Pious Corruption --- Chaucer’s View on the Catholic Church

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, a masterpiece in its own time and ours, paints a vivid picture of medieval life through the voices and stories of many unique characters. Chaucer expresses his views upon the Catholic Church, one of the most important elements of medieval society, by portraying three main characters: the Monk, the Friar, and the Pardoner. By doing so, Chaucer disgraces the corruption and immorality of the medieval Catholic Church.
In the general prologue of The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer pictures the Monk as one whose behavior does not fit his religious position. First of all, unlike the typical monk of his time, this one has left the monastery and, above all else, hunting for pleasure. As Chaucer describes, the Monk “[rides] the country, hunting [as] his sport” (8). Ironically, the Monk acts more like a noble than a monk. Secondly, he tends to disobey the rules established for every monk to follow. As “The Rule of good St. Benet or St. Maur” seems...