Canterbury Tales Interpretive Essay
analytical Essay
628 words
The Evil Side of Human Nature
Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales became one of the first ever works that began to approach the standards of modern literature. It was probably one of the first books to offer the readers entertainment, and not just another set of boring morals. However, the morals, cleverly disguised, are present in almost every story. Besides, the book offers the descriptions of the most common aspects of the human nature. The books points out both the good and the bad qualities of the people, however, the most obvious descriptions are those of the sinful flaws of humans, such as greed and lust.
One of the people’s traits affected by human nature in many stories is greed. As shown throughout, greed is an evil sin. This is especially obvious in the Pardoner’s Tale, where the Pardoner, a church-appointed official who collects gold for absolving people their sins, tells about the evils of money. In the story, three friends, who wanted to make the world better by killing death, find gold, and unwilling to share, start planning to kill each other. Two friends sent the third to bring them food and wanted to kill him after he came back. The victim, however, also wanted the money, and poisoned their drinks. As a result, all three friends die. “Thus were these two homicides finished,/ and the false poisoner too.” (Chaucer 365). Even though Chaucer’s conclusions are not expressed and actually are very different from what the Pardoner says, Chaucer manages to convey h...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that chaucer's canterbury tales was one of the first works to approach the standards of modern literature. the morals, cleverly disguised, are present in almost every story.
- Analyzes how chaucer conveys his message to the audience in the pardoner's tale, where a church-appointed official collects gold for absolving people of sins.
- Analyzes chaucer's bizarre descriptions of lust and adultery in the canterbury tales.
- Explains that the traits depicted as the most affected by human nature in the canterbury tales are often most easily found in anybody, which contributed to the book’s immense popularity over the centuries.
Related
- analytical
- The Miller's Tale Analysisanalytical essay“The Miller’s Tale” perfectly incorporates all of the necessary components that make up a winning tale. In Chaucer’s, The Canterbury Tales, “The Miller’s Tale” fully satisfies every rule required by the Host, in a humorous and intriguing way. He uses the misfortune of the characters to grasp the reader’s attention, and keep him or her interested throughout the story. In the tale, Chaucer includes the idea of religious corruption happening in England during the fourteenth-century. He takes this negative idea and manipulates it into comedic relief by making both Nicholas and Absalom clerks. The actions of those characters, who were supposed to be revered due to their religious position, proves Chaucer’s negative view of the Catholic Church in England at that time. Through Chaucer’s incorporation of fourteenth-century religious corruption,
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how chaucer's "the miller’s tale" satisfies every rule required by the host, in a humorous and intriguing way.
- Analyzes how the miller sticks to his story and does not stray from the most honest and true version of his tale. he adds unrefined details regarding the actions of the characters.
- Analyzes how the miller blatantly admits to being drunk, which proves his truthfulness and honesty.
- Analyzes how the miller went above and beyond in the category of amusement. he kept his readers on the edge of their seats just waiting to see what was going to happen next.
- Analyzes how chaucer's humor, vulgarity, and storytelling abilities contributed to the success of "the miller’s tale".
- Analyzes how "the miller's tale" is the most qualified for winning the competition because of the overall plot and delivery.
932 wordsRead More - Corruption In The Canterbury Tales Essayanalytical essayBack in the late 1300’s, Geoffrey Chaucer, a famous English poet, wrote a book called The Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury was about a man named Chaucer and a group of his close friends that were traveling to the city Canterbury and had time to kill so each person started multiple short stories and made a competition out of it. As a result as to who won the story telling competition, the rest of the people in the trip had to pay for one of their meals. Boring rides to the destination might be boring but not when Chaucer is around. The Canterbury Tales shows crime, punishment and justice medieval style. Through Chaucer’s various tales he demonstrates corruption, deception, and karma.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that chaucer wrote the canterbury tales in the late 1300's. he had no time to write poetry, but he demonstrates corruption, deception, and karma.
- Analyzes how susan crane argues that the wife of bath's tale is based on romance and antifeminism irony.
- Analyzes how jackie shead argues that the wife of bath is manipulative and that the knight also just wants men.
- Analyzes how collin a. ireland's "a coverchief or a calle': the ultimate end..." compares the canterbury tales' "wife of bath" to the tale told by the shipman.
