There have been many questions about the moral, ethical and religious views of the Wife of bath, the Pardoner, and the Oxford Clerk. These three characters from, The Canterbury Tale, by Chaucer displays morals that are still relevant to the world today. These elementary morals have been taught since a young age, causing these morals to be embedded in one’s mind and making these morals, fundamental morals that one should practice in life.
One such moral that is still valid in today’s world comes from the Wife of Bath’s tale. During her tale a similar moral kept on showing, and this was how women desired “sovereignty” over men. From the prologue it is definite that the wife of bath has experience with relation because she was married five times
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Further, If a man does not pass her expectations, then she would either end or reject the relationship. Similarly, this is the same way the Wife of Bath feels because during the prologue she states, “‘We cannot love a husband who takes charge Of where we go. We like to be at large’”(Chaucer 285). Wife of bath believes that with sovereignty both the man and the woman could achieve true happiness. In addition, in the prologue she supports her views on marriage by using the bible,” No word of what the number to be, Then why not marry two or even eight?”(277). Hence, She must believe in the Bible because she and the sacred scripture to support ethical views. People today might not use the bible to justify the marriage history because in today’s world, having an ex husband is acceptable by the society, while, during her time it was not acceptable.
Another moral standard that is still valid in today’s world shows up in the Pardoner’s tale. In this tale the main moral is, greed is the root to all evil. Not to mention, additional moral that is present in the tale is, gluttony, drunkenness, gambling and swearing are moral vices that should be avoided. The pardoner preaches all of his morals to others, but he is hypocritical when it comes to him following his morals. Consequently, his Moral views and Ethical views collide because he thinks one way and does the
In “The Pardoner’s Tale,” Geoffrey Chaucer masterfully frames an informal homily. Through the use of verbal and situational irony, Chaucer is able to accentuate the moral characteristics of the Pardoner. The essence of the story is exemplified by the blatant discrepancy between the character of the storyteller and the message of his story. By analyzing this contrast, the reader can place himself in the mind of the Pardoner in order to account for his psychology.
The Virtue of Men and Women in The Canterbury Tales People never change. In every town you will always be able to find the "rich guy," the "smart guy," the "thief," and the "chief." It has been that way since the first man was swindled out of his lunch. Throughout his life, Geoffrey Chaucer encountered every kind of person and brought them to life for us in "The Canterbury Tales," a collection of short stories written in the 1300's. There are tales of saints, tales of promiscuity, tales of fraud, and tales of love.
The Pardoner, a greedy, corrupt religious official in The Canterbury Tales who swindles people out of their money, represents more than just a character; he represents an archetype that appears in several individuals, both in the past and the present. In the twelfth century, Geoffrey Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, realized that the religious officials of his time were corrupt, wicked, and selfish, and hoped to satirize that with the Pardoner. In modern times, however, there is a more significant divide between church and state, and church officials do not hold the same amount of power today as they did in the past. Consequently, today’s career path that is most susceptible to corruption appears to be politics, not religion. No man
Ireland’s purpose is to show how Chaucer had a good example to show his final order to his audience. He establishes a reflecting tone for explaining the Wife of Bath’s sovereignty. This work is significant because of the comparison between The Wife of Bath’s Tale and Prologue. (Ireland 10)
With the Wife of Bath's five different husbands and the search of a new one, she didn't only know what she wanted but how to get it, she did this through ways of being controlling and selfish, but still, came out succeeding at the end of her relationships. The Wife of Bath, with her simple words of the five men she had been with, it was easily detailed with what mattered to her "they were good, and rich, and old, they were scarcely able to keep the statute by which they were bound to me" (p. 191). This is an explaination of exactly what she wanted and how she was able to be continue to be stable. Her unbelieveable control for the husbands she had, in which she thought they would be her "debtor and slave" (p. 189). Chaucer is expressing the sexual, as well as, the controlling side of the Wife of Bath, this also shows the unrealistic expectations she brought forth. At last, she tells exactly how she feels "you should speak thus and put them in the wrong, for no man can perjure himself and lie half so boldly as a woman can" (p. 193). Convicing her husbands ...
