The Pilgrims In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

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Each of the pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales has different personalities which are illustrated in his or her tales. It is important to note that the way the reader perceives the personalities of the different pilgrims is largely affected by how Chaucer chooses to remember the pilgrims and portray them. While reading the myriad of tales, it becomes apparent that while each of the pilgrims has unique personalities, a majority of the Church-affiliated pilgrims seem to share commonality of corruption and untrustworthiness. The characterization of each of the Church officials in The Canterbury Tales sends a powerful message to the reader about the prejudice Chaucer’s feels against the Church.
One of the many religious pilgrims to tell his tale …show more content…
Chanticleer and the nun’s priest are both healthy and well-built, implying that neither of them suffer any hardships. Additionally, Chanticleer has many hen wives, the nun’s priest is also surrounded by many women as he is a nun’s priest and therefore it is his job to be a confessor for a group of nuns. Both the nun’s priest and Chanticleer are noble characters and are unlike the common people, such as the poor old widow who owns the barnyard. She is described as overly simple, as she has neither status, nor the backing of the Church, which results in her being very poor. Through the nun’s priest and his tale, Chaucer implies that with the support of the Church it is easy to be well off and live a good life without having to suffer hardships. However, if one doesn't have the support of the Church, life is much more difficult.
Overall, it is apparent that throughout the stories in The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer critiques the corruption and the moral decline of the Church. Through the use of the pardoner and the nun’s priest, Chaucer shows that the Church during this point of time was both greedy, and corrupt. This suggests that even though the Church was a popular institution that had the trust of a majority of the people, over time more and more people began to see the true side of the
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