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Corruption In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

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Recommended: Religion As A Major Theme In Canterbury Tales

Everything is not what it seems. Geoffrey Chaucer, the author of The Canterbury Tales, elaborates the previous statement in the best way possible. Chaucer’s descriptions of the religious characters reveal the ugly truth about the Church in the Middle Ages. Chaucer portrays most of the religious characters negatively, having them not follow usual stereotypes. The nun, who certainly goes against the status quo, reflects the Church structure. The characterization of the nun shows the Church’s power and mindset during the Middle Ages.
Most religious characters of The Canterbury Tales seem to be characterized negatively. Excluding the Knight and the Yeoman, the rest of the cast have a tendency to want for wealth, to have a sexual impulse, and …show more content…

The satire specifically looks into the corruption which comes with wealth and power. The nun has “a golden brooch… graven” with the words “Amor Vincit Omnia” (Coghill). Although, wealth was previously shown through implication, this time the nun has a visual representation of wealth, that being, gold. The character description of the nun is synonymous to the Church. Just as how the nun could not control herself from obtaining wealth, the Church could not the temptation of wealth. But the temptation of wealth was not the only thing which was holding the Church back from true Christianity. The nun also had a phrase graven on the brooch, which translates to “love conquers all” (Coghill). Just like how the nun’s greatest oath was contradictory, her brooch contradicts the vows which she was to recite. Nuns are to keep a promise, to make a “vow of chastity” (Daily). This brooch says otherwise. The nun believes love conquers all. She does not control herself from romantic love. Romantic love is defined as “love characterized by romance and involving sexual attraction” (Collins Dictionary). In other words, romantic love is the kind of love that conquers all, the kind of love which is unbounded. It is a “passionate fervor” over someone (Nugent). In the Middle Ages, romantic love was considered satanic while courtly love was godly and pure (Cohen). Vows of chastity were done to maintain a courtly …show more content…

At the time of when Chaucer lived, the lifestyle of the Middle Ages encircled the Church, both figuratively and literally. It was relevant and well-timed for Chaucer to discuss the issues going on in the Church. Instead of writing directly about the issues, he discusses these issues through indirect descriptions of religious characters in The Canterbury Tales. The nun was one of the many religious characters, which reflected the condition and the issues of the Church in the Middle Ages. The negative characterization of the nun shows the Church’s main areas of corruption: wealth, love, and vanity. Chaucer manages to expose the Church in the most humorous and negative way possible for the right

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In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, one of the many characters, the Pardoner, takes advantage of people’s vices and ignorance, preaching against avarice, a sin which he does not feel guilty of committing. The Pardoner in The Canterbury Tales speaks of greed as “the root of all sin” and of himself as doing “Christ’s holy work”; although, he “practices” avarice himself he has no guilt of his thievery. The Pardoner deceives the towns people by falsifying professionalism by “speak[ing] a few works in Latin” and displaying his “bishop’s seal” on his “license” disguising himself as a trustworthy person.

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During the Middle Ages, at the time where Geoffrey Chaucer was alive, the Church was the highest in power in Europe. They were above the entire caste system, and they owned more land than anyone did at the time. Chaucer, as the son of a wine merchant and someone living in a Church-dominated society, had probably witnessed the dealings and actions of the Church and its associates of the time. As a satirist, Chaucer incorporated his skill of observation into his narration of The Canterbury Tales, and used it with satire to play the humor to his advantage, from poking light fun at some of the pilgrims to employing mocking sarcasm towards some of the others. This, of course, on a religious pilgrimage in the Middle Ages, includes the mocking of

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Calling the Church body “his apes” exemplifies the opinion Chaucer holds about the Church, as he believes they are like monkeys, blindly following others, unaware of their own stupidity. In terms of blindly following, the double entendre of the word “apes” comes into play, as it is defined as “imitating another person”. The members of the Church blindly imitate what they see in the Church, leading to a society of corrupted followers. Chaucer continues to present the hypocrisy prevalent in the Church through the character of the Pardoner, as he preaches, “For my intent is only pence to win,” (“Pardoner’s Prologue” 117). Through these lines, the audience receives their first image of the Pardoner’s satirical hypocrisy as, in his sermons, he preaches against greed while, at the same time, uses the guilt of his audience to feed his own.

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