Friar John Satire

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The Summoner’s tale is equally relevant to the satire used in the Friar’s tale because it explains the corrupt behaviors of the Friar. Chaucer’s “self-conscious literary framework allows not just for the tellers of the tales to respond to one another, but also for the tales themselves to develop, to modify, to subvert, and to satirise the narratives which precede them”(Salter) These two tales are intertwined because the Summoner picks up directly where the Friar leaves off at the end of his tale in hell. The Summoner says “Syn ye han herd this false Frere lye, As suffreth me I may my tale telle.”(Chaucer 1670-1671) This quote is informing us that since the Friar is finished telling his tale of many lies, it is now the Summoner’s turn to speak …show more content…

The satirical part of this entire tale is that even though Friar John makes himself seem like someone who completes all of his religious duties and is a great figure that is not the case at all. Friar John is very dishonest about the messages that he has been receiving from God. He is trying to persuade Thomas that the reason that he is sick and has endured all of these tragic incidents is because he has not given all of his indulgences. Though Thomas has been giving faithfully to the different Friars in the town, but Friar John is not satisfied considering that all of Thomas’ indulgences were not coming directly to him. Thomas is able to recognize Friar John’s hypocrisy as he recites long sermon that ends with Friar John asking for more money. “This sike man wax wel ny wood for ire, He wolde that the frere had been on-fire, With his false dissymulacioun.”(Chaucer 2121-2123) After Thomas realizes that Friar John is using his religious views to receive more indulgences off of him he plays along with Friar …show more content…

This begins in the General Prologue There are many different ways we see satire throughout this tale in many different ways and the causes of corruption in people. Chaucer speaks on the immoral actions of the Pardoner as a preacher. The Pardoner’s display of himself and his “corrupt nature of his professional practice threatens to disrupt the pilgrimage’s entire spiritual purpose.” (Whitney) During the Prologue of the Pardoner’s tale, we see a proud and unapologetic pardoner of his corrupt actions. He clearly shows he is not remorseful for his action in the prologue stating “For myn entente is not but for to wynne, and nothyng for correccioun of synne.”(Chaucer 403-404) In this quote, the Pardoner clearly states that he preaches only to receive the pence, and does not think of this as punishment for individuals sins. The Pardoner tricks poor people gaining from their ignorance believing the intentions of the church officials. Chaucer continues to throw satirical references at readers that highlights the hypocrisy of church officials. He uses religious idea of indulgences to trick people out of their money with no intentions of freeing them from their sins. As a preacher, this shows that the Pardoner does not follow the religious teachings on the idea of greed. Overall this is satirical because

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