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Example research essay topic: Chaucer Canterbury Tales - 2,554 words

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In the late 14 th century the Church elected three popes and were in a state of chaos. After the papacy had been moved from Rome to Avignon and back again, the Church had divided loyalties along with a divided papacy. At the end of the hundred years war, clearly divided nations generated a sense of patriotism that before now was only seen in the Catholic Church during the crusades. The Plague left the Church devastated. After the plague the Church halted the expansion into the countryside leaving the corrupted clergy out in the field. In turn looking for more land to conquer and farm, city rulers expanded out into these clerical thin lands.

The result of these factors: a divided papacy, a lost sense of patriotism, and the corrupt clergy of the Church lead to much needed reform at the end of the 14 th century. Not only the church, however, needed to be reformed according to Chaucer. Chaucer believed that the European people in general were moving away from his ideal, a universal society following the church. Chaucer also could see the decline in the church and knew that too was part of the problem. In Geoffrey Chaucer? s The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses the satyr of the church?

s corruption and the symbolism of moving from general disorder back to a united holy church, in order to express the need for a cleansing penance of and return to the church. Chaucer satirizes the church and the clergy? s corruption to demonstrate the state disorder, chaos, and greed the church is in. One of the pilgrims we meet it The Canterbury Tales is the Pardoner. He is a man commissioned by the pope to forgive sins and sell certain holy relics and although he has what appears to be an official letter one is lead to believe that in fact his is a fake. Before his tale, the Pardoner tells a story on the outlook of his life and the way he is.

Chaucer shows the Pardoner? s consideration of others: ? ? I must have money, wool, and cheese, and wheat, / Through I took it from the meanest wretch? s tillage / Or the poorest widow in a village, / Yes, though her children starved for want? (lines 118 - 121).

The point of his sad story is to get the pilgrims to feel like they can trust him because he will not lie to them. Chaucer produces a crafty Pardoner who admits that? avarice is the root of all evil? , but still the Pardoner? s soul intention is to take other people?

s money for himself regardless their situation. This is a reflection by Chaucer on how the church pardoners are no longer pardoning people through duty to the church, but in an attempt to gain more riches. Another character Chaucer uses to show the disorder and greed of the church is the Friar. The Friar introduced in the General Prologue does not need a tale to further demonstrate his corruption. Chaucer shows use many aspects of the Friar? s practices through the narrator?

s description, ? Many a girl was married by is doing, / And at his own cost it was often done. ? (lines 208 - 209). This statement by Chaucer is telling the reader that the Friar has sexual activities with girls and impregnates them, but before anyone finds out he arranges a marriage and conducts it himself paying for all the expenses. That does not include his greed which leads to the abuse of his power: ? He was an easy man for absolution / Where he looked forward to a contribution, ? (lines 219 - 20). Chaucer shows the reader a prime example of a common practice in his day of priest and friars took money to absolve the parish members.

Chaucer makes the Friar a merry character to try and ever out his other side of greed and disorderly conduct. Chaucer shows the reader through the Pardoner and the Friar that the church is in a downside selling church sacraments and losing the strictness of order he shows in the Monk. Although Chaucer does not make the Monk out to be a ideal character he does show that the Monk is a very strict monastic man whose values are not all bad. Chaucer is suggesting not that the church resort back to the Monk? s type of strict order, but maybe something like it and definitely something better than the current disorder and chaos. Chaucer makes the journey a symbol of where the church need to head in order to get back to its former standards.

Chaucer starts the reader off in the month of April during a time of rebirth and a new beginning to symbolize the time for a new start to the church. Chaucer then moves to a tavern and tells the reader that there is not a group of ordinary people, but a tavern filled with pilgrims on their way to the cathedral at Canterbury dedicated to St. Thomas? Becket. The fact that they are pilgrims tells the reader that they are going on some type of holy journey to fulfill a religious need.

The need that Chaucer shows the reader is the need to go back o the church in search of real penance. He later provides the fake penance given out by the Pardoner in an attempt to make the penance given by the pilgrimage that much more important. Chaucer believes that penance ad cleansing of the people and the church sins is imperative for the reconstruction. In the Miller? s Tale the key word is water, when Nicholas predicts?

Noah flood? that figuratively is coming to clean up the town and in particular the four characters. This flood that John is trying desperately to dodge acts as Nicholas? cover to be evil, but when Absolom, the church representative Chaucer chooses to use, makes Nicholas see his error all he can do is call for help this way: ? Help! Water!

Water! Help, for God? s own heart! ? / At this the carpenter came to with a start. / He heard a man cry? Water! ? as if mad. /? It?

s comin now, ? was the first thought he had. /? It? s Noah?

s flood, alas, God be our hope! ? (lines 593 - 7) Chaucer Shows with Nick and John that they both had a need not only for the cleansing water, but also a need for God as well. They needed God to cleanse their hearts which Chaucer shows us only God can do. The pilgrimage also starts out in a disorderly tavern where the wide range of social class draws Chaucer? s picture of the current times throughout Europe with the range of such a social class in chaos. With the tales beginning in this fashion Chaucer presents the path back to the church during the time of rebirth.

Chaucer shows that the disastrous 14 th century for the church full of the disorder, chaos, and greed was not the end; Chaucer shows that what it needed was to be put on a pilgrimage of cleansing by God to be rid of its sins on its way to becoming a holy entity once again. Chaucer believes in The Middle Ages way of church and community; the way that the world came together as a nation in tough times through the leadership of one God. He did not know much about the classical way of thinking, being an individual and he would not have wanted to think that way. Chaucer? s medieval thought In the late 14 th century the Church elected three popes and were in a state of chaos. After the papacy had been moved from Rome to Avignon and back again, the Church had divided loyalties along with a divided papacy.

