Clergy And Other Church example essay topic

Take any pilgrim whose tale we read and show Chaucer artfully matches the story to the teller. Of the many stories he writes the tale told by the Wife of Bath is the most verbal and for its time the most forthright exposition of the role women did not have but could have in that time period. The wife of Bath's story is fairly general a man is accused of trying to rape a woman and the sentence for this charge is to be hung. The mean pleads and pleads to be acquitted of his charge so the queen of the time says he will not be hung if he finds the answer to a certain question. The question is "What is it women most desire". He is given one year and one day to find this answer and until the day before his "judgment day" he has numerous answers from many different women.

Finally the night before he goes to an older woman and she offers him a trade the answer for him. The answer she gives him, which is the correct answer is that women want control. His life is saved by this woman whom he now owes his life to, and this old woman becomes a "Wife of Bath". Despite her age, we do not know much of her background either but we know she knows how to control a man because of how she treats the one she has been given. The man goes on to make many mistakes, making decisions the lady should be making, or thinks she should be making. And with that the Wife of Bath has held 5 husbands and is in search of her 6th we do not know if this lady has been lonely all of her life or not but we know she wants control and seems to enjoy struggling to get it.

The Wife of Bath most enjoyed her last 2 husbands because she had the least control over them. She enjoyed this because it was a challenge but she was always working towards having her way. This philosophy was way out of date for the time period Chaucer wrote it in because he Wife of Bath is also like the queen. She likes to have the money and riches and the queen is what she wants to be a woman in her time who has power, and that the queen doth have. But overall the old hag, who has beauty in a different way, seems to be the Wife of Bath. What we also have to wonder is if the woman figure is being made out to be na " ive or cynical.

Depending on how you look it depends on how you may take it if you see her as controlling and that she has forced the man to say that she can make the decisions, this being the cynical look or if you think the man has just realized what she has doing and is taking the known easy road out. The Wife of Bath I see as being more the na " ive, idealistic old hag. Another correlation is how sly they both are and how they like to gossip. I am pretty positive Chaucer meant for the Old Hag to be related to the Wife of Bath for the different reasons I have explained. It is still odd how the character made it into Canterbury Tales but interesting all the same; The Wife of Bath's story best describe whom she herself actually is. Chaucer's portraits of the clergy and church related position show evidence of a religious system full of corruption and hypocrisy.

Examine in depth 2 or 3 of Chaucer's pilgrim portraits from the prologue, illustrate or demonstrate how the medieval church was in need of reform. The late 14th century church almost a disgrace to the meaning and reputation it was supposed to be upholding. This was not true for all of the church as is true all of Chaucer's characters were not exact remakes of their real life counterpart. The clergy (Monk and Prioress and Friar) and other church related affiliates (Summoner and Pardoner) are made out to be corrupting the church. The Friar was a member of the mendicants, who were a group that traveled from town to town supposedly helping the poor this was however not what he did. The Summoner and pardoner were both not qualified for the positions they held and were in a sense stealing money from those that already didn't have it.

The Prioress's cross was something to be questioned because it was more a piece of jewelry than a resemblance of her faith. Many church officials were in it for the wrong reasons and mainly for their own gain. The Prioress, a nun who is head of her convent, is not a nun we would of as being a prioress. She is someone who has a good attitude but is in the wrong state of mind. She enjoys dressing in exquisite clothing that is full of jewels and bright colors. She is a lady who would rather be out on the town and saying her "Hail Mary's".

She can speak French but her English accent sneaks through. She seems to be aspiring to be a member of court, her name is Madame Eglentyne and although not a true member of the court she does her best to uphold those mannerisms. Her motto, which is found on her arms on her prayer beads, is "Love conquers all". All of these details individually don't show how she some who is corrupting the church but when they are all put together and you realize this is what the other nuns in the convent are looking up to, you get worried that these types might continue to sway the church from its ideals. The Prioress reminds me somewhat of Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act except it is reversed, you had an outgoing woman who loved to have fun in many different ways trying to become a traditional law abiding nun, and the Prioress is the reverse, she doesn't want to be traditional. The Friar is another clergy member who fine ways to help himself rather than help others.

He is a member of the mendicants, which means he travels around so that people can repent their sins and he is supposed to be helping the poor and lepers. Instead he travels to the house of those that are richer and gives them repentance for a "donation" to the church, which he then keeps for himself. He bribes, in a sense, the innkeepers to give him food and shelter along his travels while others are sleeping in dirt streets with little to eat and little hope for the future. The money he receives he uses to buy clothing you would see the wealthy wearing and he is actually living a life of leisure and comfort due to the way he tricks people. It was also thought that due to the bald shiny and smooth head the Friar had he would ride with out his hood on which was not supposed to happen because it was disgraceful. He is one of the many clergy and church officials that overtime cheated people out of money, they sold "repentance" but this really isn't logically possible but people believed it and gave them money anyways.

