Canterbury Tales Research Paper

Feudalism, a system of politics and economics created by lords that built themselves protective castles surrounded by acres of land covered by peasants that pay a fee to live on it. It lasted a long time, but not too long, for like communism, a society where everything is distributed equally, feudalism fell because most people of the time, noble peoples included, did not conform to the rules that were laid out by it. Feudalism existed about 600 years ago during the 14th century and fell at the same time as the Middle Ages came to a close. At the time, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The

Canterbury Tales, one of the only Middle English works of that time. He wrote it that way to appeal to the middle class because most works were written in French for the higher educated classes. In The

Through his description of the Knight in the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales, as well as the “Knight’s Tale” and the “Wife of Bath’s Tale,” Chaucer suggests chivalry in itself represents a nice practice as an ideal on paper, but not all knights followed the chivalric code, contributing to the fall of feudalism.

In the beginning of feudal times, knights were seen as honorable soldiers who fight for their commanding lords. With the fact that knights could be commanded by wealthy nobles, feudalism offered them a high status upon the feudal pyramid. Although the status came with the mandatory following of chivalry, expecting knights to uphold all people’s rights and not betray their own lords.

Clarice Swisher summarizes the devotion people had to the chivalric code: “Chivalry was rooted in personal honor and the disgrace one experienced for failing to live up to one’s obligations … People knew their places and responsibilities” (41). For these soldiers, breaking a rule would lead to them either always feeling guilty for themselves, or having a great need for redemption. With their martyr-like personality for the code, the dedication of these knights had Chaucer interested in