Chaucer And The Summoner's Tale Analysis

Chaucer is no stranger to writing parodies of his own stories in The Canterbury Tales, as seen in the Reeve’s Tale working off of and following immediately after The Miller’s Tale. Similarly, The Friar’s Tale closely parallels and also follows right after The Wife of Bath’s Tale. Chaucer aligns these two tales to enforce the point that they should not be interpreted separately, but rather they should be accepted as an entire unit. And by implementing textual similarities, Chaucer blurs the lines between the two tales while concurrently creating two unique stories. This essay will briefly outline three of the most relevant excerpts that bridge the gap between the Knight from The Wife of Bath’s Tale and the Summoner from The Friar’s Tale. These …show more content…
By implementing the phrases and rhyming of “ryde” and “under a forest syde”, Chaucer is mirroring The Friar’s Tale with The Wife of Bath’s Tale. This is done to draw comparisons between the two characters, both of whom are considered devious: The knight is a rapist who is excommunicated from society, and the summoner is an extortionist who is banished to hell. Chaucer is applying these parallels through exile to enforce the notion that both characters are intended to work as a single unit. This will provide greater meaning in the latter excerpts as differences between the two characters become more …show more content…
Both of these characters decide the fate of the main character while also transcending the capabilities of the other characters. Both are able to change forms from yeoman to devil, or from old hag to beautiful woman. This metamorphosis provides a layer of mysticism to each tale, further connecting the two. Both stories end on a cautionary note that is enforced through these mystical characters, each providing a conclusion contingent upon the decision of each main character. The Knight shows that in order to avoid negative consequences, women should be allowed to have superiority over their men/lovers. By allowing this, the Knight is rewarded with a beautiful woman. The Summoner however does the opposite by refusing the old hag, and by extension the devil, resulting in his demise. This last point is noteworthy and somewhat comedic, as both the devil and the old hag are intertwined to a certain extent: by going against the wishes of the old hag, the Knight is in turn confirming his damnation, stubbornly declining the opportunity to repent his sins. This is parodic of the sovereignty granted to women in The Wife of Bath’s Tale, putting women on the same level as the devil himself through their dominion over