Canterburry tales essay

Shiv Patel
Mr. Kadar
College English III
27 October 2014

There are many ethics, moral views, and religious views today that many people live by today. Ethics are moral principles that govern a person’s behavior. Ethics is being able to determine between what is right and wrong, good and bad. Ethics are guideline that we follow according to a social system. While morals are also principals that control a person’s behavior, morals are set at a personal standard not socially. Both Morals and ethics have been changing through the decades especially with a constant change in society. The moral and ethical views indicated in the short stories “The Pardoner’s Tale”, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, and “The Oxford Cleric’s Tale” that are located in The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, are mixed into today’s society as being valid, invalid, or sometimes valid. A set of moral and ethical views presented in “The Pardoners Tale” is adultery and drunkenness. Over time both drunkenness and adultery have changed dramatically. In today’s time drunkenness is taken lightly and very socially acceptable. Adultery, however, is frowned upon just as it has been for a very long time. In addition to adultery, cursing has been looked down upon for a long time but today cursing is a more socially acceptable and used in a variety of ways besides the conventional way, which is used in a fit of anger. To defend himself the pardoner says, “Thou shalt swear in truth, in judgment and in righteousness…You see He has forbidden swearing first…”( Chaucer 249). The Pardoners unconditional love for money, which he refers to as avarice has blinded the Pardoner in differentiating what is right and wrong. Avarice is most definitely sometime valid today. There are individuals today that are so blinded by money that they too cannot differentiate between right and wrong. The Pardoner’s intentions are simply for profit and not for the correction of sin. There are more than just drunkenness, adultery, and avarice that have been presented in the tales. Primarily, there are many ethics like perjury, marrying for wealth, and cheating on a spouse are evident in the tales and are still valid today. Perjury is something people do a lot; some people also make a living off of perjury like the Pardoner. At a moral point of view lying may be perfectly fine but as an ethic it is iniquitous. Despite being a religious official the Pardoner continues his shenanigans and continues to resort perjury to make a living. As accusation are being thrown at the Pardoner out of defense he says, “I preach against that very vice, I make my living out of Avarice. And yet however guilty of that sin myself, with others I have the power to win them for it, I can bring them for repent” (261). The Pardoner, without any hesitation admits to the things he does and yet the people around do not realize this. Additionally, the wife of Bath is a prime example of a person that is morally detached meaning that she does not take into account her actions. The number of men that the wife of Bath has been with is way more than necessary. Her main argument for being in a relationship and sleeping with so many men is that since she is not married it is perfectly fine to go out there and just give her body to men. It is arguable whether or not having intercourse before marriage is morally wrong but it is most definitely wrong to have intercourse with another person during marriage and that view is valid today. At a moral stand point the wife believes to be correct in being with so many men but at an ethical stand point she is with out a doubt is guilty of being unethical. The like the wife Chaucer also believes in women to have a say in a relationship. He begins by saying, “Arch-wives,

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