Chaucer's View On The 14Th Century Church

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How does the general prologue to the Canterbury Tales reveal Chaucer’s view about changes in society (especially in the church in 14th century England? ‘The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales’ portrays the characteristics of 29 pilgrims that take part in the pilgrimage to Canterbury. The main idea of this pilgrimage is to show your loyalty to god but not all as it seems. The authority of the church began to crumble after the bubonic plague stormed though Europe; people started to doubt the church as nothing would stop the plague even after they prayed for forgiveness of their sins. Chaucer had noticed a change in the church and this initiated the creation of the characters within the text. For instance, the Prioress did not show any devotion to god and seemed to prefer to act upper class; the Monk had a more contemporary idea of living that was very unlike monks in the cloister; and the Friar who insults the church by manipulating labourers instead of exempting their sins. The character of the Prioress completely changes the stereotype of a 14th century nun. She spends a lot of time worrying about her looks and manners; by her acts she portrays a woman of high ranking. A nun would not take that much care into table mannerisms and her appearance. As a nun you are required to dedicate yourself and your life to god. But however, the Prioress displays, ‘a brooch of gold ful sheene,’ and it engraves ‘Amor vincit omnia,’ which is ‘love conquers all’ in the Latin language. This representation is used to question the Prioress’s faithfulness to god, as ‘Amor vincit omnia’ would most commonly describe a love for a man, not god. The Prioress wears a wimple and a sophisticated cloak that has an expensive look to it, that is a distinct characteristic nuns are virtually prohibited to do. The Prioress expresses much grief towards measly animals that were ‘deed or bledde.’
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