How Does The Corrupt Friar

Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in a collection of 24 stories while on a pilgrimage to visit the relics of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. The purpose behind this pilgrimage is for the pilgrims to visit the shrine to seek forgiveness for their sins. Due to the long trip, the host made a deal with everyone to tell two stories on the way and back from Canterbury and whoever tells the best one receives a paid for meal. Each character telling their stories gives away bits of information and a visual idea of who they really are. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses detail, point of view, and descriptive language to portray the Pardoner and Summoner to be worse than the Skipper.

The Canterbury Tales were written and pieced together in the late 1380's, early 1390's.  The author of the book is Geoffrey Chaucer.  When considering the structure of the tales, one can deduce that they were put together using Framework Narrative, a very unique style of writing.  The opening prologue speaks of 29 pilgrims, including Chaucer, who are all on a pilgrimage to Canterbury. All of them are seeking a certain shrine for spiritual cleansing, and relief.  The journey was to be long, but in the end it would all be worth it.  Chaucer's social views and prejudices are revealed through his description of the pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales.

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.

A red light flashes when questioning the authenticity of the Friar. He is distinguished as a festive, merry man who drinks excessively and carouses with several women. He is very money conscious, an excellent beggar, and despises associating himself with the poor or unfortunate. The Friar’s integrity is questioned also by Gower, who writes,

The Friar’s character is another materialistic shyster, who gives easy penances in exchange for bribes. He spent these earnings on finery for himself, and “pocket-knives for the pretty girls”, leading one to wonder whether he was keeping his vows of chastity. Whereas a true priest would follow Jesus' teaching to tend to the lowest of his sheep, the friar did not wish to be bothered with the lepers and beggars. (Although he did on occasion, beg to supplement his own income!) The friar spent his time drinking in the taverns, socializing with the barmaids and innkeepers. Overall, he is portrayed as a greedy, gluttonous

The Canterbury Tales, written and narrated by Geoffrey Chaucer, explores manipulation and dishonesty in the Catholic Church. The Nun in “The General Prologue” exemplifies improper qualities to which a Prioress should have. Along with the Nun, The Friar in “The General Prologue” uses false information to gain customer. In “The Pardoner’s Tale,” the Pardoner uses greedy tactics to wield other pilgrims into buying his relics.In Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses the Nun and the Friar in “The General Prologue” and the Pardoner in “The Pardoner’s Tale” to show the hypocrisy in the Church.

The Friar is one of the biggest examples of hypocrisy in the story. Throughout the Friar’s description, he is shown to take advantage of his position and shun his duties to benefit himself. Instead of conforming to the poor lifestyle of traditional friars, Chaucer’s Friar manipulates people into giving him money and then pockets it for himself. One way he takes advantage of his position is by charging people for confessions: “Sweetly he heard his penitents at shrift with pleasant absolution, for a gift” (103, 225-226). He also makes money by being an excellent beggar, as shown in the quote: “He was the finest beggar of his batch...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...” (103, 259-261). The Friar also rejects his duties by refusing to associate with the needy, as described in the passage: “ It was not fitting with the dignity of his position, dealing with a scum of wretched lepers; nothing good can come of dealings with the

The Friar, who lived off begging, appears to live a lowly existence, while Chaucer refers to the papacy in writing, “he had a special license from

Throughout early English history, the Catholic Church was a huge influence on a person’s life. The members of the church class are supposed to set an example for others; the people mimic what they do because they think it is right. Two main figure-heads of the Medieval Catholic Church are the parsons and the monks. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, these characters are introduced in “The Prologue.” Chaucer initially states that the Monk is “a good man,” (The Canterbury Tales l. 193). Chaucer then later introduces the Parson, who he says is “Benign and wonderfully delight” (l. 493). These two members of the church show how other members are supposed to live and behave.

The Friar is a man of many traits, but trickery is one of his best traits. The Friar is a character in the poem The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The Friar was in a religious Order, and he was loved by many people. He is a character that appears to be graceful and elegant, but he abuses his power as a clergyman, which was a common theme in the church during this time. The author, Geoffrey Chaucer, uses this poem to inform his audience of the practices in the Middle Ages. He uses the characters of the stories to show some of these practices. The Friar is one of the characters in which Geoffrey Chaucer shows the corruption of the church during the Middle Ages. The Friar is a prime example of one who used his position to get

      In the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer describes the men and women of the Church in extreme forms; most of these holy pilgrims, such as the Monk, the Friar, and Pardoner, are caricatures of objectionable parts of Catholic society.  At a time when the power-hungry Catholic Church used the misery of peasants in order to obtain wealth, it is no wonder that one of the greatest writers of the Middle Ages used his works to comment on the religious politics of the day.

In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, the prioress’s behavior can be interpreted as being part of the change occurring within religious institutions, which were changing to allow for freedom of thought and individual choice, as the nun does when she takes the liberty of customizing her fine garb by wearing it with beads and a gold brooch. The nun is one of the first characters to be given a name and as such is identified as being an individual, and not just seen as being a nun. The nun’s deviation from expected behavior and norms can thus be seen as a positive trait which Chaucer praises as women became more independent and redefined their own roles in society. Excessive understatement, negative imagery, and refined diction, however

The Canterbury Tales, a masterpiece of English Literature, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, is a collection, with frequent dramatic links, of 24 tales told to pass the time during a spring pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. The General Prologue introduces the pilgrims, 29 "sondry folk" gathered at the Tabard Inn in Southwark (outside of London). Chaucer decides to join them, taking some time to describe each pilgrim.

In the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer gives a detailed description of what life was like in Medieval times . In the “Prologue”, the reader comes to better understand the people of the time period through the characters words and actions. Chaucer uses a variety of groups of society to give the reader a deeper insight into the fourteenth century Pilgrims customs and values. Through the Court, Common people and the Church, Gregory Chaucer gives a detailed description of ordinary life in the medieval times.

Chaucer makes it quite clear to the reader that these men boast about the high morals of the Church, and then proceed to live in stark contrast to nearly every one of these morals. One example is how the Church preaches a solemn vow of chastity. Nevertheless, Chaucer tells of how the Friar had "fixed up many a marriage, giving each/ Of his young women what he could afford her." Therefore, the Friar would find husbands for the women that he had previously seduced but then lost interest in. Another aspect of the Church that these "holy-men" prove inconsistent is the vow of simple living. The Monk lives a rather lavish lifestyle, as Chaucer tells, "The Rule of good St. Benet or St. Maur/ As old and strict he tended to ignore;/ He let go by the things of yesterday/ And took the modern world's more spacious way." The monk enjoyed the comforts of good living, with fur-lined clothing, a fine horse, and first class meals. Likewise, the Friar enjoyed fine clothing, as Chaucer says, "Not then appearing as your cloistered scholar/ With threadbare habit hardly worth a dollar,/ But much more like a Doctor or a Pope." These elegant lifestyles are clearly in opposition to the teachings of the Church on simplistic living. Finally, the Pardoner preaches on behalf of the Church against greed and avarice, however he is very greedy himself. In his tale, the Pardoner tells an excellent tale denouncing greed and showing how greed leads to a person's downfall, yet the