Canterbury Tales

Canterbury Tales: Two Character Exegesis The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer are a collection of Middle English short stories written about a group of pilgrims telling tales as they journey to the shrine of St Thomas Becket. In this collection of tales, Chaucer introduces a slew of interesting characters representing all walks of life who present intriguing stories of their lives. The character of Chaucer serves as our guide throughout this story. Chaucer’s narration is unique in that we see him both as someone who could be there in the tavern with the group but at other times, Chaucer is a narrator who seems to know far more than he should.

When we are taken on the pilgrimage to Canterbury by Chaucer in the story “The Canterbury Tales” we are introduced to all classes of characters from every corner of life. The use of satire is used throughout the story and I believe it helps, it shows the stereotypical difference in class at his time of day. While keeping nothing from harm in “The Canterbury Tales” Chaucer takes a huge chance by mocking even the church. But did all the use of raunchy humor and everyday language really help him or did it make the story too much to read?

There is great concern presented in Chaucer’s Wife of Bath story that women are painted in a negative light as a result of men having written these classic stories; it is argued that women would have authored these stories differently and in such a way that women would be perceived in a different light. The purpose of this paper is to review The Knight’s Tale as it is found in the Canterbury Tales and establish whether Hippolyta is portrayed in a negative, positive, or neutral light.

Canterbury Tales-A personal perspective on the Medieval Christian Church In researching Geoffrey Chaucer’s collection of stories named The Canterbury Tales, an interesting illustration of the Medieval Church becomes evident. A crooked society exists within the corrupt, medieval church community. Not all of the clergy’s intentions were corrupt, but as Chaucer, through his character the Pardoner,so well put it,“Radix malorum est cupiditas';, ( Love of money is the root of all evil). Many corrupted evils, such as greed, drove the clergy to deviate from the spirituality that religion was originated from.

The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, was written in the 14th Century during the Hundred Years War. Each of the characters was made to represent one of the 7 sins. In Paradise Lost, written by John Milton, every character has a direct connection to an earthly comfort. Both stories are written with the intent to teach its readers; however, Paradise Lost was written in in the 17th century, which means the writing style and the social standard on what the difference is between right and wrong, and how salvation is received is very different.

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.

Chaucer wrote many great tales in the Canterbury tales. Two of the best ones wear The Wife of Bath tale and The Pardoners tale. The Pardoners tale had the upper hand and would have one the challenge. The stories that he wrote had an abundance of life changing knowledge of wisdom. It was also very moral because he taught us that the love of money is the root of all evil. Chaucer wrote a great story for The Pardoners tale it was very entertaining and the moral of the story was just perfect.

The passage mainly consist of dialogue between Cristina and the grandpa. The arguments were caused because of the letters from Mario. The passage was very fast paced and throughout the passage the tone was angry and dark. The tone and speed brought the emotional perspectives of the characters, they showed that abandoning each other by death or separation was their best choice. All statements of abandonment were directed towards Cristina because everyone is trying to get away from her sins to protect their reputation. Although most of the passage was fast pace, the last paragraph was slower. That is easily noticed because they acknowledge who is saying each dialogue, unlike before when they used no- name dialogue. Ricci creates the theme of

In Chaucer’s day women were thought of in lesser regard than men. Their positions in the community were less noble and often displeasing. The Canterbury Tales, written by Chaucer, is about a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Along with the narrator (Chaucer), there are 29 other Canterbury pilgrims. Not surprisingly, only three of them are women: the Prioress, the associate of the Prioress, and the Wife of Bath. Each traveler is to tell two tales to make the journey to Canterbury and back more enjoyable. The Host, Harry Bailey, is in charge of the group and will decide what is in the best interest of them all. Thus, the journey begins as do the tales. Even though the times suggest women are weak and powerless over men, Chaucer has a way of showing their capabilities through the stories. Although, their abilities are not always positive. Disguised in the form of love stories, Chaucer portrays how women easily lead men to their downfall. This is most evident in the tales told by the Knight, the Miller, the Franklin, and the Nun’s Priest. In the Knight’s Tale, two cousins fall for the fair Emelye. They are both in love with her after glancing at her from a prison tower. Not only has Emelye’s beauty made Arcite and Palamon love her, but it has made them become hostile towards each other. "We strive as did the houndes for the boon: - they fought all day, and yet, hir part was noon; there came a kite, while that they were so wrothe that bare away the bone bitwix hem bothe. And therefore, at the kings court, my brother, ech man for himself - there is non other," proclaim both (104). After Arcite is banished from Athens, he mourns his fate of never being able to see Emelye again so much that his appearance drastically changes. He decides to return to Athens, under a pseudonym, where he will be able to see her again. Meanwhile, Palamon grows weak in the prison tower because he fears Arcite will return and capture his love, Emelye. Neither of the men have ever spoken to her or stood near her, yet they insist on fighting and grieving over her. Emelye clearly has mastery over these two men. Arcite states, "...to Athens right now wol I fare! Ne for the drede of deeth shall I not spare to see my lady that I love and serve.

The pardoner tells the readers that money and greed is root of all evil throughout this tale. In his tale, there are three drunken men, one day, decide to find Death and annihilate it. They ask one old man where the death is and he points at the tree where a lot of gold are. When they find gold they only think of getting gold as many as possible and end up planning to kill each other. Three men are unaware of their own evil and as a result, three all die. By story-telling this tale which comprehends no interaction with his behavior, the pardoner negate his own moral and advises other people how should they live their life in order to avoid sins.