The Pardoner's Tale had to do with some religious issues again. In this tale it discusses different types of sins, and tells a tale of a group of boy's sins.
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.
We have all heard the common adage “Practice what you preach.” Another version of this sentiment can be found in the saying “You cannot just talk the talk; you must walk the walk.” In other words, it is commonly considered useless for one to talk about doing something or living a certain way if he does not actually live out those words. It is overall a sentiment that denounces hypocrisy. This idea is explored by Geoffrey Chaucer in his “Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale,” as well as the Introduction to the tale. Chaucer identifies a pardoner as his main character for the story and utilizes the situational and verbal irony found in the pardoner’s interactions and deplorable personality to demonstrate his belief in the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church during this time.
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a collection of stories by a group of pilgrims who are heading to Canterbury Cathedral. In this book, the pardoner and the reeve show antipodal characters in many ways. The pardoner is beautiful blonde hair man who is being loved by everyone. However he is very corrupted and smart and sells fake religious stuff to people saying very good compliment. On the other hand, the reeve is very serious and honest business man. He is very smart enough to know what criminals think and do. The pardoner story-tells a great example (or tale?) of seven deadly sins and reeve’s story is mocking of the miller. These very different characteristic men tell story telling that human beings are always punished for being greedy. The crooked pardoner and the honest reeve have different purposes for telling their tales, but their stories have the same major theme; sins deserve punishment.
An interesting aspect of the famous literary work, "The Canterbury Tales," is the contrast of realistic and exaggerated qualities that Chaucer entitles to each of his characters. When viewed more closely, one can determine whether each of the characters is convincing or questionable based on their personalities. This essay will analyze the characteristics and personalities of the Knight, Squire, Monk, Plowman, Miller, and Parson of Chaucer's tale.
Greed, the most interpreted characteristic of the Pardoner began to be weaved in to the story beginning in his prologue through to the text after his story. The Pardoner discloses another trait that is displayed by himself and the characters in his tale concluded to be hypocrisy. The reader was able to divulge in another characteristic of the Pardoner including arrogance. The Pardoner himself was the ideal representation of the characters Chaucer wrote
Many of the religious characters in The Canterbury Tales represent character traits that are different from what is traditionally expected of them. This is because the Catholic Church, which ruled all of England, Ireland and most of Europe in the Fourteenth Century, was extremely wealthy. Extravagant cathedrals were built in every big city while the people suffered from poverty, disease and famine. The contrast between the wealth of the church and misery of the people was overwhelming. As a result, the characters in Chaucer's tales were portrayed as deceitful and greedy. Two examples of this are the Summoner from the "The Friar's Tale" and Death from the "The Pardoner's Tale."
If one has ever read the General Prologue of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, they will find the attitude of Chaucer to be very opinionated and complex toward the members of the clergy. Some of the clergy consists of the Monk, the Prioress (also known as the nun), and the Friar. Chaucer has gone into depth of each one of these members in each section of the Prologue. From reading each section and analyzes his attitude towards each member, it is portrayed that Chaucer has a complex attitude of appreciation and dishonesty towards the members of the clergy.
Chaucer’s "General Prologue" is remarkable in that it allows us to see not only what characters may claim to represent, but also how they really are inside. Chaucer’s depiction of the Friar, who should be a man of upstanding piety and virtue, makes it readily apparent that he is quite the opposite. The Friar’s elitist background and behavior, his begging-supported greed, and the vices that oppose true Christianity prove that he is a man of low moral standards. Certainly, Chaucer paints a masterful contrast of image vs. reality.
In “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue” the Wife of Bath discusses marriage, virginity, and most importantly the question of dominion. In the “Wife of Bath's Prologue,” it opens with a quote “I have the power, during all my life over his own body, and not he.”(Norton 164-165) This quote proves how much dominion and power she desired and took by default. She is a strong-willed and dominant woman who gets what she wants when she wants it. She cannot accept downfall no matter how it is presented to her. She senses that this is the way things should be and men should submit her. She should not be controlled or told what to do by others, especially by a man. She displa...