At the end of the hundred years war, clearly divided nations generated a sense of patriotism that before now was only seen in the Catholic Church during the crusades. The Plague left the Church devastated. After the plague the Church halted the expansion into the countryside leaving the corrupted clergy out in the field. In turn looking for more land to conquer and farm, city rulers expanded out into these clerical thin lands. The result of these factors: a divided papacy, a lost sense of patriotism, and the corrupt clergy of the Church lead to much needed reform at the end of the 14 th century. Not only the church, however, needed to be reformed according to Chaucer.

Chaucer believed that the European people in general were moving away from his ideal, a universal society following the church. Chaucer also could see the decline in the church and knew that too was part of the problem. In Geoffrey Chaucer? s The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses the satyr of the church? s corruption and the symbolism of moving from general disorder back to a united holy church, in order to express the need for a cleansing penance of and return to the church. Chaucer satirizes the church and the clergy?

s corruption to demonstrate the state disorder, chaos, and greed the church is in. One of the pilgrims we meet it The Canterbury Tales is the Pardoner. He is a man commissioned by the pope to forgive sins and sell certain holy relics and although he has what appears to be an official letter one is lead to believe that in fact his is a fake. Before his tale, the Pardoner tells a story on the outlook of his life and the way he is.

Chaucer shows the Pardoner? s consideration of others: ? ? I must have money, wool, and cheese, and wheat, / Through I took it from the meanest wretch? s tillage / Or the poorest widow in a village, / Yes, though her children starved for want? (lines 118 - 121).

The point of his sad story is to get the pilgrims to feel like they can trust him because he will not lie to them. Chaucer produces a crafty Pardoner who admits that? avarice is the root of all evil? , but still the Pardoner? s soul intention is to take other people? s money for himself regardless their situation. This is a reflection by Chaucer on how the church pardoners are no longer pardoning people through duty to the church, but in an attempt to gain more riches.

Another character Chaucer uses to show the disorder and greed of the church is the Friar. The Friar introduced in the General Prologue does not need a tale to further demonstrate his corruption. Chaucer shows use many aspects of the Friar? s practices through the narrator? s description, ? Many a girl was married by is doing, / And at his own cost it was often done. ? (lines 208 - 209).

This statement by Chaucer is telling the reader that the Friar has sexual activities with girls and impregnates them, but before anyone finds out he arranges a marriage and conducts it himself paying for all the expenses. That does not include his greed which leads to the abuse of his power: ? He was an easy man for absolution / Where he looked forward to a contribution, ? (lines 219 - 20). Chaucer shows the reader a prime example of a common practice in his day of priest and friars took money to absolve the parish members. Chaucer makes the Friar a merry character to try and ever out his other side of greed and disorderly conduct.

Chaucer shows the reader through the Pardoner and the Friar that the church is in a downside selling church sacraments and losing the strictness of order he shows in the Monk. Although Chaucer does not make the Monk out to be a ideal character he does show that the Monk is a very strict monastic man whose values are not all bad. Chaucer is suggesting not that the church resort back to the Monk? s type of strict order, but maybe something like it and definitely something better than the current disorder and chaos. Chaucer makes the journey a symbol of where the church need to head in order to get back to its former standards. Chaucer starts the reader off in the month of April during a time of rebirth and a new beginning to symbolize the time for a new start to the church.

Chaucer then moves to a tavern and tells the reader that there is not a group of ordinary people, but a tavern filled with pilgrims on their way to the cathedral at Canterbury dedicated to St. Thomas? Becket. The fact that they are pilgrims tells the reader that they are going on some type of holy journey to fulfill a religious need. The need that Chaucer shows the reader is the need to go back o the church in search of real penance. He later provides the fake penance given out by the Pardoner in an attempt to make the penance given by the pilgrimage that much more important.

Chaucer believes that penance ad cleansing of the people and the church sins is imperative for the reconstruction. In the Miller? s Tale the key word is water, when Nicholas predicts? Noah flood?

that figuratively is coming to clean up the town and in particular the four characters. This flood that John is trying desperately to dodge acts as Nicholas? cover to be evil, but when Absolom, the church representative Chaucer chooses to use, makes Nicholas see his error all he can do is call for help this way: ? Help! Water!

Water! Help, for God? s own heart! ? / At this the carpenter came to with a start. / He heard a man cry? Water! ?

as if mad. /? It? s comin now, ? was the first thought he had. /? It? s Noah?

s flood, alas, God be our hope! ? (lines 593 - 7) Chaucer Shows with Nick and John that they both had a need not only for the cleansing water, but also a need for God as well. They needed God to cleanse their hearts which Chaucer shows us only God can do. The pilgrimage also starts out in a disorderly tavern where the wide range of social class draws Chaucer? s picture of the current times throughout Europe with the range of such a social class in chaos. With the tales beginning in this fashion Chaucer presents the path back to the church during the time of rebirth. Chaucer shows that the disastrous 14 th century for the church full of the disorder, chaos, and greed was not the end; Chaucer shows that what it needed was to be put on a pilgrimage of cleansing by God to be rid of its sins on its way to becoming a holy entity once again.

Chaucer believes in The Middle Ages way of church and community; the way that the world came together as a nation in tough times through the leadership of one God. He did not know much about the classical way of thinking, being an individual and he would not have wanted to think that way. Chaucer? s medieval thought


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Research essay sample on Chaucer Canterbury Tales

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