Theme Of Morality In The Canterbury Tales

According to Immanuel Kant, “Morality is not the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness,” which perfectly describes the overall theme of The Canterbury Tales. Morality is a prominent issue throughout the entirety of the poem. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of twenty-four complete stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer. In the poem, each of the pilgrims struggles with their sense of morality. Although most of the pilgrims in the poem are notorious for their unscrupulous behavior, there are those few virtuous ones. The morality between the pilgrims contrasts immensely and allows for an easily seen division between the amoral and the honorable pilgrims. Among these pilgrims are two by

The Parson is an extremely humble, generous, and overall astounding person. He is not greedy in the slightest and gives to the poor as much as possible. Also, his conduct is impeccable and he is a role model for all parishioners. This description of the Parson is the complete opposite of the Friar’s true disposition and moral character. The Friar believes “Nothing good can come of commerce with such slum-and-gutter dwellers,/But only with the rich and victual-sellers” (250). The Friar only worked with the upper-class and believed “it was not fitting with the dignity of his position/[to deal] with a scum of wretched leper.” (248). One can assume from this statement that he must not be a man of God if he is so degrading of others. The Friar continually displays a particularly greedy and judgmental persona throughout the poem. As mentioned before, the Friar taking money from the poor also says a lot about his character. If he was sincerely a man of the church, he would not take from people who already live in poverty. He certainly does not follow God’s devout way of life. While the Parson gives to the poor, the Friar takes from them. Though the Friar’s behavior is looked down upon in the eyes of the church, the Parson “truly knew Christ’s gospel and would preach it/Devoutly to parishioners, and teach it,” which verifies that he truly is a religious and righteous man (491). This validates the theory that the Parson has a fine grasp on his morality while the Friar does not due to his dishonorable