The Pardoner's Tale Hypocrisy

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In the Prologue of Canterbury Tales, the author gives a brief and satirical description of the characters who either tell a tale or play a role in the tales that follow. In Chaucer's life he was exposed to many social classes and lived in what is called the medieval period. During this time, the church was gaining power, Anglo-Saxon culture was sinking into peasantry, a Feudal system was established and the literature primarily focused on adventure, heroism, love and chivalry. However, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is a satirical cross-section based on medieval society. Each character is given a brief description based on their appearance, background and occupation. Hypocrisy, which is a main target of Chaucer's satire, is expressed primarily …show more content…
"For well he knew that when that song was sung he'd have to preach and tune his honey tongue and (well he could) win silver from the crowd that’s why he sang so merrily and loud.” The Pardoner's work, though perfected in his opinion, was an insult and disgrace to the church. Nevertheless, the people fell for his trickery time after time. As the literature reflects, the people during this medieval period were facing a harsh reality and were constantly looking for an escape or a source of hope. This is why the literature is focused on chivalry, gallant love, adventure, and heroism and also a reason why the people were eager to fall for the Pardoner's false hope …show more content…
The Monk, likewise to some of the Friar's actions, does several things that as a priest-like figure he should most definitely avoid. For example, “With fine grey fur, he finest in the land, and on his hood, to fasten it at his chin he had a wrought-gold cunningly fashioned pin; into a lover’s knot it seemed to pass.” Priest figures typically take on a life of poverty and humility while this Monk hunts, parades in expensive dress, and eats a lot. Once again it is clear that Chaucer expressed his opinions about the society that he lived in through his literature. For the Monk, just as many other characters did, has fallen captive to worldly pleasures as a result of being lost in the harsh time period. Instead of expressing humility he prides himself in expensive clothing and instead of living a life of poverty he accepts bribes from the people. This shows that the Monk lives a lush lifestyle in hopes of masking the harsh time
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