The Canterbury Tales : The Parson And The Summoner

The parson is one of the characters Chaucer really likes. The monk compared to him is like the devil. The parson stays at

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 critical acclaim for The Canterbury Tales as a whole is matched by the puzzlement over the work’s conclusion, the “Parson’s Tale” and Chaucer’s retraction. By modern standards, it hardly seems the “merry tale” the Parson promises his audience, and after the liveliness of much of the rest of the Tales, it appears to close the work not with a bang, but a whimper.

In Chaucer’s genius work, The Canterbury Tales, the Friar and the Summoner tell tales of mockery about one another. Like the Miller and the Reeve before them the Friar and the Summoner are in rivalry with each other. However the difference between the rivalry between the Reeve and the Miller and the rivalry between the Friar and the Summoner is the competitive spirit. Unlike the Reeve and the Miller, the Friar and the Summoner’s rivalry is not a personal hatred but a hatred for the other’s office.This hatred inspires the tales of both the Friar and the Summoner. The two tell tales

While both characters have power through working in the church, Chaucer uses their reaction to their job duties to convey the theme. The job of the Parson is to act as priest and serve the people. The Parson “knew Christ’s gospel and would preach it,” meaning he is well versed in his work and good at what he does (Chaucer 491). The Parson is very involved in the church and devotes his time and money to others. The Friar’s job is also similar to that of a priest, friars would affiliate weddings, hear confessions, and preach to the people. Both jobs were well respected positions of authority, the Friar even had “a special license from the Pope,” and such power could

In Chaucer's, The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses many aspects of one tale and incorporates it into another using many reoccurring themes. Many characters go through similar circumstances as Chaucer uses these themes to help each tale parallel another. For example, the Wife of Bath's Tale and The Nun's Priests Tale, uses the theme of textual evidence as a basis of reasoning of men to overpower women. The two tales that parallel each other the most are The Miller's Tale and The Summoner's Tale. Nicholas and Absolon of the Miller's Tale act immoral in many ways which the Friar in the Summoner's tale seems to exhibit. Chaucer uses the characteristics and actions of the characters in the Miller's Tale to create a character that embodies many aspects

The Parson did not aspire to be praised for his good deeds because he believed it was his duty to help all of God’s children in any way possible, and to seek the glory of God not fame and fortune. The Parson was humble and kind in the utmost way; because the Parson was a man who practiced the good deeds he preached, Chaucer admired him for representing the true values and holiness of the

In the year of 1390, an intriguing frame story known as The Canterbury Tales was written by Geoffrey Chaucer, which discussed 24 unique characters with their own personalities and patterns of behavior (Lumiansky). The summoner within the story demonstrates the corruption within the Catholic Church, exploiting his privileges with a grin on his face. The primary excerpt throws in statements such as, “Children were afraid when he appeared,” and “Questio quid juris”, which means, “I ask what the point of the law [applies]”, frequently used by The Summoner to stall and evade the issue at hand (Elements of Literature). He did as he wanted when he wanted, often utilizing the system itself within his own endeavors, even when it inconveniences

There is no question that contradictory values make up a major component of The Canterbury Tales. Fate vs. Fortuna, knowledge vs. experience and love vs. hate all embody Chaucer's famous work. These contrasting themes are an integral part of the complexity and sophistication of the book, as they provide for an ironic dichotomy to the creative plot development and undermine the superficial assumptions that might be made. The combination of completely contradictory motifs leads to the unusual stories and outcomes that come to play out in the tales. And these outcomes draw focus on the larger universal issues that in many cases transcend the boundaries of vernacular periods to all of

    Chaucer continues to praise and respect the Parson in the prologue to the Parson's tale.  He writes on how the Parson declines not to tell a story, but rather to use the opportunity to preach to the other pilgrims.  The Parson shows characteristics of living a Christian life through his efforts to spread the word.  He chooses to enlighten the pilgrims of a true spiritual purpose rather than to entertain them with lavish stories.  In addition, Chaucer shows how the Parson is clear-minded in the prologue.  The Parson is continuously focused on spreading the gospel and is not distracted but material things.  He chooses a life of servant hood and virtue over wealth, fame, and glory

Initially, Chaucer describes the Parson as a “holy-minded man of good renown” (487), a statement that may bring to mind other characters who seem good, but are truly evil at their core. Though this may seem a likely case in the first few lines of the Parson’s introduction, instead he is found to be a man who lacks money, but makes up for it in his godliness (489). He is lowly of service and instead of moving to London to make an easier living (517), the Parson prefers to remain in his village and watch “over his fold” (520) because he views the townspeople as his sheep and himself as the shepherd.

The Knight, for example, is chosen to narrate the first tale. He is in the highest position from a social standpoint and displays the most admiring virtues for a medieval Christian man-at-arms: bravery, prudence, and honor. In contrast, belonging to the clergy, the Pardoner serves the author’s purpose of criticizing the church, as the character is exceptionally good at faking relics and collecting profits in his own benefit. Chaucer portrays in this tale the disagreement with the excess wealth and the spread corruption in Church at that

      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 characters introduced in the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales each represent a stereotype of a kind of person that Chaucer would have been familiar with in 14th Century England. Each character is unique, yet embodies many physical and behavioral traits that would have been common for someone in their profession. In preparing the reader for the tales, Chaucer first sets the mood by providing an overall idea of the type of character who is telling the tale, then allows that character to introduce themselves through a personal prologue and finally, the pilgrim tells their tale. Through providing the reader with insight about the physical and personal traits of

As for Chaucer’s views of society, Chaucer clearly does not have an issue with the church class itself. Rather, he knows there are some corrupt souls and people who do not deserve to be a part of the church. The Parson is the ideal person that belongs in this class, and it is obvious that Chaucer understands religion, and has nothing against it. He only frowns upon the deceitful church members, who are only a part of the church for selfish gain.