The Role Of Greed In The 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.

Firstly, “The Golden Touch”, by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows greed because of King Midas’s attention to the gleam of gold and his lack of attention to whom really matters

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.

Greed is undeniably a characteristic of being human. Even two hundred thousand years ago, when the first examples of modern humans were in a competition for food and survival, they naturally had to be greedy in order to survive and contribute to the gene pool in order for further generations to evolve and adapt. Darwin proved this with his theory of evolution stating that the species that are better adapted to the environment would be able to spend less time looking for food and more time mating (contributing to the gene pool), while the species who are not as well adapted would die off. The play “Macbeth” and the motion picture based on the book “A Simple Plan” display these themes of greed profusely as the main characters from each are affected by the same characteristic that had previously allowed for human survival. Macbeth in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and Hank in the film “A Simple Plan” are both affected by greed as they both turn into murders who backstab their friends, they both ruin their relationship with their wives, and they both end up destroying their lives.

Greed affects everybody one way or another. It changes how people act in important situations. Greed can force people into doing what is beneficial to them and not the masses who could have their lives changed for the better based off the decision made by one greedy individual. Greed takes over people's mind and turns them into savages who will stop at nothing to get what they want. Greed is alive and well in Lord Of the Flies by William Golding, Greed can be seen numerous times throughout this fantastic book where dozens of young boys get stranded on an island with no adults and only themselves to stay alive. Throughout the book the boys come to treat each other very harshly and become violent when something does not go their way. This

The attitude of the clergy was worse than that of the laity, as the clergy would have had a clear idea that their greed for profit was a sin. The Decameron clearly reflects the greed and materialism that Renaissance capitalism brought, and new attitude of the people who were no longer as concerned with sinning.

Another example of Rev Parris’s greed was when Abigail and Mary Warren stole Parris’s money from his strongbox, he seemed more worried about losing all of his money then his Abigail his niece. When a man can forget his daughters sickness to argue his salary or use the podium to preach for golden candlesticks there is an evident problem with greed for money in that person.

Merrian-Webster Dictionary defines greed as a selfish and excessive desire for more of something. Greed causes people's decisions to be abnormal and cause them to do things they would normally not do. The gas shortage in Texas after the Hurricane Harvey and the characters in The Crucible by Arthur Miller both show the motif of greed as seen through the interviews and the characters, Parris and Thomas Putnam. Where their greed causes their decisions to hurt others emotions. We see the motif of greed a lot during the gas shortage during Hurricane Harvey, “The shortage may have been largely prevented if drivers had continued filling their vehicles as normal, according to CNN”(Pearce).

Greed is the main cause of evil in the world because it brings the worst in each and every individual. These individuals are capable of anything to accomplish their goals, and self-suffice their needs such as wealth, social-class, etc. An example of greed in Candide is when the old woman tells Lady Cunegonde “I confess that, if I were in your place, I should have no hesitation in marrying the Governor and making the captain’s fortune” (Voltaire, p. 58). In this case the old woman gives advice to Lady Cunegonde that she should marry a stranger just to get away from poverty. Lady Cunegonde is a beautiful, young lady, and because of this she is desired by many men, one of whom is the Governor of Buenos Ayres, as a result she can gain benefits from her beauty. It is unbelievable that she is capable of getting married to a man just because of his social position and wealth.

Greed is the excessive desire to acquire or possess more, and it is also one of the biggest creators of tragedy. This is so vividly shown in both the novel The Sun Also Rises and in the play Macbeth. In The Sun Also Rises, this greed is directed toward a person, Lady Brett Ashley. Five men; Mike, Jake, Pedro, Bill, and the Count, are fighting to be with her throughout the book. In Macbeth, this greed is directed toward power as Macbeth wanted to become King, and what he does to become it. However, this greed led to the collapse of each character. Lady Ashley left all five men, leaving them devastated, while in Macbeth; an opposing army overthrew Macbeth. In both stories, greed drives the main character to do something, which is then

Greed can corrupt the strongest of people who ever you are it’ll find a way to get to you. Greed isn’t just about money it just has to be something you really desire. Greed is the root of all evil it got to a strong fearless warrior like Beowulf also to a noble thane named Macbeth it even got to three normal guys. Once you get greedy it’s difficult to stop being greedy.

During the medieval times corruption in the Catholic Church was prevalent. As corruption was prevalent during Chaucer’s time so was a Pardoner’s practice of selling indulgences, becoming one of deception and greed. Similar to the upper class focusing their time on becoming the richest and most powerful. In many of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer would use satire to criticize different social classes. For example, the middle class, those people who worked for their possessions. He satirizes religious hypocrisy in such tales as the Pardoner, in which a middle class man, showing the corruption of the Pardoner’s job. Through his description of the Pardoner as being a man who is disitful, greedy, and hypocritical, Chaucer uses

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.

Chaucer describes the Church as being the most corrupt segment of society. The “Prologue” shares with the reader an insight into Pilgrims lives of the fourteenth century. In Chaucer's “Prologue” to the Canterbury Tales the Parson shows the best example of a true religious. The Parson preaches and lives the faith as best as possible. The Parsons extreme generosity to the poor, not minding his very low income, shows that there were some religious people that weren't corrupt. Secondly the Pardoner is depicted a person who is very selfish, only does things that benefit him,

One specific tale, in The Canterbury Tales, centers entirely around greed and how it can lead to an eventual downfall. The Pardoner’s Tale tells how a group of three men go looking for “Death” because he has been killing all their friends. An old man warns them to stop, but they do not listen, so he tells the group of men where they can find death. When the men reach where the old man told them to go, they find multiple bushels of gold. A plan is made amongst them for one of them to go into town and get wine and bread and then late into the night they would all bring the gold into town so nobody would see them. While one man went into town to get the wine and food, the other two men plotted against him. They decided to