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Basic features of medieval Europe
Chaucer's life as reflected in the Canterbury tales
Summary of the Canterbury Tales
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For my tale report I chose to read the Friar’s Tale. The Canterbury’s Tales is a fiction book that is written by Geoffrey Chaucer. I chose this tale because the Friar is a social worker and is supposed to deal with the poor and the less fortunate but he is the complete opposite. The Friar is a thief and also has affairs with women and after he is done with them, he marries them to other men. I thought that his tale would be interesting and wanted to see how his tale relates to him or contradicts his character in anyway but it ends up being about the Friar, which was not what I expected.
The setting of the Friar’s Tale is described by the Friar as his “own district” and also takes place in the church. During the prologue the Friar tells the Wife of Bath that he had liked her story and also tells the people that his tale will be about a summoner of the church. The Friar begins his story and tells about an archdeacon of the church who is responsible of handling the people that break the Church’s laws. These laws include witchcraft, adultery, and many other laws but those who committed lechery received the max punishment. The archdeacon had a summoner who was just a boy and was very good at finding lechers with the help of spies that he had organized. Even though he was just a boy, he was very corrupt and only summons the lechers that were able to afford paying the church but would also take some or half the money for himself. The summoner would make huge profits from this without the archdeacon knowing about how many he spared.
While the summoner was trying to locate an old widow so he can give her a summons, he encountered a yeoman traveling the same way he was. This yeoman was dressed in a green jacket with a bow and arrow. At t...
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...erstanding but still found it confusing. I recommend this tale for anyone who believes in “karma” because at the end of this tale the summoner definitely received what was coming to him.
The main theme of this tale was greed. This tale had taught me a great lesson that applies to everyone. It was that sinners or just bad people in general like the summoner “always get what’s coming to them”. Karma was bound to happen to the summoner since he treated everyone with disrespect and only was greedy for the money. The cliché “what goes around comes around” also applies to what had happened to the summoner since he committed theft and made most of his money from robbing the Church and at the end he pays the price by being sent to hell. I learned that you should treat people with respect because karma can hit at anytime just like the punishment the summoner had received.
...but will gather with the two men and, Susana to pray and make them ask for forgiveness for what they have caused amongst the community. Just like karma is a message that is seen throughout, it all comes back to you one way or another, and in this case it did to the two old men.
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales are filled with many entertaining tales from a variety of characters of different social classes and background. The first two tales told, by the knight and the miller, articulate very different perspectives of medieval life. Primarily, The tales of both the knight and the miller bring strikingly different views on the idea of female agency, and as we will discover, Chaucer himself leaves hints that he supports the more involved, independent Alison, over the paper-thin character of Emily.
In The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the stereotypes and roles in society are reexamined and made new through the characters in the book. Chaucer discusses different stereotypes and separates his characters from the social norm by giving them highly ironic and/or unusual characteristics. Specifically, in the stories of The Wife of Bath and The Miller’s Tale, Chaucer examines stereotypes of women and men and attempts to define their basic wants and needs.
During Chaucer’s time, there was only one church, the Roman Catholic Church. There is only one church because the Protestant movement hasn’t started yet, it started in the 16th century. Anyone who was a member of the Roman Catholic Church, for example a Pardoner, a Summoner, or a Friar, are not to have sex, or party around, as well as not having money. Chaucer notices that some of these people in the Church break these rules repeatedly. Chaucer uses satire to brilliantly describe the hypocrisy in the church. Although Chaucer may come off as anti-religious, he is religious, he is against anti-hypocrisy. The first character Chaucer uses satire on is the Friar. Chaucer tells his audience that the Friar liked to sleep around a lot with women. The Friar also got lots of girls pregnant and then married them off to men in the church. The Friar was also very wealthy, and liked to party. Which are clear violations of the church’s code. To make things worse, Chaucer said that this particular Friar was better than others. The next characters that Chaucer introduced were the Pardoner and the Summoner. The Summoner’s job in a church is to find people who have committed sin and bring them to the church so that their sins can be forgiven by the Pardoner. However, the Summoner abused his power by blackmailing people to go see the Pardoner or else they
The friar is the exact opposite. He was the best friar around because no one knew as much dalliance and sweet talk as he did. He knew all the taverns, innkeepers and barmaids more than the lepers and beggars. He believed that being seen with paupers was not good for a man in his position and there was no profit to be made with them, unlike with the rich and the sellers of food which is profitable. He was also the best beggar in the area and no one else moved into his turf. In his tale he was a man that said he would pretend that he was holy. He also gives the best pardons to the people that give him the maximum amount of money. In the poem, Chaucer makes a statement that says he is the only person that practices his profession accurately.
