Sin is the main revolving component in The Canterbury Tales. Almost everyone who is participating in the spiritual quest of travelling from London to Canterbury is sinful; They are travelling for a purpose, after all, as explained in one of the very first lines in the poem, “For in their doth Nature stir them so, / Then people long on pilgrimage to go.” (Chaucer lines 11-12) Even though a majority of the characters in Chaucer’s poem are in connection with at least one of the seven deadly sins, some characters are far worse. In The Canterbury Tales, sin is much more prominent than virtue because characters from each estate, such as The Wife of Bath, Serjeant of the Law, and the Monk, have noticeably more faith-based imperfections than their
…show more content…
The laborers are considered the low working class of the middle ages. Much like the clergy, the laborers tend to be associated with more sin than virtue. The Wife of Bath, or the “Good Wife” as some might satirically call her, is a prime example of a terrible labor-woman. She has a history of many husbands, of which she’s gained great wealth, she’s accused of being an adulterer, and she can move from one man to the next like nobody’s business. Her loyalty to her husbands is terrible, because, for some unknown reason, they die. Chaucer presents this anomaly as, “Five times at church door had she been a wife, / Not counting other company in youth” (Chaucer lines 462-463). There are a few background facts that one could take from all of this, one being the suspicion that she could be killing her husbands for the economic gain. This lone fact is enough to tell us that she possesses the deadly sins of lust, greed, and avarice. Not only does she possibly kill her husbands, she uses the money to buy flashy clothing that represents her traits, “Her stockings were a splendid scarlet red / And tightly laced, with shoes supple and new.” (Chaucer lines 458-459). The Wife of Bath seems to be following lead of the Clergy, as she is just as bad as them. The laboring class is unable to support society if they’re infected with the malice of
The laborers are considered the low working class of the middle ages. Much like the clergy, the laborers tend to be associated with more sin than virtue. The Wife of Bath, or the “Good Wife” as some might satirically call her, is a prime example of a terrible labor-woman. She has a history of many husbands, of which she’s gained great wealth, she’s accused of being an adulterer, and she can move from one man to the next like nobody’s business. Her loyalty to her husbands is terrible, because, for some unknown reason, they die. Chaucer presents this anomaly as, “Five times at church door had she been a wife, / Not counting other company in youth” (Chaucer lines 462-463). There are a few background facts that one could take from all of this, one being the suspicion that she could be killing her husbands for the economic gain. This lone fact is enough to tell us that she possesses the deadly sins of lust, greed, and avarice. Not only does she possibly kill her husbands, she uses the money to buy flashy clothing that represents her traits, “Her stockings were a splendid scarlet red / And tightly laced, with shoes supple and new.” (Chaucer lines 458-459). The Wife of Bath seems to be following lead of the Clergy, as she is just as bad as them. The laboring class is unable to support society if they’re infected with the malice of