Geoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales Essay - 684 Words

Canterbury Tales-A personal perspective on the Medieval Christian Church In researching Geoffrey Chauceramp;#8217;s collection of stories named The Canterbury Tales, an interesting illustration of the Medieval Church becomes evident. A crooked society exists within the corrupt, medieval church community. Not all of the clergyamp;#8217;s intentions were corrupt, but as Chaucer, through his character the Pardoner,so well put it,amp;#8220;Radix malorum est cupiditas;, ( Love of money is the root of all evil). Many corrupted evils, such as greed, drove the clergy to deviate from the spirituality that religion was originated from. At that time, in all levels of society, belief in God or gods was not a matter of choice, it was a matter of†¦show more content†¦Once dead what matter how their souls may fare? They can go blackberrying for all I care.; The pardoner is the biggest hypocrite in the book because he preaches to follow the path of God, yet he admits that he likes money, rich food, and fine living. After his tale, he also tries to sell his relic s and pardons to the other pilgrims for a price, as seen on page 257, amp;#8220; One thing I should have mentioned in my tale, dear people. Iamp;#8217;ve some relics in my bale and pardons too, as full and fine, I hope, as any in England, given me by the Pope.; This is evident proof that the clergy of the Medieval Christian Church in that era were quite corrupt in their search for financial support other than from the church. Another corrupt clergy character that Chaucer offered to his readers was the Friar. Chaucer described the Friar as amp;#8220;the finest beggar of his batch;. This Friar used every immoral and vicious method to extract money from the parishioners, so when Chaucer says(pg. 9 in the prologue)amp;#8220;Natural gifts like his were hard to match; he is being ironical. Chaucer writes, amp;#8220;Sweetly he heard his penitents at shrift, with pleasant absolution, for a gift. He was an easy man in penance-giving where he could hope to make a decent living; Itamp;#8217;s a sure sign whenever gifts are given, to a poor Order that a manamp;#8217;s wellShow MoreRelatedGeoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales1030 Words   |  5 PagesGeoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is a collection of several tales that are all told by different characters and all convey different messages. The story presented in the general prologue is that a group of pilgrims is traveling to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket, and during their journey they take turns telling tales and talking about themselves. 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This God’s plenty features numerous unique and challenging individuals, but there is one specifically who stands out as particularly interesting. The immoral Pardoner, who, in a sense, sells away his soul for the sake of his own avarice, puzzles many modern readers with his strange logic. Already having laid his considerable guilt upon the table, this corrupted agent of the Church attempts