Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

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

According to the video The Study of English, Chaucer was the first writer to consciously use English to write his poems, even though he knew Latin and French, which were considered superior to English (Macneil, MacCrum, and Cran). He was an inspector in the London wool wharf, a busy job that only allowed him to write at night (Strohm). Chaucer decided to exile himself after being punished for letting corrupt collectors do as they pleased (Strohm). Chaucer’s exile prompted him to create what is The Canterbury Tales; the creation of an audience that replaced his “small [,] responsive and [personally selected group]” back home (Strohm). Chaucer creates an audience of various people of different social class and functions. Even though Chaucer describes different Characters, which are important to understand the medieval world, I will mainly focus on the Knight.

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.

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

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.

Canterbury Tales is an exquisite literary work for numerous reasons among them being the satirical way that Chaucer is able to get his agenda across. However, as the times change, the areas where we need to provide more discretion change as well. There are a lot of characters in Canterbury Tales that while they were great for their time period are either nonexistent or not relevant anymore. The occupations alone have changed dramatically simply based on the demands that we now have socially or in the work force. In addition, while it is still a mainstay in millions of households, the church and religion don’t hold as big a sway over the current factions you would find in the world. While Chaucer, the father of the English language, does a masterful job when he intricately describes his characters in the general prologue, if the tales were adapted for modern times he would need to add a celebrity, an athlete, and a news anchor.

It is so obvious what Chaucer is stirring up here that one would have to be completely oblivious to miss it. Chaucer is taking a figure who is held in high regards by everybody in the church and reduces him down to the level of scum. He portrays that mighty figures have many hidden reasons to be disrespected. These “great” people like the Friar are telling the people of their church to do one thing, but then they themselves go and do another that completely and utterly disprove what they just taught their people. These people that follow the leaders of the church are called yokels, and are Chaucer’s intended audience. Chaucer is stating that people like the Friar, who are in charge, take advantage of their ignorance and stupidity to feed their selfishness. This supports Chaucer’s argument for the hypocrisy in the Roman Catholic church.

In his novel The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer presents the corruption of the Catholic Church through several of his characters. Chaucer lived in a time of controversial indulgences, a way to pay off sins. Chaucer’s tales show his opposition to these sinful behaviors that he believed were common among the clergy. In order to protest against sinful behavior and religious corruption, Chaucer uses characters such as the pardoner, the friar, the summoner, and the prioress to show the lack of morality and faith among the clergy, and presents the parson as an example of how to correct corruption of the Catholic Church.

    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:

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.

chaucer is showing satire by letting the nun represent all the things a nun is banned from doing

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

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.

      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.

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