Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

In the 1300’s, Chaucer wrote a controversial story critiquing the things around him. Chaucer has a clean agenda, and he knows he’s going to upset many people. One way for chaucer to get around being held responsible for the ideas in his writing, is by creating characters address the issues. By holding his characters responsible for horrendous actions, he is able to place a sense of skepticism in the minds of his readers. In the world, we see many examples of this; people can get away with saying anything, because they claim to be reporting from another source. If chaucer were to add to his writing today, he may add a few different characters; such as, a teacher, an actor, and an olympian.

    Chaucer's view of the clergy class is not as positive as his view of the ruling class.  For example, Chaucer describes the Prioress/Nun using a great amount of satire.  He speaks of how the nun has excellent etiquette and manners.  She tries so hard to be respected and viewed as one with higher status.  Her character is best described in the quote:

One of Englands most famous writer, Geoffrey Chaucer, was known for writing social commentary and for his ironic descriptions. His most famous work The Canterbury Tales is no exception. Beginning with the "General Prologue" Chaucer reveals the corruption he feels is affecting the church. One need only look at the General Prologue to understand Chaucer's negative feelings towards the clergy's corruption and greed.

In terms of literary quality, Chaucer went great lengths to give all elements a bit of attention. The work is primarily about a knight who is pardoned from a rape on the condition that he acquires the answer to one of life’s

By analyzing “The Canterbury Tales”, one can conclude that Chaucer did see the merits of the church, but by no means regarded it in a wholly positive light. Whereas some of the clergy are viewed as devout and God-fearing, others are viewed as con- men and charlatans. One can even venture to say that Chaucer was using this story as somewhat of a criticism of the church, showing the flaws of its leaders and the greed that permeated it at the time.

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a story of a contest who can tell the best tale. The rules of the contest were as follows: Each pilgrim would tell four tales for the trip to Canterbury, two on the journey there and two on the way back.. The tales will be judged by the Host for it’s entertainment and moral lessons. The winner of the contest will enjoy a meal paid for by the remaining pilgrims at the Host's Inn. “The Miller’s Tale” had fulfilled the criteria to win the contest. It was a shorter story, but it was entertaining and had a few lessons that can be learned from hearing or reading it. This story is significant because it does a great job of pointing out of some of the problems in the church during that time as well as how the morals of some people were not strong as well.

It is understood that Chaucer was very well educated and fluent in several languages including Latin and French. A common question asked is why did Chaucer write the tales in English? English at the time was severely underdeveloped and only spoke by the common people and hardly ever wrote. So why write some great literature in a language that only the common people understand? Statistically, Chaucer was very brilliant in doing this because those that are royal, or highly educated, only make up a small percentage of the population. Why write stories that bash the higher up’s religion and way of life in a language that only they can understand? By writing these tales in english he purposely reached his intended audience; the common people. By doing this, he also was nominated something pretty important by literarians, linguistics , and historians alike, “Chaucer was saluted the Father of English Poetry,” (David C. Benson, 2007). The common people, or yokels, had next to no value, and Chaucer took a huge gamble by writing in the language of the common people. He reached this audience specifically through his bashing of the church and its members, and then through the Wife of Bath’s witty, humorous, and ironic stories. “...Chaucer the poet is lurking behind every pilgrim narrator, so that the narrator’s point of view is the only one. Chaucer is a remarkably

Chaucer has created many characters in the Canterbury tales that he likes and many he dislikes. He is a very critical and detailed writer about these characters. With these characters, Chaucer has created real life issues with religious figures. Chaucer’s has showed how good religious figures can be and how corrupt they can be as well.

In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer comments on moral corruption within the Roman Catholic Church. He criticizes many high-ranking members of the Church and describes a lack of morality in medieval society; yet in the “Retraction,” Chaucer recants much of his work and pledges to be true to Christianity. Seemingly opposite views exist within the “Retraction” and The Canterbury Tales. However, this contradiction does not weaken Chaucer’s social commentary. Rather, the “Retraction” emphasizes Chaucer’s criticism of the Church and society in The Canterbury Tales by reinforcing the risk inherent in doing so.

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.

The Prioress, Madame Eglantine, is a character full of denial. Though she is a nun whose duties should be pledged to God, she certainly considers herself a lady first. She speaks bad French, ate and dressed very carefully, and wears a brooch that says "love conquers all." She also cares deeply for animals, bringing several along with her on the pilgrimage. Her lady-like behavior seems to stand in direct contrast to the ways of a good Nun. This is Chaucer's first criticism of religion, a theme he returns to throughout the poem.

The Canterbury Tales has many themes; one is the increasing significance of the merchant class in Chaucer’s lifetime is evident in his selection of characters. It was essential to the economy that groups function well together. Another is even though there is a social order to the travelers, they act informally and are on level footing as storytellers. One that may shock some people is the changing role of the Church that is also addressed in Chaucer's work. The Black Death caused people to lose faith in God and the Church. Some of the most corrupt pilgrims are men of God. Though the world was suffering, the Church was building monuments to saints, and many questioned the use of resources for such structures and the Church's preaching against greed. The Prioress, the Monk, and the Friar all seem devoted to the aristocratic rather than religious life. Romance, too, is a recurring theme within The Canterbury Tales. Present in the Prioress's rosary charm, the tales of knights rescuing maidens, and the Squire's devotion to courtly love. The Wife of Bath and the Miller transform their tales or ridicule traditional romantic

      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.

Almost every literary work ever produced at the time that Chaucer lived had religious undertones. This was because of the simple fact that "the church was the fountain of literacy and sole purveyor of what education there was during these centuries"(Vinson 8). The church was the law. If someone went against what the Bible said, then you went against the government. One might assume that if the Bible was the law, then the government would be holy, good, and obey what it preaches, but Chaucer saw, from inside the palace walls, that this assumption was wrong. Chaucer saw corruption and greed. He displayed this in his story for everyone to see. Of all the pilgrims on the pilgrimage, a third of them were associated with the church in some way. He uses these characters to show how corrupt the church had become. The monk in particular is described as man who "didn't give a plucked hen for that text which says that hunters are not holy men, and that a monk, when he is heedless of duty, is like a fish out of water"(Chaucer 11). Chaucer is saying that the monk would rather hunt than pray, which is odd for a man of the cloth and especially for one on a religious

The aim of any true satirical work is to poke fun at a certain aspect of society, while also inspiring reform to that very same aspect in one way or another. In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Chaucer satirizes the Medieval Church and those associated with the church. Medieval society was centered largely around the Church. Ideally, the people were expected to understand that earthly possessions were meaningless when compared to the prospect of closeness with God. Man was expected to work until he died, at which time he would receive eternal salvation. This eternal salvation was achieved by obeying God's commandments. This theory, however, was becoming progressively corrupted as hypocrisy began to pollute the Church, particularly at the higher