Chaucer's Views of Medieval Society in "Canterbury Tale
Chaucer's Views of Medieval Society in "Canterbury Tales"
Geoffrey Chaucer, the author of the “The Canterbury Tales,” shows his views of medieval society through various characters in “The Canterbury Tales.”
Chaucer’s expresses his views of society through characters in “The Canterbury Tales.” Chaucer’s views of medieval society are based on his opinions on certain people. Throughout “The Canterbury Tales” Chaucer tends to criticize or praise certain types of people over others. Generally, Chaucer highly criticizes Ecclesiastical people. For example Chaucer greatly criticizes the Pardoner by pointed out that he is a fraud. (Starting line 702 “He said he had a gobbet of the sail…”) The monk is also criticized because he is part of the church but does not follow the rules of the church. On the other hand, Chaucer praises many characters in “The Canterbury Tales.” Chaucer generally praises people that are honest and don’t cheat or rip-off anyone. The parson and the Plowman are probably the two most highly praised characters in “The Canterbury Tales.” These two brothers are praised by Chaucer because they are honest down to earth good people. For example, (lines 475-480 “A holy-minded man….teach it” and lines 528-536 “He was an honest worker….the poor”). Some of the main reason that Chaucer criticizes or praises certain people over others is the effect of their actions. He feels it is worst for an ecclesiastical person to mess with ones soul and salvation than steel a good, such as grain. In “The Canterbury Tales,” Chaucer greatly shows his respect and ideas of certain types of individuals.
Chaucer used a few different types of techniques and styles in his writing of “The Canterbury Tales.” In order to individualize each character in such great detail Chaucer describes their physical appearance so than a reader can visualize each character to better understand them. Chaucer’s frame choice, a springtime journey to the Canterbury Cathedral, also contributed to the gathering of all different types of people in “The Canterbury Tales.” By Chaucer using various techniques in his writing he began to set standards of the English language.