The Canterbury Tales as we know them end with the Parson's sermon on sin and repentance, followed by Chaucer's retraction. The Wife of Bath. These lais were short narrative poems involving knights, ladies, and supernatural creatures and events. Feminism The events in "The Wife of Bath's Tale" are inspired by the Celtic folklore motif of the "loathly lady," in which a young knight must kiss or marry an ugly old woman, upon which she transforms into a more desirable form.

Sometimes the point of the loathly lady story is to emphasize the importance of inner, rather than outer, beauty. The main point of the Wife's Tale is that women desire and should be granted sovereignty over their own bodies and minds.

The Clerk of Oxenford (The Scholar)

What is it about? In the long speech, she muses about poverty, age, and the origins of gentility. In fact, the loathly lady is probably meant as an alter-ego of the Wife of Bath. Like the Wife's relationship with her young husband Jankyn, the loath lady is an older woman who supposedly becomes delightful once her husband has yielded power to her. Prologue The Host asks the Pardoner to tell a tale of happiness or jokes.

The Pardoner agrees, but says that first he will stop at a tavern by the roadside to eat cake and drink beer. The nobles in the company, afraid that the Pardoner's ingestion of alcohol will cause him to tell an R-rated tale, object and ask the Pardoner to speak about virtue and not sex.

The Canterbury Tales

The Pardoner agrees, but says he must consider such a tale while he drinks. After commenting on their lifestyle of debauchery, the Pardoner enters into a tirade against the vices that they practice. They held that donating the friars is a good sign of true repentance. Although they vowed to eradicate poverty, they paid no attention to the poor and used the donations to live a lavish life.

Chaucer ridicules the Friars as under: The Summoner and the Pardoner belongs to the most corrupt Church officials. Both the characters turn to dishonesty for personal gain. The Summoner is a lecher and a drunk, always looking for a bribe. The Pardoner has a mesmeric voice to convince his audience to purchase indulges to get forgiveness for their sins. The superficiality within the religious figures is portrayed with the character of the Prioress. Even though she is not a member of the court she is striving too hard to be courtly. In the words of Chaucer: She is so obsessed with courtly mannerism that she always dresses elegantly, speaks incorrect French and eats so carefully that she never spills a drop.

Downloads The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue & Frame Story: Shmoop Literature Guide

Like courtly damsels she weeps when she sees a trapped mouse. But ironically, she feels no discomfort while feeding her hounds flesh, which is suggestive of her feigned courtliness. Even her devotion to the Christ is also showy since instead of carrying a rosary beads with a crucifix she wears a pendant which seems much more like a shiny piece of jewelry than a sacred religious object. He is temperate, learned, virtuous and deeply respectful towards the teachings of Christ.


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The Parson is dedicated to his parish and does not seek a better appointment. He visits all his parishioners of no matter how far away. He is also compassionate to the sinners and instead of rebuking he tries to teach them to lead an honest life. Through the character of the Knight Chaucer visualized the true spirit of chivalry. The aged Knight was a brave warrior and fought fourteen mortal battles for the sake of preserving religion.

In the contrary, the young Squire , his son represents the rising conception of chivalry. Unlike his father he fights for pleasure and to receive attention from the ladies.


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  5. The Squire lacks the intelligence and seriousness of his father and is much interested to lead a carefree life: He could make songs and words thereto indite, Joust, and dance too, as well as sketch and write. So hot he loved that, while night told her tale, He slept no more than does a nightingale.

    The Clerk of Oxenford (The Scholar) | VCS Canterbury Tales Wiki | FANDOM powered by Wikia

    He is very wise and full of moral virtue. The Clerk had a pretty good standing in his social life.

    The Canterbury Tales - Plot Summary - Geoffrey Chaucer

    Although, he was very anti-social , he was really good. The importance for being a clerk during this time was because it was a very Religious part of time. There were many things that the clerk could do in the Middle Ages.


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    He could have also been the Town Clerk. The Clerks day to day life was very boring. He went to school, came home and studied. Being a Clergyman isn't a boring part of his life for sure. Chaucer didn't include that the clerk was one of the clerks who did all of the accounts. The only reason he did that is because he was the only one that knew how to read and write.