provide for herself through these experiences. The Wife of Bath is a strong willed, woman of passion that desires to be more powerful than her man or lover. She is a woman of character that knows what she wants and continuously fights against male dominance. The Wife of Bath is the least abhorrent character because even though she makes bad decisions, she doesn’t do anything that hurts other people. Chaucer uses the Wife of Bath’s character to satirize the Church’s cruelty against women by allowing her to speak without restrictions about sex, marriage, and women
desires.
A friar is a member of any certain religious order of men who pledges a life of poverty to the church. Chaucer describes the friar in a way that is totally different than what is expected of a friar. The Friar, in the Canterbury Tales, is characterized as a sexually promiscuous man who caters to the rich and not to the poor. He is a seeker of pleasure that is supposed to guard people from evil, but instead commits venial sins himself by seducing village girls and married women. As a friar he is supposed to serve the poor rather than spend his time with rich people because there is money involved with them and he is all about money. The friar also swears and gossips about people’s confessions. By transforming begging, he turned his pledge of poverty into a profitable business. Chaucer shows the friar as part of the corrupt clergy of the church by not following his orders and centering his life on his own needs.
The most detestable character in The Canterbury Tales is The Pardoner. He is an untrustworthy character because he cheats poor people out of their money in exchange for fake relics. The Pardoner is a good preacher, but only spends time preaching to get people to buy his fake relics to earn money. As a pardoner of the church, one is supposed to sell indulgences for the forgiveness of sins and return the money back to the church. Instead, this pardoner pockets the money made from the indulgences and uses it for himself. The Pardoner is the most detestable character in the tales because he lies to all people and makes the poor spend the little money they have to be forgiven of their sins. Chaucer uses the pardoner to banter the church because the sale of pardons was disliked because it favored the wealthy and was considered to diminish value of true virtuous teachings.
In conclusion, Chaucer uses the Pardoner, the Wife of Bath, and the Friar to satirize the church of the fourteenth century. In the Canterbury Tales, the Pardoner is the most despicable character, then the Friar, and the Wife of Bath is the least repulsive. The Pardoner is the most hated in the Canterbury Tales because he is malicious to all people, especially the poor. The Wife of Bath and the Friar are still immoral people but they make decisions that hurt themselves more than others. By describing these characters in precise detail, Chaucer proves his point of satirizing the church’s absurd views.
Works Cited
Chaucer, Geoffrey. "Prologue." The Canterbury Tales. Print.
Ms. Pettijohn
English IV- DE
16 September 2014
[Title]
The Canterbury Tales is a work written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the late fourteenth century about a group of pilgrims, of many different occupations and personalities, who are on a journey to visit the shrine of Thomas a Becket. Chaucer discloses corruption in the church that was prevalent to society of the time. Within this work, Chaucer satirizes the pilgrims in ways to mock the practices of the church during the fourteenth century. The Wife of Bath, Friar, and Pardoner are three of the pilgrims in these tales that Chaucer uses to ridicule the church. In Chaucer’s tales, the Pardoner is the most detestable, the Friar is next, which leaves the Wife of Bath as the least abhorrent character. …show more content…
The least abhorrent character in the Canterbury Tales is the Wife of Bath.
Chaucer satirizes the Wife of Bath by describing her as overweight, gap toothed, and well-practiced in the art of love. She is a lady that travels the world to find pleasure and is confident about her knowledge of love and sexuality. By having five husbands and many lovers before them, she has learned to provide for herself through these experiences. The Wife of Bath is a strong willed, woman of passion that desires to be more powerful than her man or lover. She is a woman of character that knows what she wants and continuously fights against male dominance. The Wife of Bath is the least abhorrent character because even though she makes bad decisions, she doesn’t do anything that hurts other people. Chaucer uses the Wife of Bath’s character to satirize the Church’s cruelty against women by allowing her to speak without restrictions about sex, marriage, and women
desires.
A friar is a member of any certain religious order of men who pledges a life of poverty to the church. Chaucer describes the friar in a way that is totally different than what is expected of a friar. The Friar, in the Canterbury Tales, is characterized as a sexually promiscuous man who caters to the rich and not to the poor. He is a seeker of pleasure that is supposed to guard people from evil, but instead commits venial sins himself by seducing village girls and married women. As a friar he is supposed to serve the poor rather than spend his time with rich people because there is money involved with them and he is all about money. The friar also swears and gossips about people’s confessions. By transforming begging, he turned his pledge of poverty into a profitable business. Chaucer shows the friar as part of the corrupt clergy of the church by not following his orders and centering his life on his own needs.
The most detestable character in The Canterbury Tales is The Pardoner. He is an untrustworthy character because he cheats poor people out of their money in exchange for fake relics. The Pardoner is a good preacher, but only spends time preaching to get people to buy his fake relics to earn money. As a pardoner of the church, one is supposed to sell indulgences for the forgiveness of sins and return the money back to the church. Instead, this pardoner pockets the money made from the indulgences and uses it for himself. The Pardoner is the most detestable character in the tales because he lies to all people and makes the poor spend the little money they have to be forgiven of their sins. Chaucer uses the pardoner to banter the church because the sale of pardons was disliked because it favored the wealthy and was considered to diminish value of true virtuous teachings.
In conclusion, Chaucer uses the Pardoner, the Wife of Bath, and the Friar to satirize the church of the fourteenth century. In the Canterbury Tales, the Pardoner is the most despicable character, then the Friar, and the Wife of Bath is the least repulsive. The Pardoner is the most hated in the Canterbury Tales because he is malicious to all people, especially the poor. The Wife of Bath and the Friar are still immoral people but they make decisions that hurt themselves more than others. By describing these characters in precise detail, Chaucer proves his point of satirizing the church’s absurd views.
Works Cited
Chaucer, Geoffrey. "Prologue." The Canterbury Tales. Print.