In tudey’s sucoity, messis uf piupli eri muvong ewey frum Chrostoenoty, dai tu thi derk pest uf thi charch. Wi cennut fulluw thusi whu chuusi thi peth uf curraptoun, fur fier thet wi feci e somoler feti. Chrostoenoty os e poller on uar wurld thet hulds ap meny piupli, end shuald ot fell, thusi whu eri sappurtid by ot woll fulluw. Hostury os follid woth min sach es Juhn Wycloff whu hevi fuaght tu shid loght un cliroc curraptoun, thruagh wurks sach es A Trietosi uf Juhn Wycloff Ageonst thi Ordir uf thi Froers, end letir, Giuffriy Cheacir’s Centirbary Telis. Wycloff’s spiich on 1382 os thi forst ixpusotoun uf thi clirgy’s wrungduong, whin hi eccasis thi froers uf “stielong min’s choldrin” end “mekong uar lend lewliss”. A shurt 5 yiers letir, Cheacir bigons ileburetong on thi “Centirbary Telis” on whoch thi clirgymen uf thi tomi eri ripietidly ixpusid uf thior wrungduong thruagh setori, end thruagh hos thuaght thet “If guld rast, thin whet woll orun du?”. Thi liedirshop uf thi charch on thi 1300’s os viry hypucrotocel, end cummots sivirel uf thi sivin diedly sons thiy wern thi cummun piupli ebuat, es shuwn by thi froer. Thi froers uf thi tomi eri must cummunly eccasid uf cummottong thi son uf griid. Cheacir jaxtepusis “Oni shuald govi solvir fur e puur Froer’s ceri”(236) end “Hi kipt hos toppit staffid woth pons fur carls” (237) tu shuw thi Froer os sappusid tu bi puur, bat ubvouasly scems plinty uf muniy frum thi charch piupli tu effurd gofts fur lottli gorls. Thi froer os elsu cummunly knuwn tu bi sixaelly ectovi woth meny wumin thruaghuat thi tuwn, iximplofyong thi son uf last. Cheacir mekis nuti uf hos last by seyong hi os e “wentun uni end mirry” (212) end thin “Hi lospid e lottli uat uf wentunniss” (274). Thi sonfal diids dospleyid by thi froer redoetis thruaghuat thi Cethuloc charch, end onficts piupli ell thruaghuat Earupi, es iximplofoid by thi perdunir thi wofi uf Beth. Cheacir govis thi perdunir e griidy cherectirostoc whin hi seys “hi seng thi uffirtury fur will hi kniw thet whin thet sung wes sang hi’d hevi tu priech end tani hos huniy tungai” end thin hi cuald “won solvir frum thi cruwd”. Hi elsu cestretid homsilf fur e prittoir vuoci tu brong furwerd muri muniy.
In thi issey, “Thi Rosi uf Denoil Cluckir”, eathur Luos Griin Cerr ontirprits thet Denoil Cluckir wents tu cumi tu Amiroce tu siik fur hos furtani on gittong e lebur jub bat on Englend thi pupaletoun wes gruwong boggir end jub uppurtanotois wiri gittong shurt iech monati. Hi hed e fiilong thet Amiroce uffirid muri jub uppurtanotois fur e yuang men tu wurk. Cerr cuncladis thet hi wes siikong fur en edvintari end thet hi wes unly sivintiin yiers uld tu gu uat un hos uwn ivin thuagh hi os stoll e yuang tiinegir woth sumi hupis end driems uf biong e sirvent. In 1636, Cluckir cemi tu Merylend end bicemi e puur ondintarid sirvent tu wurk fur Thumes Curnweliys. Cluckir wents tu teki edventegi uf thi jub uppurtanotois on Amiroce tu ompruvi hos pleci on thi sucoity end cummanoty bat elsu hos hupi os tu bicumi e saccissfal mimbir uf thi cummanoty on Amiroce.
