The Parson in The Canterbury Tales
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Although the tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer were for entertainment, he also used them as subtle social commentary on the world he lived in (Fisher 1977 7). The prologue to ôThe ParsonÆs Taleö is considered to be one of the finest fragments of ChaucerÆs writing (3). In fact, some scholars speculate that one of the reasons that this portion of The Canterbury Tales is so much more somber than the rest is that Chaucer was near the end of his life and was becoming more concerned with the state of his own soul as well as with the state of the Church (346). This paper will discuss ChaucerÆs portrait of the ideal priest and servant of the Church in the figure of the Parson and then compare this portrait to the ecclesiastical figures of the Friar, the Pardoner, and the Monk and consider whether they live up this ideal. The first description of the character of the Parson in The Canterbury Tales is in the ôGeneral Prologue.ö Here, Chaucer is describing the Parson as well as his idea of the model priest. For example, Chaucer depicts the Parson as ôA good man was ther of religiounö (Part I line 477) who ôfirst he wroghte, and afterward he taughteö (Part I line 497). Chaucer is showing the Parson to be Christlike, since Christ also taught by example, as Chaucer points out: ôBut Cristes loore and his apostles twelve/He taughte, but first he folwed it hymselveö (Part I lines 527-8). Chaucer then demonstrates the nature of
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e of his ôpower of confessionö (Part I lines 215, 218). However, he is also familiar with the local taverns and is responsible for marrying off several women that he had impregnated (Part I lines 212, 240). Moreover, he is not concerned with the hearts of those who confess and will absolve the confessor of sins, if they are willing to pay the right price (Part I line 232). The portrait of the Friar is of a con artist, and although he belongs to the same institution as the Parson, he is a very different person.
In ôThe FriarÆs Tale,ö instead of telling a tale that might be uplifting to the pilgrims on the journey, the Friar chooses to continue an old ôin-houseö feud with the Summoner, which accuses all summoners of deceit and extortion (Part III lines 1315-1324). In using the Friar this way, Chaucer shows him as a very petty person, only concerned with his own creature comforts. In fact, Chaucer then uses the Summoner to describe the Friar as he attempts to use guilt in order to persuade the couple to turn over their money, rather than comforting the couple or using the guilt as a turning point for repentance (Part III, lines 2123). This tale coupled with the image the Summoner has of all the friars in hell flying out of Sat
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1466
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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