Religion In The Canterbury Tales

All of The Canterbury Tales can be described as religious narratives, considering the historical context they were written in, the intended audience and Chaucer himself. The late 14th century in which Chaucer was writing has been described as "a comprehensive, all-pervading, non-negotiable system of Christian belief"1. The frame narrative of the pilgrimage, together with the repeated references to religion and the church throughout the Tales, is clear evidence of Chaucer's concerns in regards to the religious tensions inherent in his society, which emerges at the forefront of English society with the 1395 Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards being presented to the Parliament of England. It suggests the expansion of the Thirty Seven Conclusions2

The ocean serves as a reminder that humans are helpless in the path of fate, merely swept along by divine purpose, and throughout both of Custance's sea passages it serves as a familiar and ever-present motif for God's will. Custance also compares herself to Christian history twice in the narrative, once to Christ's suffering on the cross, and once to Mary, thereby strengthening the connection between Custance's personal suffering and the spiritual and religious resonances it serves for the entire narrative. Whilst the Man of Law is a secular narrator and approaches the story of Custance through the artificial lens of a secondhand story (which he emphasises in his Prologue), the tale itself is described as "inhabit[ing] the undefined border area between romance and saint's life"5 with the tensions exemplified through the Man of Law's own emphasis on the narrative and Custance's continual, prayerful presence. Overall, Chaucer's treatment of the narrative and the interplay with his sources shows a potential for the many different genres it may be considered at, but "he is concerned primarily to treat it as a pious legend."6 The different contrasts of the tale are evidenced in the interplay between Custance's physical plight and the religious and spiritual ramifications

Roger Ellis writes that the only true purpose of a religious narrative is to move others towards an act of faith10, and concludes that the Pardoner's tale and prologue are the only ones to achieve this outside of the Parson. Through this, Chaucer is presenting a more nuanced approach to the familiar theme of religious corruption, by suggesting that the Pardoner's clever rhetoric is able to prompt others to move away from a life of sin, even if he is shamelessly benefiting from their conversion at the same time. Therefore, he is asserting a similar conclusion to the one he draws from the Man of Law's generic approach to Custance's suffering, by suggesting that personal devotion and piety is more important and should be prized above the existence of religious