In Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chaucer presents a variety of characters from the three dominant groups that made up Medieval society: the Church group, the Noble’s group, and the Merchant/Commoner group. Chaucer pays special attention to those individuals from the Church group. He presents the Parson as a kind, generous, and diligent shepherd to his parishioners and, in contrast, he presents the Friar as a greedy, lecherous, and corrupt member of the clergy. The Parson is one of Chaucer’s three exemplary characters and represents how all clergy members should behave. Instead of succumbing to the rampant greed and corruption that had enveloped the Church during the Middle Ages, he legitimately cares about the people he serves and seeks
