Pillars of the Earth: Essay
The novel Pillars of the Earth centers around a village and a church, it tells the adventures of struggling peasants, the fall of earldoms, and many love stories. It is a tale of war, tragedy, and romance. On the other hand, there is another part of the novel that is particularly prevalent, the corruption all throughout the Roman Catholic Church. The corruption is quite obvious, despite the fact that most of the clergymen lead honest and humble lives, there are others that have more self-serving plans, these men are only worried about the advancement of their own careers and only interested in their own schemes.
The Roman Catholic Church is clearly corrupt on page 428 when one of its clergymen, Bishop Waleran Bigod, begins to use his power in the Church for his own personal interests, “Waleran seemed to think he was entitled to use people any way he chose in the service of God.” Waleran begins to really abuse his power and position in the church to get what he wants and disguises his real intentions as services for God, he also continues to justify his …show more content…
Both Jack and Aliena were affected by the corruption of the Church because it came between them. According to page 771,“The archbishop had refused the annulment, apparently because Bishop Waleran had objected.” as Aliena was attempting to get her marriage to Alfred Builder nullified, many obstacles came in her way, and almost all of those complications were caused by the Catholic Church; although, these issues were not typical issues of the process of annulment, but alternatively, problems caused by Bishop Waleran Bigod. Bishop Waleran created conflict simply because he knew that if he allowed for the annulment of Aliena’s marriage, it would bring Prior Philip and Kingsbridge happiness and would only contribute to the prospering of the town that he loathed so
The novel Pillars of the Earth centers around a village and a church, it tells the adventures of struggling peasants, the fall of earldoms, and many love stories. It is a tale of war, tragedy, and romance. On the other hand, there is another part of the novel that is particularly prevalent, the corruption all throughout the Roman Catholic Church. The corruption is quite obvious, despite the fact that most of the clergymen lead honest and humble lives, there are others that have more self-serving plans, these men are only worried about the advancement of their own careers and only interested in their own schemes.
The Roman Catholic Church is clearly corrupt on page 428 when one of its clergymen, Bishop Waleran Bigod, begins to use his power in the Church for his own personal interests, “Waleran seemed to think he was entitled to use people any way he chose in the service of God.” Waleran begins to really abuse his power and position in the church to get what he wants and disguises his real intentions as services for God, he also continues to justify his …show more content…
Both Jack and Aliena were affected by the corruption of the Church because it came between them. According to page 771,“The archbishop had refused the annulment, apparently because Bishop Waleran had objected.” as Aliena was attempting to get her marriage to Alfred Builder nullified, many obstacles came in her way, and almost all of those complications were caused by the Catholic Church; although, these issues were not typical issues of the process of annulment, but alternatively, problems caused by Bishop Waleran Bigod. Bishop Waleran created conflict simply because he knew that if he allowed for the annulment of Aliena’s marriage, it would bring Prior Philip and Kingsbridge happiness and would only contribute to the prospering of the town that he loathed so