Social Classes In The Canterbury Tales

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Canterbury Tales the General Prologue, Chaucer introduces many characters that are quite different and some that somewhat normal. Chaucer uses these characters not only to tell a story but to show weakness in the society/ social classes that were present in the medieval times. Chaucer truly never wrote exactly about anyone in particular he used the characters in his stories to point out the wrongs of what in whole the social classes were doing wrong morally. In the beginning of the prologue we begin to start meeting some of the people who are on the pilgrimage, and we meet some well off people like a knight, squire, Nun, Monks, and a Doctor some people who aren't at the highest and some who are but who aren't hurting. They all were flashy had …show more content…

Right off we notice chaucer didn't say tell specifically about their clothing or appearance much of that he only says the plowman works outside plowing fields for crops so we can infer he's a working man so he's probably tan. They both are generous and good men overall and there in probably the lower class since they have to work. This shows that Chaucer was directly writing about the differences in the social classes of that era, he shows that the upper class has shiny new clothing and wants to show it off but they also have flaws and there not really what they seem like because we find out that most of the fancy upper class are corrupt and aren't moral about what they do. Example would be the doctor ripping people off just to split profits so he can become rich and live a good life that’s morally wrong and chaucer wanted people to know that it happened almost everyday without them realizing. The lower class not much said or nothing said about what they wore because they didn't care they cared about being the best people they could to others and helping out others being morally correct and

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