“The Miller’s Tale” perfectly incorporates all of the necessary components that make up a winning tale. In Chaucer’s, The Canterbury Tales, “The Miller’s Tale” fully satisfies every rule required by the Host, in a humorous and intriguing way. He uses the misfortune of the characters to grasp the reader’s attention, and keep him or her interested throughout the story. In the tale, Chaucer includes the idea of religious corruption happening in England during the fourteenth-century. He takes this negative idea and manipulates it into comedic relief by making both Nicholas and Absalom clerks. The actions of those characters, who were supposed to be revered due to their religious position, proves Chaucer’s negative view of the Catholic Church in England at that time. Through Chaucer’s incorporation of fourteenth-century religious corruption,
Canterbury Tales as a whole was very interesting. It has introduced us to a way of life that we never knew existed. It also introduced us to a type of crude humor that we have never been exposed to. It has shown us a true side of life during the Middle Ages. We have learned many things already from our World History teachers, but to experience it first hand is a different story. To experience the jokes, the merriment, and culture opens the gates to a new world. I think that these tales have been very entertaining, and enriching. I liked all the tales that I have read. I think that Geoffrey Chaucer was right to record culture the way it is, and not have toned it down to fit the needs of religion. The culture is the way it is, and no one can change it, only to record it. Chaucer recorded like he saw it, with no bias or impure intentions. He was just an author trying to write a book, for people to read and enjoy.
The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, is a collection of short stories told amongst pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. The pilgrims are competing against one another to see who can tell the best story on their trip. Along the way Chaucer makes quick comments and critics about the travelers. Some pilgrims he likes, for example the Parson. Others like the Pardoner, are disliked strongly by Chaucer. He also finds some pilgrims entertaining, like the Nun. She is described as a women who, instead of centering her life round Christ, tries to impress everyone. Although in his prologue Chaucer pokes fun at the Nun’s appearance and behavior, ultimately the readers can see that Chaucer
In summation, Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales to reveal his numerous life adventures with readers. His goal was to share his adventures, yet to write them in an array of styles and perspectives. Readers cherish Chaucer and his craftsmanship because Chaucer entertains the audience so effectively; the audience overlooks the factual content of the story because they are distracted by the humorous mockery and the metaphysical viewpoint. Chaucer challenges his ability to write about himself through different personas while about himself through different genders and social classes. Although Chaucer passed away, he will live forever as long as readers learn about him from his characters that he created.
The characters are on a pilgrimage which is a clear indicator that the text is of religious genre. The Catholic Church, at the time, was losing many followers due to the Black Death and their lack of faith in the importance of the church. The Summoner and the Pardoner, who both represent the Catholic Church, are both described as greedy, corrupt, and abusive. This is a direct correlation to how Chaucer and many others felt about the Catholic Church during this period. The Monk and the Prioress are not described as being corrupt like the Summoner and the Pardoner; however they are described as falling short of what is considered ideal for people of their position. They both are described as being in a depressed state. Also bot...
The stories on The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer often undermine societal hierarchies at the time. The tales Chaucer tells highlight aspects of authority that would otherwise never be questioned. In “The Miller’s Tale”, the notion of a clear useful economic hierarchy is challenged. Chaucer critiques chivalry in “The Knight’s Tale,” testing the value of the authority it provides. In “The Friar’s Tale”, Chaucer questions the benevolence of the church and its position hierarchy. By giving archetypal characters the freedom to act in opposition to their hierarchical roles, Chaucer calls the nature of authority into question.
The prologues that link the various Canterbury Tales shift effortlessly from ponderous drama to light comedy. The lamentable tale of Griselde gives way to the Host's complaint about his shrewish wife. This prologue further illustrates how each of the characters informs the tale he tells. The travelers largely tell tales that conform to their personal experiences or attitudes, such as the Merchant, whose awful marriage is the occasion for his tale about a difficult wife. In most cases the influence of the narrator on his tale is apparent, but the authorial touch lightly felt. The Merchant's Tale, for example, gains little from the prologue's information that the Merchant is disenchanted with his own marriage. Only a few of these tales exist largely as extensions of the characters who tell them; the Wife of Bath's Tale is the most prominent of these stories.
In The Canterbury Tales, being considered on of the greatest works done in the Middle English many tales failed to be either entertaining or moral. “The Wife Of Bath’s Tale” failed to prove to be either entertaining or moral on the other hand “The Pardoner’s Tale” was both entertaining and moral in many ways. “The Pardoner’s Tale” had many good messages to the readers. “The Millers tale” lacked morality but was very entertaining, “The Millers tale” was very successful in entertaining the readers,but not so much in morality.
Chaucer's Irony - The Canterbury Tales Chaucer's Irony Irony is a vitally important part of The Canterbury Tales, and Chaucer's ingenious use of this literary device does a lot to provide this book with the classic status it enjoys even today. Chaucer has mastered the techniques required to skilfully put his points across and subtle irony and satire is particularly effective in making a point. The Canterbury Tales are well-known as an attack on the Church and its rôle in fourteenth century society. With the ambiguity introduced by the naïve and ignorant "Chaucer the pilgrim", the writer is able to make ironic attacks on characters and what they represent from a whole new angle. The differences in opinion of Chaucer the pilgrim and Chaucer the writer are much more than nuances - the two personas are very often diametrically opposed so as to cause effectual irony.
The Canterbury Tales is a great contemplation of stories, that display humorous and ironic examples of medieval life, which imitate moral and ethical problems in history and even those presented today. Chaucer owed a great deal to the authors who produced these works before his time. Chaucer tweaked their materials, gave them new meanings and revealed unscathed truths, thus providing fresh ideas to his readers. Chaucer's main goal for these tales was to create settings in which people can relate, to portray lessons and the irony of human existence.