Greed In Inferno And Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

The 14th century was a period of chaos and resulted in various problems. In “The Death of Socrates”, Socrates quotes the following from Plato, “I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man, public as well as private. This is my teaching, and if this is the doctrine, which corrupts the youth, I am a mischievous person. (” Greed often leads to evil. Money is often what creates greed, however is it the only factor? The corrupting power of greed and wealth is portrayed as a reoccurring theme through Dante’s Inferno and Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. They use specific ways and examples to prove their point that greed leads to evil. Dante and Chaucer alike portray members of the magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church as manipulating the religious beliefs of their followers for their personal monetary benefit; however, money is not always the root of greed. Both authors show love and jealousy as complicating factors that also produce greed. As the suiciders in the Inferno and Nicholas in The Millers Tale depict, greed can also abound in the forms of jealousy and love.

Throughout the Inferno, Dante suggests vices that are naturally instilled in us through his journey in the layers of hell. He shows this through many influential religious characters as he continues his journey across the Fourth Circle of Hell into the Fifth Circle of Hell. In Canto 7 of the Inferno, Dante talks about the avaricious people including the clergymen, popes and the cardinals. Although these important figures do influence the growth of the Catholic Church they are doing so in an egotistical manner in which it is not simply the church or the parishioner gaining from the relationship, they are benefit...

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...lon wasted his money since he was so greedy to buy Allison. His greed for Allison results in him doing negligent things, especially like wasting his money. In addition, buying someone’s love is superficial. The fact that Absalon knows that Allison is married and preforms these actions makes him evil because he is disrespecting her and John intentionally since he is greedy to make love with Allison. He is similar character to the avaricious people in Dante’s Inferno who spend their money in an irresponsible manner as shown in canto 7. Virgil describes the popes, cardinals and clergymen’s actions in a negative way. Specifically he says “It was squandering and hoarding that have robbed them/ of the lovely world, and got them in this brawl.” (Dante. VII. 38. 58-59). During their lifetime they would hoard, spend their money carelessly and squander it. Add ending sentence