899 wordsRead More - Greed In The Shipman's Taleanalytical essay“Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live” (Proverbs 15:27). The Bible condemns the value of greed and Chaucer is able to incorporate this value into his work through the ironic uses of holy men. Chaucer’s “The Shipman’s Tale” and “The Summoner’s Tale” suggests that the monk and the friar have an overactive id which overpowers their superego- evident from the character’s selfish motives and their rejection of their holy vows.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how chaucer incorporates the value of greed into his work through the ironic uses of holy men. the monk and friar have an overactive id which overpowers their superego.
- Analyzes how chaucer uses the words "noble" and "monk" to set up a sarcastic tone to emphasize the monk's selfishness.
- Analyzes how chaucer's ironic satirical device is used to show both characters' rejection of their holy vows.
- Analyzes how the monk and the friar from chaucer's "shipman’s tale" illustrate the effects of an overactive id domineering one’ s superego.
733 wordsRead More - The Rich Diversity of Meanings of the Pardoner's Taleanalytical essayMcAlpine, Monica E. “The Pardoner’s Homosexuality and How It Matters.” Geoffrey Chaucer’s The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. Ed. by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1988. pp. 103-124.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how chaucer's innovation in the pardoner’s performance tests our concept of dramatic irony by suggesting information regarding his sexuality, gender identity, and spirituality.
- Analyzes how the general prologue offers a first impression of the pardoner, which has affected his interpreted characterization to this day.
- Analyzes the narrator's use of animal imagery in his portrait of the pardoner.
- Argues that critics have accepted their comments as indicative of the pardoner's sexual deviance, either physical or social. the phrase "beel amy" of line 318 is regularly regarded as a homophobic jibe.
- Argues that the text conveys some sense of sexual abnormality about the pardoner.
- Argues that effeminacy connotes rambunctious heterosexuality in men, an excessive interest in and desire for women in medieval times.
- Analyzes how chaucer's pardoner joins a list of fictional persons throughout western literature, whose vivacity and power lie in the tense relation of sexuality and morality that forms their characters.
- Analyzes carolyn dinshaw's interpretation of the pardoner’s fashion consciousness as a critical trope for his deceptive appearance.
- Analyzes how chaucer makes clear the nature of the pardoner's tale as a performance, not only as one of fifty-eight tales the pilgrims will tell on their journey to and from canterbury.
- Analyzes how critics like harold bloom locate chaucer's strength as a poet in his vivid creation of character who create themselves through language.
- Analyzes the dispute between linguistically-oriented interpretations of the characters as rhetorical effects of chaucer’s conscious manipulation of language and psychologically-oriened studies that treat the pilgrims as dramatic characters.
- Argues that the pardoner's prologue and tale are melodramatic lamentations that icing the simple, yet effective story of the three rioters.
- Analyzes how the pardoner's presentation lacks the substance necessary to achieve his desired results, so he turns to the delivery of the presentation itself.
- Analyzes how the pardoner concludes the tale with the much-cited claim "i wol yow nat deceyve" (918), a deliberately ambiguous statement that perfectly fits his character and performance.
- Analyzes how the pardoner's sermon and exemplum is manipulating the sermon tradition to cheat the "lewed" audience out of their money.
- Analyzes how the tale is a vehicle for the pardoner's self-revelation and the evasion of identity through performance.
- Analyzes how the pardoner makes his living by his ability to perform. he is a professional magician of words who suffers muted outrage when the truth of his conjuring is discovered.
- Analyzes how the pardoner concludes the tale with the much-cited claim "i wol yow nat deceyve" (918), a deliberately ambiguous statement that perfectly fits his character and performance.
- Analyzes how chaucer blesses the pardoner with a distinct performative style and technique. his abject, spectacular life offer the raw material for the emotional force of his tale.
- Analyzes how the pardoner is a practical rhetorician, mastering diverse ways of persuading an audience to act as he wishes.
- Analyzes how the pardoner adapts his presentation with each re-reading to the benefit of his audience.
- Analyzes how the pardoner, his prologue, and his tale are evocative emotionally, spiritually, morally and aesthetically. chaucer's fictive power is his powerful hold over our imaginations as readers.
- Explains benson, c. david, chaucer's drama of style: poetic variety and contrast in the canterbury tales.
- Introduces harold bloom to geoffrey chaucer's the general prologue to the canterbury tales.
- Describes bronson, bertrand h., "the pardoner's confession." twentieth century interpretations of the pargiver’s tale.
- Introduces dewey r. faulkner in twentieth century interpretations of the pardoner’s tale: a collection of critical essays.
