The_Canterbury_Tales

The Canterbury Tales When four knights murdered Thomas a Becket under King Henry’s orders in the cathedral, many people began to believe that the clergymen were crooked. Chaucer, author of The Canterbury Tales, represents these sentiments that the medieval church is a corrupt institution that produces corrupt and untraditional individuals. Chaucer puts these feelings on display in the prologue as he mocks and satirizes the clergy members, which include the Nun, the Monk, and the Friar. The first character that Chaucer satirizes is the Nun. The Nun is described as a tender-hearted, pleasant woman, who is well-mannered. At the dinner table, she refuses to let a morsel fall off her lip and often weeps if she sees a mouse caught in a trap. On top of ridiculing these extreme actions, Chaucer states that the Nun wears “a set of beads, the gaudies tricked in green,” thus showing her fashionable ways. However, the Nun proves to be the anti-thesis of what a nun should be since being both fashionable and canterbury, tales, nun, monk, chaucer, friar, time, however, described, traditional, thus, showing, satirizes, proves, one, first, fashionable, corrupt, clergymen, being, women, woman, well-turned, well-mannered, weeps, wears, ways, wanton, vows, untraditional, unlike, under, typical, trustworthy, tricked, trap, top