The Summoner In The Canterbury Tales Essay - 901 Words

In the year of 1390, an intriguing frame story known as The Canterbury Tales was written by Geoffrey Chaucer, which discussed 24 unique characters with their own personalities and patterns of behavior (Lumiansky). The summoner within the story demonstrates the corruption within the Catholic Church, exploiting his privileges with a grin on his face. The primary excerpt throws in statements such as, â€Å"Children were afraid when he appeared,† and â€Å"Questio quid juris†, which means, â€Å"I ask what the point of the law [applies]†, frequently used by The Summoner to stall and evade the issue at hand (Elements of Literature). He did as he wanted when he wanted, often utilizing the system itself within his own endeavors, even when it inconveniences†¦show more content†¦The Summoner likes his wine as red as his face, frequently getting drunk and bellowing out the only few Latin words that he knows (Elements of Literature). He’s also shown to tak e bribes, which can be seen within the section, â€Å"Why, he’d allow---just for a quart of wine---Any good lad to keep a concubine a twelvemonth and dispense him altogether!† Simply put: If anyone was caught with a mistress, he’d give them a break for twelve months, but if they aren’t able to give him a quart of wine, he summons them to the church to get them excommunicated (Elements of Literature). Overall, the Summoner wasn’t a very suave person, but he really didn’t seem to care. He wasn’t very stunning appearance-wise either. It’s noted that his face is riddled with blemishes that persistently stick around in the long-term, completely impervious to any ointments or creams that could purge them from his already tomato-red face (Elements of Literature). He had narrow eyes and black scabby eyebrows to compliment them, with a thin, unclean beard to further ratify the image of him. Furthermore, a fragment of the prologue states that, â€Å"He wore a garland set upon his head, Large as the holly-bush upon a stake, Outside an ale-house, and he had a cake, A round one, which it was his joke to wield as if it were intended for a shield†. During that time, a holy man wouldn’t really tread outside of an ale-house, which indicates theShow MoreRelatedChaucers Canterbury Tales741 Words   |  3 Pages Essay topic: With the reference to one of The Canterbury Tales discuss, what means Chaucer uses to create the highly individualized (and often comic) characters and how successful is his creation. The Friar from The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer was a master at creating highly individualized characters who are often comic and realistic at the same time and always have good traits as well as bad ones. 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Spirituality in the Second Nuns Tale      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, Chaucer describes the men and women of the Church in extreme forms; most of these holy pilgrims, such as the Monk, the Friar, and Pardoner, are caricatures of objectionable parts of Catholic society.   At a time when the power-hungry Catholic Church used the misery of peasants in order to obtain wealth, it is no wonder that one of the greatest writers of the Middle Ages used his works