Examples Of Corruption In Canterbury Tales

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Thomas Albig Ms. Cook English 11 A1 19 November 2017 The Righteous VS. The Corrupt In the Middle Ages, a popular topic of many literature works was that of chivalry - the code of behavior by which honorable men, particularly knights, were expected to uphold and live by. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, there are multiple instances where one can find the action or lack of chivalry being exhibited. Two pilgrims from “The General Prologue” that would be great examples of this could be the Pardoner of Rouncivalland the Parson. The Pardoner, who is first introduced on page 48, is the most complex of all pilgrims. He is an intellect and uses his advanced psychological means to obtain his objectives. There are many incidences of which the Pardoner deceived the other pilgrims by the Tabard to believe that he …show more content…

On page 54, the narrator tells of some of the so called “relics” that the Pardoner has in his bag, specifically a pillowcase that he would claim used to be Our Lady’s veil. Along with the veil, the Pardoner would claim that he possessed the sail of a boat that belonged to Saint Peter, a cross of latter set with stones, and old pig bones. On page 55 in lines 713-714, it is said that ,“He knew how one gets silver from the crowd; That’s why he sang so merrily and loud.” He was a trickster who knew how to give the people what they want, or what they thought they wanted, to get what he wants. Although he could give a Albig 2 phenomenal sermon, it could not be said that the Pardoner’s morals were anywhere near phenomenal. In comparison, the Parson, who is first introduced on page 46, is immediately referred to as a good man of religion and though he was poor he was “rich in holy thought and work.” (line 479) The Parson was a very poor but very religious man who gave his scant money to his

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