Abstract
This paper discusses "The Canterbury Tales" and the character of the Parson, who is a perfect example and holds every quality a devout church leader is expected to have. His life is contrasted with that of Monk and Friar who are the exact opposites of the Parson as their lives consist of greed, gluttony and lustfulness. The current church leadership, and Mother Teresa are used as modern day examples of goodness and greed.

From the Paper
"The First way the Canterbury Tales is relevant to a modern audience is through the powerful characterization of the Parson. He is a perfect example and holds every quality a devout church leader is expected to have. The purpose for his journey to Canterbury is to enhance his own spirituality, the ideal reason for going on this pilgrimage. The Parson is an educated man and, unlike many of the others, he is very honorable. He practices what he preaches and knows that he is an example for others to follow."

Tags:canterbury, chaucer, tales, today, church, corrupt, sprirtuality

Abstract
This paper discusses five different aspects of Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales.' It includes views on marriage and Chaucer's approach to humor. The 'Tales' referred to are the 'Prologue', 'The Friar's Tale', 'Parliament of Foules', 'Wife of Bath' and the 'Knight's Tale.'

From the Paper
" 'The Miller's Tale' shows marriage as a comedy of errors, credulous older husband, beautiful and sneaky and unworthy wife and plenty of others to complicate the relationship. His tale takes the form of a dirty joke but instead of the farmer's daughter it is the carpenter's wife ,Alison, who is the object of the affections of Nicholas, a yeoman and Absalom a parish clerk. For his..."

Tags:canterbury tales, plot, Chaucer, parliament of foules, narrative, troilus & creyside

Abstract
This paper compares the character of the Parson in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" to other ecclesiastical figures relating Chaucer's views on the Church. The author discusses Chaucer's portrait of the Parson as the ideal priest. The paper stresses the social commentary in the 'Prologue' to the "The Parson's Tale".

From the Paper
"Although the tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer were for entertainment, he also used them as subtle social commentary on the world he lived in. The prologue to "The Parson's Tale" is considered to be one of ..."

Tags:Parson, Monk, Pardoner, Friar, Canterbury Tales

Abstract
This paper discusses the theme of idealism as reflected in the works of Chaucer and Shakespeare. In particular, the paper examines Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" and Shakespeare's Sonnets 18, 116 and 130. The discussion and analysis demonstrates how both authors' works illustrate the prevalence of their ideals: for Chaucer, his ideals on what religion and expression of faith should be, and for Shakespeare, how love is and should be.

From the Paper
"Influenced by the ideology of idealism during his time, Chaucer reflected his ideals of Christianity and its followers through The Pardoner's Tale of "The Canterbury Tales." Like the other tales in "Canterbury," the Pardoner's tale is a satire meant to criticize the society that Chaucer lived in during his period. While in some of the tales, Chaucer did not explicitly expressed his disagreement with and criticism of the rampant corruption and hypocrisy within the Church and among its elements (the clergy and the lay), in the Pardoner's tale, these issues were addressed and made explicit through the persona of the Pardoner."

Tags:William, Shakespeare, love, sonnets, Geoffrey, Chaucer, The, Canterbury, Tales

Abstract
This paper studies the following thesis that Chaucer used sex only for comedy despite the suggestions that he was a voyeur in his book "The Canterbury Tales." It studies Chaucer's personality, diction and medieval customs that do not support the idea that he was a voyeur and because of that included sex in his stories. Finally, it concludes that Chaucer was not a voyeur.

From the Paper
"Sex is a word that easily gains attention in today's society. Today, marketing strategists will tell you that sex sells. Movies, sitcoms, commercials all employ sex to gain the attention of an audience. How much of a role, though did sex play in selling or gaining attention in the late 1300s when The Canterbury Tales were written? Did Chaucer use sex within The Canterbury Tales to add humor and intrigue his audience, or was he just a lonely man expressing his sexual desires within his work? The idea that sex was so proliferate within the Tales because Chaucer was a voyeur has long been debated. There seems to have been no conclusion over the years as to whether Chaucer really was a voyeur or whether or not he included sex within the tales for comedic purposes. Two of Chaucer's pilgrims, the Miller and the Reeve, both tell stories that center around sex. According to Root, "the point of strongest resemblance between the tales of the Miller and the Reeve is their extreme indecency?" (175). When one examines Chaucer's personality, his diction within these two tales, and how sex was viewed in Chaucer's time, it is clear that Chaucer's indecency was only for comedic purposes."

Tags:Canterbury, Chaucer, comedy, literature, Medieval, sex, tales, voyeurism

Abstract
This paper analyzes Chaucer's use of humor in "The Canterbury Tales" and considers the way in which the comedy serves to provide social commentary. It also examines Chaucer's use of humorous characters to highlight the beauty and ugliness of human nature.

From the Paper
"When analyzing The Canterbury Tales, many critics take issue with Geoffrey Chaucer's use of humor and his failure to seriously address the major ills of his day. Chaucer's references to the Black Death, the Peasant's revolt and the labor disputes of the ..."