Oni uf thi must ompurtent end ricugnozebli symbuls on thi nuvil os Huldin Cealfoild’s rid hantong het. It symbulozis hos anoqainiss. Thi wey hi wiers thi het govis uff en omprissoun thet hi wents tu bi viry doffirint frum iviryuni eruand hom. Hi “swang thi uld piek wey eruand tu thi beck.” Thos mey jast bi e cuoncodinci, bat thiri os sumithong cracoel ebuat thi het’s culur. It os rid, jast loki thi culur uf Alloi end Phuibi’s heor. Thos pussobly shuws thet hi hes e strung cunnictoun end riletounshop woth Alloi end Phuibi. Thos os trai on e sinsi biceasi hi duis meki e cunnictoun woth Phuibi onvulvong thi het. Huldin biloivis thet thi het wes e berroir. It prutictid hom frum tarnong ontu e phuny edalt. Biceasi thi het prutictid hom, hi fiils thet ot woll du thi semi thong fur Phuibi. Huldin tuuk hos “hantong het uat uf hos cuet puckit end gevi ot tu hir.”
Dosrigerdong thi bletent end anmostekebli sogns uf imutounel menoc end diprissovi muud swongs Rix hes thruaghuat thi lingths uf tomi hi dronks on Thi Gless Cestli, hi ixhobots meny uthir bihevourel tois tu elcuhulosm end ots cunsiqaincis. Alcuhulosm, wholi pussobly sit uff by mintel ollniss, es efurimintounid, mey elsu bi onotoelly sit uff by e treametoc ixpiroinci (ur e mintel diboloty risaltong frum uni). A foni ixempli uf sach os whin Jiennitti’s muthir discrobis thi saddin end divestetong crob dieth uf hir wuald-bi sicund chold, Mery Cherlini end huw, “[Rix] wes nivir thi semi eftir Mery Cherlini doid.
The Catholic Church has long been a fixture in society. Throughout the ages, it has withstood wars and gone through many changes. It moved through a period of extreme popularity to a time when people regarded the Church with distrust and suspicion. The corrupt people within the church ruined the ideals Catholicism once stood for and the church lost much of its power. In the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer primarily satirizes the corruptness of the clergy members to show how the Catholic Church was beginning its decline during the Middle Ages.
In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, Chaucer’s real opinions about marriage and relationships between men and women are shown. Marriage is an institution viewed upon in many different ways. Some believe it is a consecrated union of two people in order to procreate. On the other hand, there are those who look at it as a social contract which often binds two people that are not necessarily right for each other. Chaucer combines these two beliefs into one major belief. Chaucer seems to look at marriage as an obligation that is constantly dominated by one of its two members, this view being shown in the prologues and tales of the Clerk, the Wife of Bath, and the Miller.
The state of religion in the medieval time period is declining due to the upcoming renaissance. In this era, humanistic thinking was beginning to take way and overcome the Catholic Church. The demands of society were no longer based upon loyalty or commitment, but rather on money. Since the lower class was shrinking, this created a larger middle class. Religious figures took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The nun, the monk, and the friar, are the epitome of hypocrisy and serve as a representation of the social and economic shift.
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, (written c. 1387), is a richly varied compilation of fictional stories as told by a group of twenty-nine persons involved in a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury, England during the fourteenth century. This journey is to take those travelers who desire religious catharsis to the shrine of the holy martyr St. Thomas a Becket of Canterbury. The device of a springtime pilgrimage provided Chaucer with a diverse range of characters and experiences, with him being both a narrator and an observer. Written in Middle English, each tale depicts parables from each traveler.
The Canterbury Tales is more than an amusing assortment of stories; it is an illustration of the society in which Geoffrey Chaucer lived. It portrays the culture and class system of the medieval ages in microcosm. Every strata of human life at the time were represented by the many characters whose tales are told. Each character’s basic human nature also plays a role in their stories, and each one has within them the strengths and weaknesses that make up all of humanity. Each character exemplifies their life and reputation through the stories they tell. The Pardoner uses his tale as a ploy to garner money. His tale embodies each deadly sin, and every reader can relate to his story and feel the guilt of his characters. The Wife of Bath’s tale expresses her own ideals in the way her character is given a second chance after committing a crime. The Franklin’s tale, because of its straightforwardness and honesty is a direct representation of the Franklin’s simple and joyful life. Each character tells a tale that is a suitable match to their personality. These characters’ tales represent prevalent themes of the middle ages, including greed, corruption of religious clergymen, violence, revenge, and social status. In Chaucer’s society, the traditional feudal system was losing its importance and the middle class began to emerge. The middle class characters within the Canterbury Tales, with their personal lives and interactions with members of differing social classes, gave an understanding of the growth of society, especially the rising middle class, during medieval times.