- Explains that ginsberg, warren, and harold bloom have written geoffrey chaucer's the general prologue to the canterbury tales.
- Explains green, richard firth, and lisa j. kiser's "the pardoner’s pants (and why they matter)."
- Describes harrington, david v., "narrative speed in the pardoner's tale." twentieth century interpretations.
- Explains that huppé, bernard f. a reading of the canterbury tales. albany: state university of new york, 1967.
- Explains jordan, chaucer's poetics and the modern reader, berkeley: university of california press, 1987.
- Explains koff, leonard michael. chaucer and the art of storytelling. berkeley: university of california press, 1988.
- Describes lochrie, mccracken, and schultz, in constructing medieval sexuality.
- Explains mcalpine, monica e., and bloom's the general prologue to the canterbury tales.
- Describes geoffrey chaucer's the general prologue to the canterbury tales.
- Explains sedgewick, g. g, and wagnknecht's chaucer: modern essays in criticism.
5601 wordsRead More - Corruption and Greed in The Canterbury Talesanalytical essayThe 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.
In this essay, the author
- Describes chaucer's canterbury tales as a collection of stories by pilgrims who are heading to canterbury cathedral. the pardoner and the reeve show antipodal characters in many ways.
- Analyzes how the pardoner tells the readers that money and greed is root of all evil throughout the tale.
- Analyzes how the miller, symkyn, is well known for stealing other people's properties. john and aleyn have their corn stolen from him and decided to revenge him.
- Analyzes how the pardoner's tale depicts that the seven deadly sins inflict human with harsh punishment. the three drunken men are punished by it through the sin of gluttony and envy.
- Analyzes how the miller is envy and greedy for wealth in the reeve's tale. he is also guilty of sloth due to aversion to make money by his own hands.
- Compares the pardoner and the reeve's tales, arguing that corruption and avarice will be abused on different purposes.
1044 wordsRead More - An Analysis Of Pardoner's Prologue And Taleanalytical essayChaucer first begins his sly jab at the Church’s motives through the description of the Pardoner’s physical appearance and attitude in his “Canterbury Tales.” Chaucer uses the Pardoner as a representation of the Church as a whole, and by describing the Pardoner and his defects, is able to show what he thinks of the Roman Catholic Church. All people present in the “Canterbury Tales” must tell a tale as a part of story-telling contest, and the pilgrim Chaucer, the character in the story Chaucer uses to portray himself, writes down the tales as they are told, as well as the story teller. The description of the Pardoner hints at the relationship and similarity between the Pardoner and the Church as a whole, as well as marks the beginning of the irony to be observed throughout the “Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale.” The narrator describes the Pardoner as an extremely over confident, arrogant, and unattractive man, noting that his hair is “as yellow as wex,” lying thin and fl...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how chaucer explores the idea of hypocrisy in his "pardoner's prologue and tale" and the introduction to the tale.
- Analyzes how chaucer uses the pardoner as a representation of the roman catholic church in his "canterbury tales."
- Analyzes how the pardoner's appearance and attitude introduce the idea that he and his overall character are full of ironic discrepancies.
- Analyzes how chaucer points out that pardoner is not a strange case, or someone who is fraud at his job, as he has all the appropriate paperwork and is clearly supported by the church.
- Analyzes how chaucer criticizes the church through the irony between what the pardoner says is right and how he actually acts and speaks.
- Analyzes chaucer's belief that the pardoner represents the church as a whole by being one of their spokesmen.
- Analyzes chaucer's portrayal of the pardoner as a self-absorbed, greedy man that mirrors what thinks about the church.
1340 wordsRead More - Aspects of Our Existence in The Canterbury Talesanalytical essayAspects of Our Existence in The Canterbury Tales Through out the history of our own existence men and women alike have pondered and questioned whether there truly exists a force that controls all aspects of our existence. In order to answer these questions men have gone on spiritual quest for not only knowledge of god, but to shed light on our own lives. Men like Geoffrey Chaucer take us on a quest to dig deep within our souls to answer our own question. In Chaucer’s collection of tales entitled, The Canterbury Tales The tales deal with a group of pilgrims of all social classes in search for forgiveness to the shrine of Thomas a Becket. The pilgrims all seek knowledge they cannot have but still try and find that knowledge within each other by telling their tales of morality.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how geoffrey chaucer takes us on a quest to dig deep within our souls to answer our own question.
- Analyzes how chaucer recognizes the respect and ranks all the characters by describing their flaws as well as what they contribute to society.
