Canterbury Tales Compare And Contrast Essay

The Monk in The Canterbury Tales is very contradictory to this common view. The man refutes his quiet reserved code to explore the modern world for answers. As opposed to taking care of normal duties he hunts and rides horses, which is against the code. The Monk ignores these rules. Chaucer asserts, "He did not rate that text at a plucked hen"(Chaucer 106). Chaucer is emphasizing in the prior line how the sacred texts the monk swore to live by are meaningless to him. Reasoning behind the Monk’s repulsion of the rules is because the rules are against what he is passionate about. Acosta agrees the clergyman may desire his title however does not favor the life of a monk, and in order to be a genuine monk he must quit hunting and begin the tasks of ordinary monks. Clerics like the Nun and the Monk initiate the questionable sanctity of Catholicism. Malfeasance

Chaucer’s attitude towards the friar is one of sarcasm. The friar is "wanton and merry," but this pleasant-sounding description is actually packed with mockery. By the 14th century, friars, who were supposed to give up all worldly things and live only by begging for food and alms, were almost totally corrupt. They were known for flattering the rich and deceiving the poor, and especially for seducing women in outright disregard for their vow of celibacy. Chaucer's Friar, Hubert, is a "limiter," one who is licensed to beg in a certain area. He's married off women “giving each of his young women what he could afford her” which implies that he seduced them first. He's “highly believed and intimate” with

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer can be understood as a text that criticizes glossing and those who gloss. In this case, glossing a text is the comments, explanations, and interpretations one infers from reading the piece of literature and the understanding that can be taken away from it; this is different for every individual who reads the written word. I believe Chaucer wrote some of these tales as a critique of certain figures in his society. The question one should ask when reading, or being read to, is what is the meaning behind the text and where does the meaning lie. When, directly, reading a text one can determine the meaning of the author through one’s own interpretation. When one is being read to, they are being given the information in a biased form; this prevents one from being able to interpret the text for oneself and leads to the audience being glossed, as well as the text, and Chaucer criticizes the crowd’s contentedness to be glossed at and to.

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.

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

These lines demonstrate the corruption within the Friar. During this time, friars were expected to listen to confessions and give penance. Therefore, friars spent a large amount of time with those who were in poverty or poor health (Rogers 195). However, Chaucer's Friar is more acquainted with innkeepers and barmaids rather than the struggling people. These lines literally mean that the Friar tends to visit taverns more than the people who he is suppose to provide spiritual guidance. Furthermore, the Friar also believes that being associated with the wealthy is more lucrative than the poor. Rather than following his religious vows, the Friar falls victim to his own lust and

The Friar and the Summoner also exhibit non-conforming behavior which again highlights the wrong in the Church. The Friar is a member of a religious order that is completely poor and has to beg to survive. The Friar, though, did not like the vow of poverty and is somewhat praised by Chaucer for knowing who to ask for money and where to go; "He was the beste beggere in his house" (l. 252). The Friar’s dubious manipulations earned him enough money to become a landowner. This did mean though that he is completely dishonest. The Summoner, on the other hand, is blatantly dishonest. He works for the ecclesiastical court, his job is to bring offenders to the court for justice. Chaucer is extremely critical of the Summoner, giving him "a fir-reed cherubinnes face" (l. 626). Children were even afraid of his visage (l. 630). His gruesome appearance is ironically correspondent with his afflicted soul. The Summoner was really a blackmailer who played on the fears of sinners so if they paid him enough money, he would not pursue them. The Summoner and Friar outline the huge flaws of the Church as does the Pardoner.

A monk is a member of a religious society who vows chastity, obedience, and poverty. There are a lengthened list of rules dealing with how the life of a monk should be. But in the Canterbury Tales, there is a Monk who has nothing to deal with a typical monk’s life. The Monk tends to be many different things. He tends to ignore and break rules, he is rebellious, and he controls his own life.

In the Prologue of The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer’s narrator introduces many characters. One character that specifically stands out is The Friar. This character specifically stands out because a Friar is defined as “a member or a religious group sworn to poverty and living on charitable donations.” The Friar is not poor though and is making way more than he is supposed to make. The Friar has many characteristics but the most important ones are greed, dishonesty, and being manipulative.

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.

The Friar and the Parson are both characters of similar social stature and are both “committed” to the church, one more so than the other. “In all Four Orders there was none so mellow” (Line 214). This quote shows that he is part of one of the four orders whom are allowed to beg for money. “There was a Friar” (Line 212). Here Chaucer very clearly states what his profession is. “He was a noble pillar to his Order” (Line 213). Once

In the reading "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer, the prioress do not meet the appropriate societal expectations for nuns and prioress. This happens due to the way that Chaucer describes ironically nuns and prioress as physical and spiritual individuals showing realistic facts about the life of nuns.

The Monk and the Parson were both similar because they held positions in the church. That was one of the only similarities between the two. The main difference was that the Monk was a corrupted official of the church. The Parson was not corrupted and a good man. This corruption of the Monk and other church officials led to bad reputation of the church. Chaucer did not like the corruption within in the church but did show how everyone was not corrupt but the majority

The Canterbury Tales, a book written by Geoffrey Chaucer, is full of many two faced pilgrims that go on a journey to Canterbury. The pilgrims in this story come in many different types and tell many different tales from there of personal view. The medieval times were a time when the church is corrupt, and generous people are seen by fewer. Aside from the Oxford Clerk. In the Canterbury tales, the Oxford Clerk is a two faced character with a role in society that is very explicit, which Geoffrey Chaucer elucidates on, and communes an interesting tale.

      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.