Greed In Canterbury Tales

Throughout history greed has corrupted and destroyed many people plunging them farther into the need for more; in contemporary times this has only strengthened. In 1387, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote “The Canterbury Tales” within this consist of “The Pardoners Tale”. This tale consists of a greedy pardoner preaching sermons only to benefit himself. An English poet, William Blake believes that “The characters of Chaucer’s Pilgrims are the characters which compose all ages and nations…” As Blake states Chaucer’s pilgrims, can be considered a universal theme throughout all ages. The Pardoners greed is universal because of his sermons, his use of relics, and can be related to modern day Ponzi schemes.

In Canterbury Tales, Chaucer reveals hypocritical qualities in the Pardoner through vivid characterization, tone, and morality. The Pardoner's total lack of respect for the Church's expectations and the congregation allows Chaucer to display flaws in society. Chaucer is able to demonstrate scams and illustrate hypocrisy in the Church, and society in general through the techniques he uses in Canterbury Tales.

The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a Western religious grouping and classification of vices. This grouping emerged in the fourth century AD and was used for Christian ethical education and for confession. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a mortal or deadly sin is believed to destroy the life of grace and charity within a person. Though the sins have fluctuated over time, the currently recognized list includes pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth. There is a parallel tradition of seven virtues.

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.

Honesty is the best policy; a phrase that’s been around nearly as long as lies themselves. The book; The Canterbury Tales by Geofferey Chaucer displays how the dishonesty of society is timeless. This is first displayed in “The General Prologue” through the descriptions of the pilgrims. This is also shown in “The Miller’s Tale” and “The Reeve’s Tale”. Chaucer also conveys that truth is preferable to lies by explaining what terrible punishments befell those who did lie. While those who lied did succeed and profit from their lies; eventually the lies caught up to them and they end up paying a price greater than what they earned.

The pardoner’s tale depicts that the seven deadly sins inflict human with harsh punishment. The three drunken men who are looking for the death are punished by it through seven deadly sins that once committed; the possibility to go to the heaven abates. Their each sin brings another sin so they later will be end up in extensive sin which is abolished from salvation. Three guys were guilty of gluttony, indulging in wine and lost their ability to think. When they find gold, they become very envious of each other and greedy for wealth. Gluttony unconsciously leads human to murder. When it meets with envy and avarice it is the worst sins. The sins of gluttony, envy, and avarice lead them to the death that they desire to face to.

Throughout The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer describes how money can make people become greedy and forget what their true goal is, such as the clergymen. It shows how greed and corruption took over, and the clergymen only wanted their roles for power, wealth, and prestige. They did not care whatsoever about any of the people who truly needed help; they only cared for themselves and money. Today, this is definitely evident in our society. Today, many people only become famous for wealth, prestige, and power.

In the catholic religion the seven deadly sins: envy, pride, lust, anger, sloth, greed, and gluttony are themes that Catholics should stay away from and not abide to. In the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer the tales expose a common, universal truth which is the seven deadly sins. In the Tales the characters in the stories struggle with the temptation of not obeying the sins which incorporates and suggest why the pilgrims telling the stories are in fact on the pilgrimage.

Like in Great Expectations, The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer shows how the way others view not only money, but women, and differences in beliefs is detrimental to society. The Wife of Bath talks about how women can not wear what they want because society will judge her sexual life by it. She also wants women to have power. The Wife of Bath thinks a women should not be judged based on what she wears and she explains if a woman dresses fancy, people “say it is a danger to her chastity,” (The Wife of Bath Prologue, 339). In her tale, the Wife of Bath explains, "women most desire...sovereignty" (The Wife of Bath, 1037).

Some ill hearted people use corruption to achieve the highest place in society. Even in the 1600’s Shakespeare writes about how corruption can shape a society. Corruption can cause an unbalance of power in the wrong places. Geoffrey Chaucer writes about certain classes in the fourteenth century. Chaucer uses the upper class in Canterbury Tales to show the importance of corruption through the following characters: The Friar, the Pardoner, and the Summoner.

The Canterbury Tales is a series of stories that are told by a group of pilgrims who are headed to the Canterbury Cathedral. Within these series of stories, there is the pardoner and the reeve, both who shows contradictory characters. The Reeve is a very deliberate and virtuous, business guy. However, the pardoner’s appearance is recognized as a blonde haired man who is loved by everyone he encounters. Nonetheless, he is so depraved and intelligent, but he sells spurious religious things to the community. Furthermore, the pardoner tells a story that includes a great precedent of the seven deadly sins and within that story there is one sin that may affect the community in time back then and also at the present time. Greed, one out of the seven

Now when the Pardoner tells his tale, he really emphasized on the idea that “greed is the root of all evil.” In the end of the tale, all three characters die killing each other over a pile of gold, and thus he sets a good example why greed is the root of all evil. After telling the story, he then loses his buzz and tells everyone that they should give him their money for a blessing, as if he had forgotten what he said earlier. Chaucer uses this satire to show that the Pardoner is a hypocrite himself and that the church is not all that it seems. Although, in his third text he doesn’t attack the church, but he gives a dangerous view on the relationship between men and

Geoffrey Chaucer tells about some corrupt people on his pilgrimage to Canterbury in his story Canterbury Tales. He tells the stories of the people on the trip with him. He writes down what they say throughout the whole trip. There are 29 people on the trip. They’re either from the church, the upper class, or people that don’t support patriarchy. In Canterbury Tales, Chaucer writes about people in his day, three people today that might be in his story are a movie star, a NFL football player, and a high school teacher.

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 Root of Evil Exposed in The Pardoner's Tale   "The root of all evil is money."   Because this phrase has been repeated so many times throughout history, one can fail to realize the truth in this timeless statement.   Whether applied to the corrupt clergy of Geoffrey Chaucer's time, selling indulgences, or the corrupt televangelists of today, auctioning off salvation to those who can afford it, this truth never seems to lose its validity.   In Chaucer's famous work The Canterbury Tales, he points out many inherent flaws of human nature, all of which still apply today.