Chaucer's Situational Flaws In The Canterbury Tales

The Middle Ages is often portrayed as an era of strict adherence to religion and its faith-based social hierarchy. The General Prologue to Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales demonstrates the influence of this feudal system while also revealing its shortcomings, specifically concerning the unethical behavior of individuals across all classes. In his General Prologue, Chaucer uses his ironic writing style to expose an assortment of moral and behavioural flaws among the seemingly virtuous pilgrims. One type of flaw Chaucer reveals is the pilgrims’ compulsion to obsessional behaviour. He also uncovers their susceptibility to vanity and narcissism. Finally, Chaucer exposes the misuse of authority by pilgrims who are relatively highly regarded by the peasant class. By exposing these flaws, Chaucer addresses the misconceptions of the Middle Ages, which reveals the reality of human nature. In the General Prologue, Chaucer notices that some of the pilgrims possess a common trait of irrational obsessional behaviour. Chaucer implies that this obsessional behaviour is merely a symptom of deeper flaws within their character. One example of a pilgrim with this trait is the Franklin, the uproarious landowner …show more content…
This produces vain individuals who only focus on their images to meet the expectations of society. Chaucer notices the existence of such vanity certain individuals, including the Prioress. The Prioress, as a nun of the church, is supposedly a humble individual yearning for nothing but her duty to God. However, Chaucer observes that the Prioress has manners noticeably akin to high-class nobles. During meals, “[s]he leet no morsel from hir lippes falle … In curtesie was set ful muchel hir lest” (128-132). This is a sign of her desire to become a part of the upper-class. Chaucer however cleverly exposes her for the fraud that she really