Christianity In The Canterbury Tales

The Canterbury Tales Paper I believe Geoffrey Chaucer lacks a certain amount of respect for ancient writings, such as the Bible and others from Greek and Roman authors, as he can be found constantly mocking them throughout his novel, The Canterbury Tales. In the tales that we were assigned to read, Chaucer’s characters constantly appear to be doing the exact opposite from what they’re suppose to be doing, especially according to what has been written in the Bible. If we are to assume that Chaucer voices his opinions through the characters, I think it is evident that Chaucer’s feelings towards the writings aren’t positive ones. During the time period that Chaucer lived and wrote his stories, Christianity was one of the most popular and powerful forms of religion, which is apparent when every tale mentions the Lord, Christ, and a multitude of saints. The Church and its clergy ruled over everything and everyone in its kingdom, forcing their people to believe that these writings were the truth, offering up no debate for opposition. But rules were meant to be broken, as Chaucer not-so-subtly displays through his many characters. In the prologue, Chaucer describes all of his travelers and adds little tidbits about their …show more content…
Nicholas, in the Miller’s tale, lies to the carpenter by faking a vision from God, and then turns right around and also sleeps with his wife in effect of that lie, thus resulting in her committing adultery. In fact, a few of the tales include one of the characters either being pressured to commit adultery, or a character actually goes through with it. In the Merchant’s tale, young May cheats on January, and then lies about it not a second later; in the Franklin’s tale, Aurelius goes to great lengths to win Dorigen’s love, despite the fact that she was happily