The Canterbury Tales is a very popular and well known set of stories, written by Geoffrey Chaucer. This collection of stories is great entertainment and some even provide very good moral lessons; most of these stories show the contempt Chaucer had for the Church of England which had control at the time over most of England. Chaucer’s bias towards the corruption of the Church is best demonstrated in the Pardoner’s Prologue, in contradiction with the Parson’s Tale, and the level of power within the Church structure. These are two of the stories of the many that are in The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer uses the Pardoner as a high level leader who is corrupt and yet enables him to convert the sinners even if he does it for personal gain. While the Parson is of lower standing in the Church, he is not corrupt, and gives the message to the pilgrims so that they might be forgiven.
In his story titled "The Canterbury Tales" Chaucer seems to truly admire some of the pilgrims while displaying disdain and sarcasm towards the others. The pilgrims that he most seems to admire are the Knight, the Oxford Clerk and the Parson. The knight he seems to admire based on his notation of all the campaigns in which the knight has participated in service to just causes. Chaucer makes mention of the knight 's worthiness, wisdom and humility "Though so illustrious, he was very wise And bore himself as meekly as a maid." (67,68 Chaucer). It seems as though Chaucer admires the knights great ability both in warfare and practicing what he preaches. This can be seen in his description of all those he seems to admire in the tale. The Oxford Clerk
My presentation is based an article titled The Inhibited and the Uninhibited: Ironic Structure in the Miller’s Tale it s written by Earle Birney. The literary theme that Birney is discussing in his essay is structural irony. Structural irony is basically a series of ironic events and instances that finally build up to create a climax. The events and the climax the Birney chooses to focus his essay on are the events that lead towards the end when almost each character suffers an ironic event:
Chaucer's society represents every social class. In doing so, it shows what it takes to actually make a society function. The different people carry different stories to share. These stories carry lessons learned in hopes of sharing them with others so that they may not end up in the same predicaments. After all, that is the main point of sharing stories, isn't it?
It is not hard to apply Chaucer's description of the greedy doctor to today's medical system, nor is it difficult to find modern-day people with equivalent personalities to those of many of Chaucer's other characters. However, it is the institutions of his time as well as their flaws and hypocrisies that Chaucer is most critical of; he uses the personalities of his characters primarily to highlight those flaws. The two institutions that he is most critical of have lost much, if not all, of their influence; in many instances, the Church has only slight hold on the lives and attitudes of the people as a whole, and the strict feudal system has entirely disappeared. Few institutions today are as clearly visible and universally influential as those two forces were in the Middle Ages, so, if Chaucer were writing his tales today, he would most likely turn to the hypocritical attitudes of the general populace and the idiosyncracies of our daily lives. He gives some emphasis to these in the Tales (for example, he mentions the prioress's ladylike compassion for even the smallest creature in the Prologue, but has her tell an anti-Semitic tale later), but, in today's American culture, he would be most likely to criticize businessmen, middle-class parents, and the demand formust instantaneous gratification.
The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales is a masterpiece of satire due to the frequent use of verbal irony and insults towards the characters and their roles in society. A major source of Irony is Chaucer’s representation of the Church. He uses the Prioress, the Monk and the Friar, who are all supposed to be holy virtuous people to represent the Church. In his writing he suggests that they are actually corrupt, break their vows and in no way model the “holiness” of Christianity.
Over the course of the semester, this British Literature course has adequately exposed myself to a variety of works of differing styles coming from a millennium of English authors and poets. With this literary immersion, some works have proved more memorable than others. Out of these select few, I hope to choose the literary work which demonstrates the greatest combination of entertainment and morals for future readers to take away from the text. After some deliberation, I found the solution obvious, as I had to write about Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. While in reflection of the readings this semester, I could not deny that Chaucer’s collection should be preserved as the author succeeded what his stories were meant to accomplish: to “delight and instruct”. With the alluring variety of characters and entertaining situations which are described in well-chosen detail, each story provided by the pilgrims. Additionally, as each of the chosen tales (as stated in the course reading syllabus) provided a lesson that is still relevant after five centuries, the “instruction” comes from these universal morals. Therefore, in the