The Friar and Prioress are just two examples of corruption in the church, this corruption continues today, I don't believe to the same extent but some people are just in it for the wrong reasons. The church has come a long way since these times but it really hasn't been until recently, and today the church has very little power compared to what it had in the past, but people still find ways to make off well from it. Defend or Refute William Blakes appraisal of Chaucer... "Chaucer's character live age after age. Every age is a Canterbury pilgrimage we all pass on each sustaining one of these characters nor can a child be born who is not one of these characters of Chaucer". From the narrator to the nuns that accompanied the Prioress as servants, I believe each has a relative counterpart in today's world.

To prove this I am going to list some of the characters and who I feel is there counterpart and why. The Knight- Depending on your beliefs, certain presidents in the recent past history. I see Bill Clinton as one due to his major advances on stabilizing our economic system and lowering the national debt. Other Presidents in the recent times have been strong and lead the nation through tough times in a good manner. The Wife of Bath- I see a resemblance to her being someone who is not alive today but the most recent is Rosie the Riveter. She was a woman who so many looked up to to find confidence and comfort in.

She probably wasn't married to 5 different men but her attitude about women's rights was right on that of Wife of Bath's. The Clergy- in general some people have represented the un trusting church officials most recently we have gone through the church scandal of priests raping young children to satisfy their sexual desires which they pledged to withhold from their life. The Servant- the servants represent the many people they wait on those who have more than them every day not necessarily just those that have jobs but some of the poor as well. The Parson- The parson is one of the church affiliates but he is the one that I devout to his religion.

I believe due to reforms there are more parsons in today's world such people like James Kennedy, who is his televised church service every Sunday morning. Tradesmen- we have many different that have trades of all different types today obviously there are even more trades due to advance but, there is always the competition between certain tradesman as well as the working together of different parties that each make a certain part of a large product. Some of the character I have given general examples of and other more specific, but I do support William's ideas and I think some of the characters have changed since time has progressed and even become more involved but the general characteristics are still present. We are each born with certain talents and we then grow up to perfect those talents or learn other and we learn different things and believe in different thing and the events that happen in our life make us someone from a knight to a servant. I don't think Chaucer hay have realized what he had actually done when he wrote his Tales but if he had even the close idea that this is what he wanted to achieve I think he made a pretty accurate depiction of what different people in this world would be like. Discuss Christian symbolism and how the idea of the loss of paradise is present in the Arthurian legends.

As certain things in life come and go so does the feeling of bliss. The things can be everything from a good leader to a family trip to dating someone special to getting married to so many other things. For many people this blissful feeling comes with knowing that even when the world they live in at the current point and time may not be the best but there is a place better after life. Religions are diverse and widespread across the planet but Christianity remains dominant but other religious sects still believe in someone that can lead them and take to the best places they will ever be.

King Arthur is related to Christ due to the trials he puts up with but mainly in the ways that Arthur brings serenity to the nation he is the leader of. Arthur was well respected and most of his people would do anything for him unfortunately circumstances required him to do what had to be done and that lead to his death. Unfortunately in the recent time period before his death his kingdom had started to crumble and the paradise started to fade. This was partially due to the rise of Morgan le Few and Mordred, who then died with Arthur. There are many symbolisms in the legend that relate Arthur to Christ.

One of them is when Arthur is die ing he asks Sir Bedivere to throw his sword in the water to the sea monster, he doesn't actually do it until the 3rd time he takes it to the water, the first 2 lying to Arthur saying that he did when he didn't. Peter denies being a disciple of Christ as he is hanging on the cross and he denies it 3 times and for both of them the 3rd time becomes a time when they recognize what really has to be done. In order to honor the one that has previously led them in great times. That relation is just one of the symbolisms between Christ and Arthur but I what I see as important is how the loss of a great leader can bring about bad times and the "loss of paradise".

It has happened so many times in History, real history, not just that of Arthur's, but Christ's, when Julius Caesar was killed Rome did not have many good times after that, Egypt had many good rulers but when they died off they could no longer live like they had and in so many other places in history you see this relation. The loss of paradise seems to be a single event on a circular cycle the world's culture has been going around since the start. Adam and Eve lived in paradise until the temptation ruined what they had to live in and today many predict that the USA will be doomed to repeat history as well, many people don't mention it due to fear but it does seem logical. Certain things in life bring pleasure to our life and when pleasure is lost control seems to follow soon after.