There are unlimited ways society can impact people. Society is a preconceived notion that limits our behaviors, in fear of being judged. It causes anxiety and burdens our conscious because we are unable to expose our true characters in public. Both authors of The Scarlet Letter and Canterbury Tales reveal corruption in the church that was prevalent in society. In the Canterbury Tales, pressures from society restricted characters to doing certain jobs in order to meet social expectations of success, status, gender roles, etc. In The Scarlet Letter the pressures of the Puritan society encouraged Dimmesdale to committing morally wrong acts. In both Canterbury Tales and The Scarlet Letter, authors used the exploitation in the church to show how characterization developed. Both stories are based off the way society perceives different people and their titles to be. Religious characters are idealistically seen as perfect …show more content…
When pressure is put upon characters such as The Monk and the Friar from Canterbury Tales and Dimmesdale from the Scarlet Letter it causes them to succumb under pressure. The Monk lived an active lifestyle and went against his stereotype. He lived the life of a man who would much rather be drinking wine that tending to the property of the monastery. Chaucer uses sarcasm with the Monk, “But this same text he held not worth an oyster; And I said his opinion was right good.” He is using sarcasm to make his point that the Monk chooses not to follow the rules because they hamper his lifestyle of drinking. The Friar was a licentious man who seduced young girls and arranged their marriages. He was more familiar with the town bars than the church service work. Dimmesdale was a minister of the Puritan community who committed adultery, which at the time was seen as such ignominy. Although these characters