The Theme Of Corruption In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

Geoffrey Chaucer, the father of English literature and the author of The Canterbury Tales, uses two contradicting characters to help satirize the corruption within the Catholic Church. The Canterbury Tales is about thirty pilgrims who are traveling to the shrine in Canterbury for vacation or religious reasons. Chancer’s intention is for each pilgrim to tell a total of four tales. Sadly, Chaucer dies before completing the story. The purpose of The Canterbury Tales is to satirize the corruption within the church for future changes. In the tale, the thirty pilgrims consist of three main social class groups: religious, feudal, and town. Chaucer uses the social groups to represent the true behavior of characters in the classes. Two characters whom …show more content…
The monk is completely different from the parson. He desires a more modern lifestyle. A proper monk is supposed to study, pray, and work; he must honor the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. However, the monk in The Canterbury Tales hunts for sport, leaves his cloister, and flashes his wealth. Instead of “[studying] till his head went round/pouring over books in cloisters” (Chaucer l. 188-89), he wants to live an adventurous life outside of his cloister. In lieu of praying and working, the monk rides horses and hunts for pleasure. Because he leaves his cloister, he breaks his vow of obedience. He ignores “the Rule of good St. Benet or St. Maur” (Chaucer l.177). Obeying the rules of the church is very important during Chaucer’s period. Because the monk disobeys his vows, his actions manifest the corruption of the people within the church. Chaucer uses the monk to reveal that the improper behavior within the church consisted of disobedient pilgrims who do not live a traditional lifestyle. Unlike the parson, the monk is fat and flamboyant. He wears a gold lovers knot and flashy diamond sleeves. Fat and gold symbolizes wealth, and monks should not be wealthy. The monk breaks his vow of poverty by flaunting his vast amount of wealth instead of giving to the poor like the parson. Gold and diamonds should not be a part of a monk’s lifestyle. However, the monk in The Canterbury Tales owns gold and diamonds to reveal that the vows and oaths taking by religious leaders are not obeyed. Chaucer uses the monk to represent the corruption of the church leaders who desire a more modern lifestyle that contradicts the proper lifestyle of a religious