Tags:Chaucer, humor, Canterbury, fabliaux, summoner, miller

Abstract
In this article, the writer introduces, discusses and analyzes two essays on "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer. Specifically, the writer summarizes and compares the two essays "The Knight's Tale and Trecento Italian Historiography" by James H. McGregor and "Desire, Violence and the Passion in Fragment VII of the Canterbury Tales: A Girardian Reading," by Curtis Gruenler. The writer notes that these two essays discuss different aspects of Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales," from what inspired "The Knight's Tale" to his use of violence and history in the work, and what that means for readers. The writer concludes that these essays open up new worlds and ways to explore "The Canterbury Tales," and they make the epic poem more interesting and compelling to the reader.

From the Paper
"Both of these essays bring up aspects of "The Canterbury Tales" that casual readers might not recognize or understand. They show how the history of the day influenced Chaucer, and how he used other, older works as inspiration for his own tales. They show how events at the time also inspired Chaucer, and that he was writing largely against violence in most of the tales, and that shows in many of them, including the "Knight's Tale." Each of the tales is humorous or satirical in some way, and one essay discusses new fragments of the manuscript that contained differences in the accepted version of some of the stories. All of this information helps enlighten the reader and gives them another layer of understanding the work, and it makes reading it more enjoyable, too, because there is background and foundation for some of the tales and their meaning."

Tags:Knight's, Tale, Chaucer, beliefs, critics

Abstract
In this book review, the author looks at the general prologue of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales". The paper examines the masterful and clever way in which Chaucer described late Middle Age life. The author reminds us that "Canterbury Tales" is actually an unfinished work due to Chaucer's untimely death. The existing "Canterbury Tales" actually comprises only about one fourth of the intended one hundred twenty or more tales. The paper examines in detail each of the characters that Chaucer centers upon and how they are portrayed in a comical manner. The author concludes with the question of whether the issues raised in the book have changed significantly over time and if Chaucer's confidence in his assessment of his contemporaries was misplaced.

From the Paper
"The Knight, model of chivalry and courtesy, having acquitted himself well in all of the major expeditions and conflicts of the half-century preceding the pilgrimage, assumes the role of exemplar of Middle English nobility. In modesty, gentleness and adherence to truth, he is established as the vessel for those noble human traits by which the reader will measure each of the others. ("He was a knight in all things to perfection.") The Knight has glorified himself in many battles, but is prudent in his speech and manner. He is thus portrayed as being praiseworthy without being proud. These characteristics make him clearly the most admired of the pilgrims, and his tale being first sets the bar by which all others shall be judged in both their tales and their telling."

Tags:social, potential, character, pilgrims, intellectual, judgement

Abstract
The paper discusses how Chaucer lived in the complex social situation that was fourteenth century England and shows how "The Canterbury Tales" is written through a particular lens. The paper analyzes the female characters that Chaucer presents in light of his personal bias. The paper demonstrates how "The Canterbury Tales" were written to entertain a medieval audience and asserts that we should only relate to them as an indication as to what English society was like.

From the Paper
"Certainly, the women of "The Canterbury Tales" can be, to some extent, understood simply through the way Chaucer intends to present them; but Chaucer's very conception of what a woman is can also be utilized as a method toward grasping the essential role of women in medieval society. Chaucer, as a member of the dominant culture in medieval Europe--wealthy men--necessarily creates and describes his female characters in terms of their relationship to specific archetypes. Yet, in this respect, Chaucer is exceedingly innovative--for his time--regarding the creation of all his characters: each character is, in a way, held up to the ideal model of what it means to be a monk, a friar, a prioress, or a knight, and shown to somehow diverge from their associated epitome."

Tags:women, medieval, society, characters, archetypes

Abstract
In writing "The Canterbury Tales", Geoffrey Chaucer decided that instead of he being the teller of the tales, he would use various characters to tell their tales. He uses the General Prologue to introduce each of these pilgrims who, on the road to Canterbury, will each tell a tale. The paper shows that the narrator of the General Prologue, himself a pilgrim, relates to us, the readers, what his impression of each character is based on his own observations and on what each character has chosen to tell him. Each description in the General Prologue is, upon first reading, quite complimentary, yet there seems to be many ambiguous comments made that lead us to suspect that each character is being satirised in turn. To understand this more fully, the paper examines the description of the Friar, Huberd.

From the Paper
"The first description of the Friar that we are given is that he is "a wantowne...man." (l. 208) If we understand "wantowne" as meaning jovial or light hearted (Benson, 808) then there seems to be nothing untoward in Huberd's behaviour. It may even be preferable to have an easy going manner while working so closely with the people. However, "wantowne" can also be understood as being lascivious. (Benson, 808). How is it possible to decide which meaning of this ambiguous term applies to Huberd? We must read further on in his description to decide."

Tags:wantowne, clergy, innocence, community