The Catholic Church and Canterbury Tales
Chaucer uses satire in the Canterbury Tales to expose his attitude
towards the Catholic Church of the Middle Ages. The first way in which he
does this is by satirizing a common nun of the Middle Ages. Chaucer, in The
Canterbury Tales, tells of a nun who is supposed to be married to the
church. Her attitude towards her appearance should be one of little
concern, but instead she primps and spends her time consumed in her vanity.
He shows the nun not as someone married to the church, but someone married
to herself and her vanity.
Chaucer's attitude toward the church is one in which he expresses
that it is a hypocritcal institution, and has a hint of scorn in his
writing. In the tale of the Summoner, Chaucer satirizes the Friar. He
shows the friar as a beggar who uses his money not for the betterment of
the church, but for the betterment of himself. The Friar begs of a man
named Thomas to stop paying all the other friars and to be loyal to him.
Thomas is sick, and the Friar blames his illnesses on his unwillingness to
give of his pocketbook to the friar. In the end the friar gets what he
deserves. In his greed and his impatience he receives the gift of a fart
from Thomas. This satire shows his slightly scornful attitude towards the
Catholic Church. Chaucer shows us how we, too, have faults, and he uses
his sense of humor to make us laugh the characters and at ourselves.Partner sites: Study Spanish in Guatemala, American Bulldog Information, and Eulogies