The Role Of Chastity In The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer had separate attitudes towards Church and Christians. Chaucer seems to have respected Christians. In the General Prologue of the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer introduces many characters that are devoted Christians in high and attractive terms. Some of these characters are the Knight, the Parson, the Clerk and even a little about the Plowman, “The Lord his God with whole heart he loved best” (Line 533).
Chaucer describes all these devoted Christians at first, yet he describes some pilgrims that are considered religious figures who do not comply with Christian ideals. This may be because during his life, the Catholic Church had lost some of its credibility and power. This caused people to doubt Church and prayer. The first religious character Chaucer describes is the Prioress, or nun. I would not say she was directly described as a corrupt and bad person but he rather mocked her way of being. It is described how she tries to imitate somewhat classy behaviors in the way she acts. She eats daintily, speaks French and cares what other people think about her. …show more content…
The second character described is the monk.
A monk is said to be “a member of a religious community of men typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience” -Google. Although this is what they typically do, this monk prefers to go hunting. Chaucer says that he doesn’t consider the work of a monk to be worth his time. The next religious figure described is the friar. I’d say the friar is one of the worst and most corrupt religious characters described. The narrator says how the friar is happy to hear confessions of the people who give him money, and how he will travel to see them and get paid. The narrator also says how he refuses to go to poor homes, since they cannot pay
him.
The last religious character described is the pardoner. He is another very corrupt religious figure that is conscious of what he does and doesn’t care whether it’s good or bad. The pardoner dedicates himself to selling fake pardons for people’s sins and keeps the money. The narrator also describes how the pardoner tries to sell fake relics to people. He obviously tries to convince people that the relics work when they are fake. Another aspect about the Pardoner is his method of teaching and preaching. He has a motto: “Radix malorum est cupardis” which means “Greed is the root of all evil. It is curious how the Pardoner is guilty of this very sin, yet still preaches against it and can still make other people repent of it. During the pilgrimage, he tells his story about three friends that find gold and greed makes turn on each other and they all end up killing each other at the end, following what he preaches and his motto. Some people may argue that him being guilty of this sin affects his very own ability of preaching against it. However, the pardoner argues that having experience with greed enables him to be better at preaching against it. I would think that he is right, I would rather trust someone’s advice about someone if they have had first-hand experience with it.
Chaucer describes all these devoted Christians at first, yet he describes some pilgrims that are considered religious figures who do not comply with Christian ideals. This may be because during his life, the Catholic Church had lost some of its credibility and power. This caused people to doubt Church and prayer. The first religious character Chaucer describes is the Prioress, or nun. I would not say she was directly described as a corrupt and bad person but he rather mocked her way of being. It is described how she tries to imitate somewhat classy behaviors in the way she acts. She eats daintily, speaks French and cares what other people think about her. …show more content…
The second character described is the monk.
A monk is said to be “a member of a religious community of men typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience” -Google. Although this is what they typically do, this monk prefers to go hunting. Chaucer says that he doesn’t consider the work of a monk to be worth his time. The next religious figure described is the friar. I’d say the friar is one of the worst and most corrupt religious characters described. The narrator says how the friar is happy to hear confessions of the people who give him money, and how he will travel to see them and get paid. The narrator also says how he refuses to go to poor homes, since they cannot pay
him.
The last religious character described is the pardoner. He is another very corrupt religious figure that is conscious of what he does and doesn’t care whether it’s good or bad. The pardoner dedicates himself to selling fake pardons for people’s sins and keeps the money. The narrator also describes how the pardoner tries to sell fake relics to people. He obviously tries to convince people that the relics work when they are fake. Another aspect about the Pardoner is his method of teaching and preaching. He has a motto: “Radix malorum est cupardis” which means “Greed is the root of all evil. It is curious how the Pardoner is guilty of this very sin, yet still preaches against it and can still make other people repent of it. During the pilgrimage, he tells his story about three friends that find gold and greed makes turn on each other and they all end up killing each other at the end, following what he preaches and his motto. Some people may argue that him being guilty of this sin affects his very own ability of preaching against it. However, the pardoner argues that having experience with greed enables him to be better at preaching against it. I would think that he is right, I would rather trust someone’s advice about someone if they have had first-hand experience with it.