- Describes chaucer's millers tale as a tale of humor that involves four characters who all search for love in the wrong placer and learn from their mistakes.
- Analyzes how chaucer tells the story of chanticleer the cock and his favorite of six other hens, pertelot.
- Analyzes how chaucer uses chanticleer to symbolize power and beauty on the outside but he is nothing mere of an egotistical, self-indulgent character who places even his most precious love behind his own fear.
- Narrates chaucer's tale of an honorable man named virginous who lived his life by honor and chastity. he is a corrupt figure of power that is willing to do anything to get his trophy.
- Analyzes how chaucer's "the friars tale" deals with the injustices of a summoner who carries out the punishment of others such as witchcraft and lechery.
- Analyzes chaucer's attempt to talk about marriage as he did in "the miller’s tale." the characters reflect on the months of the year.
- Analyzes how "the franklin's tale" illustrates loyalty within one’s relationship. the brave knight aruigus leaves his wife dorigen who believes that the rocks at the shore would take her husbands life.
- Analyzes how chaucer tires to give us a picture of the ideal man who possessed everything any man would envy.
- Analyzes how chaucer's "the parson’s tale" illustrates seven deadly sins, including pride, envy, anger, avarice, gluttony and lechery.
- Opines that men look to the advice of great poets like geoffrey chaucer to unravel the mysteries of life and how we as human beings can obtain greatness and salvation under god’s standards of good and evil.
2159 wordsRead More - 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.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how the last line of the portrait shows that any indiscretions she might have had before marriage were nothing to be ashamed of.
- Analyzes how the portrait calls the summoner a liar and references the fact that his main goal is filling his purse. his chief means of making his money is to bribe individuals not to be delivered of summons that he may have laid the charges for.
- Analyzes chaucer's canterbury tales, a collection of middle english short stories about pilgrims telling tales as they journey to the shrine of st thomas becket.
- Analyzes how the woman's sexual prowess is mentioned, but not humiliation, in the portrait of the wife of bath.
- Analyzes how chaucer's wife of bath is a critique of society during his lifetime with subtle satire.
947 wordsRead More - Greed of the Pardoner in Chaucer's Canterbury Talesanalytical essayThrough the Prologue to the Pardoner's tale, the character of the Pardoner is revealed. Although the Pardoner displays many important traits, the most prevalent is his greed. Throughout the prologue, the Pardoner displays his greed and even admits that the only thing he cares about is money: "I preach nothing except for gain" ("Pardoner's Tale", Line 105). This avarice is seen strongly in the Pardoner's tale as well. In the Pardoner's tale, three friends begin a journey in order to murder Death. On their journey, though, an old man leads them to a great deal of treasure. At this point, all three of the friends in the tale display a greed similar to the Pardoner's. The three friends decide that someone should bring bread and wine for a celebration. As the youngest of the friends leaves to go buy wine, the other two greedily plot to kill him so they can split the treasure only two ways. Even the youngest decides to "put it in his mind to buy poison / With which he might kill his two companions" (383, 384). The greed, which is evident in the character of the Pardoner, is also clearly seen in the tale.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how geoffrey chaucer's frame story, canterbury tales, shows a distinct relationship between the character of the pardoner and the tale that he tells.
- Analyzes how the pardoner and his characters display hypocrisy and ruthlessness in relation to his character.
- Analyzes chaucer's method of analyzing canterbury tales, which gives a greater insight into the mind of the teller.
568 wordsRead More - Lessons To Be Learned From "The Pardoners Tale"analytical essayIn the Pardoners Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer, the narrator, the Pardoner, is very greedy an deceitful. His tale is about three rioters who go on a mission to seek death and kill him. Instead of finding death, an old man guided them to a tree which had gold beneath it. The gold symbolizes death because it led the rioters to sin and they became very greedy. The three rioters and the pardoner have a lot in common.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes chaucer's pardoners tale, about three rioters who go on a mission to seek death and kill him.
- Analyzes how the rioters and the pardoner both have many characteristics that reflect them as greedy and disrespectful men. they only think about themselves and have no desire for anyone else.
- Compares the pardoner and the rioters because they would both do anything for money.
- Analyzes how the pardoner's tale is ironic, since he lives for avarice and money. he is hypocritical and trying to teach a life lesson about greed.
- Concludes that this tale is a life lesson to be learned. the rioters and the pardoner got something back in return that was not very good.
479 wordsRead More