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Examples Of Christianity In The Canterbury Tales

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The Canterbury Tales is a story written by Geoffrey Chaucer that depicts the journey of a group of pilgrims on their way to pay homage to a Saint’s bones. On their way to and from their destination, they tell tales in an attempt to win a contest they have set up. In the times of The Canterbury Tales, the general populace perceived Christianity as a holy and righteous path. However, the way that the narrator of the tales tells his story reveals an entirely different viewpoint. The narrator believes that the followers of Christianity use their religion as a mask to disguise and justify their immorality. This is evident in the Pardoner’s lifestyle as well as the Prioress’s behavior and tale.
Perhaps the most apparent example of corruption within …show more content…

As such, the Prioress in The Canterbury Tales wants people to believe that she is humble, but she fails to exhibit that she is as humble as she wants people to think. In lines 158, 159, and 160, Chaucer states, “Of coral small about her arm she’d bear / A string of beads and gauded all with green; / And therefrom hung a brooch of golden sheen.” These lines describe the elaborate jewelry that the Prioress wears to display her devotion to God. The gaudy jewelry that she wears implies a certain amount of boastfulness; she wants people to know that she is a good Christian by showing off her rosary. However, showy displays of wealth are discouraged in the Bible. In 1 Peter 5:5 (ESV), it is written in the Bible, “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” This verse suggests that a good Christian should be humble before other people. Thus, the Prioress’s vain way of calling attention to her devotion to God is actually the opposite of godly. Though she seems innocent and pure, she has a darker side to herself that she displays in a discreet way by crediting it to her religion. This represents Chaucer’s views on believers of Christianity. Chaucer believes that Christians put on a farce of goodness when in fact it is just that: a

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