Canterbury Tales: Wealth, Morality And Success

Throughout the Canterbury Tales, various characters are introduced and tell a tale, each of which tells a different story. All of the tales are unique and address different issues. “The Miller’s Tale” is the second of the many stories and varies from all of the rest. As seen from the “General Prologue,” Chaucer clearly depicts the Miller as a crude, slobbish man who will say anything. This reputation is held true as the Miller drunkenly tells a story full of adultery and bickering. Despite the scandalous nature of “The Miller’s Tale,” the story also displays some of Chaucer’s prominent beliefs. As “The Miller’s Prologue” and “The Miller’s Tale” are told, it becomes evident that Chaucer is challenging the common roles and behaviors of women, and he is also questioning the effectiveness of social class.

Chaucer describes his grandiose opinion of himself, the friar is pompous and crooked. He surmises that a man of his “status” should not be seen with the lowly and poor, which is ironic because those are exactly the people he is meant to help. Chaucer as discloses the lengths he is willing to go for even the smallest person gain saying. “His brethren did no poaching where he went./For though a widow mightn’t have a shoe,/So pleasant was his holy how-d’ye-do/He got his/farthing from her just the same/Before he left, and so his income came” (“General Prologue”, 256-262). The friar is willing to take from the people who need it most in the community, the widow’s economic class and living conditions are used further show the reprehensible behavior of the religious characters. Friars, like several other religious orders are supposed to take a vow of poverty in order the become closer to Christ. The Friar in Canterbury Tales does the exact opposite. Both his greed and unscrupulous behavior of another religious character further substantiate the idea that the religious characters are used to reflect the corruption in the church.

Women of Chaucer’s time period were often seen as ditzy, dependent and whorish if they broke the conventional standards. Unlike the Wife of Bath, who Chaucer praises as “a worthy woman all her life” (106,469) because “her kerchief[s] were of finely woven ground” (105.464), “skill[ed] in wandering…” (106.478), and lastly her “lik[ing] to laugh and chat” (106.484). Chaucer exceeds the female stereotypes of the 1400s through the commending of her talent as a seamstress, her experience with traveling, and her love of being heard, all uncommon and negatively viewed traits of a woman. Chaucer proves her power and strength by utilizing progressive

The Merchant's Tale tells the story of an old man searching for a wife and finding one, who is ultimately unfaithful to him. Chaucer uses a variety of elements in the poem to show his knowledge of contemporary interests and his story telling capacity through another figure. Irony flows through the poem, laced with allusions to the Bible. Chaucer's use of his astronomical knowledge not only allows modern day scholars to date events, but also adds another dimension of interest for the contemporary audience and of course, the pilgrims.

The Merchant portrays himself to be a financial expert in order to hide his poverty: “ This estimable Merchant so had set his wits to work, none knew he was in debt...” (104, 289-290). Although the Merchant gives plenty of opinions on finances, he is a prime example of hypocrisy in that he gives advice that he cannot follow.

The Canterbury Tales were written by Geoffrey Chaucer at the end of the 14th century. This masterpiece is one of the greatest classics of English Literature, it was and continues to be still very popular. Many manuscripts survived and it was the first work to be printed by William Caxton. It is a story about pilgrims travelling together, who tell stories on their journey to Canterbury, to pay tribute to Saint Thomas Becket. As it is a collection of tales, it varies in genre (there is beast fables, romances, fabliaux, saints’ lives…), subject, mood, length (some tales are 80-page long whereas some are much shorter), form (in verse –several verse-form are also found- or in prose). For this

Throughout The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue, Chaucer’s use of the characters’ clothing, to symbolize what lies beneath the surface of each personality is significant. Chaucer strongly uses the Knight, the Squire and the Prioress’s clothing to symbolize how their personalities are reflected through The Canterbury Tales.

of the poor outfit of the Knight. Instead he attempts to point out that the

During the medieval times corruption in the Catholic Church was prevalent. As corruption was prevalent during Chaucer’s time so was a Pardoner’s practice of selling indulgences, becoming one of deception and greed. Similar to the upper class focusing their time on becoming the richest and most powerful. In many of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer would use satire to criticize different social classes. For example, the middle class, those people who worked for their possessions. He satirizes religious hypocrisy in such tales as the Pardoner, in which a middle class man, showing the corruption of the Pardoner’s job. Through his description of the Pardoner as being a man who is disitful, greedy, and hypocritical, Chaucer uses

Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales was written during a time of societal change, away from the stability of feudalism and towards an individualistic, mercantile economy. Feudalism consisted of a static, rural economy where every member had a duty to serve those above them. They valued the greater good and were not focused on gaining economically for their own personal benefit. An era of change, however, began as events such as the Crusades opened up trading opportunities which would eventually cause a shift in England, as the economy went from being land-based to money-based. A mercantile class was on the rise as well as capitalism. People were no longer driven to work by a sense of personal duty for the common good, but rather for their own social and economic gain. Corruption of the Church during this time as well increased, as church members were affected negatively by this changing economy. Many were driven by greed as well and took on immoral approaches towards their church positions. Vows and church teachings were disregarded as indulgences and materialism became the main focus of many in the clergy. Through his satirical portrayal of his characters in Canterbury Tales, Chaucer explores issues such as the changing economy and corruption of the church in order to expose and criticize the wrongdoings and values of his shifting society caused by the end of feudalism during this time.

We cannot read the CT as an honest criticism of 14th century English society without examining the entire picture - and this picture includes Chaucer's ideological contradiction. To better understand Chaucer's real message - criticizing the Three Estates system in order to encourage acceptance of his own Estate, the merchant or middle class - I will briefly discuss the Three Estates system and Chaucer's role in the system's shift to include a Fourth Estate (and how this shift influenced the CT). Then I will examine four stories from the CT (The Wife of Bath's Prologue, The Friar's Tale, The Summoner's Tale, and The Pardoner's Tale) in which Chaucer seems to denounce elements of the social paradigm. I will then examine four stories from the CT (The Knight's Tale, The Man of Law's Tale, The Second Nun's Tale, and The Parson's Tale) in which Chaucer contradicts his criticism of his society. Finally, I will discuss how the dominant social paradigm influenced Chaucer's view of the lower classes, and how the classist structure led to ideological contradictions within the CT. Before we discuss Chaucer's ideological contradictions, however, we must first examine the system he was attempting to change, the Three Estate system.

Written in 1392, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, satirizes the corruption within the church. In the Medieval ages, which took place from 1066-1485, the English society was divided into three classes: the feudal class, the church class, and the town class. Throughout “The Prologue”, Chaucer describes the pilgrims based upon their profession, class, and apparel. While some of the party that travels with him goes for religious purposes, others go simply for a vacation. Geoffrey Chaucer uses the Monk and the Parson, two Medieval religious authorities, to reveal the corruption within the church, and to also show that not all members are unethical.

The Medieval Period in history brought along scores of fables about everything from knights engaging in courtly love to corruption in the Catholic Church. The Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer expertly encapsulates many of the great motifs of the era. The Tales are a series of stories and descriptions of characters of all social classes that were composed in the late 1300’s. Chaucer utilizes a multitude of literary techniques to convey his personal views of people, and ultimately, what they represent in society. The author uses such devices when depicting two morally contrasting characters, the Parson and the Summoner, that are documented in the Prologue.

Geoffrey Chaucer lived from thirteen-forty-three to fourteen-hundred. “Chaucer is one of the most interesting writers in English literature because he straddles two worlds: the Middle Ages and the Renaissance” (Collin 1). He wrote his poems in middle-English, which is called Vernacular. “Geoffrey Chaucer chose to write his poetry in the Vernacular – the everyday language – of his time and place” (Chaucer et al. 18). Perhaps one of Chaucer’s most important literary works, “The Canterbury Tales,” sets the stage for a more in depth understanding of the feudal systems and classes of the Middle Ages.

In a society in which hierarchical structures determined the types of interactions between individuals of different classes, there would be limited opportunity for oppositional values and attitudes to directly engage. One of the distinct features of Geoffrey Chaucer’s work The Canterbury Tales is that the author creates a situation in which vastly different types of individuals can engage with one another. This illuminates their most polarizing differences and allows for their contradictory attitudes to engage. Under this pretense, Chaucer allows for the spirit of the carnivalesque to be contrasted with the religious and social structures to which it responds. This can be seen in the characters of the Wife of Bath and the Miller, and their respective stories, both displaying different incarnations of the carnivalesque, and their contraposition to the ideologies associated with Christianity. Amongst the hierarchical structures of their society, the carnivalesque attitudes of the Wife of Bath and the Miller allow for them to seize a freedom which might be denied to them by those in higher positions. This is