Nowadays, topics such as rape, revenge and criticism of the Church are viewed in a scandalous and shocking way. With respect to Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, these issues are evident and acknowledged. In the novel, some stories address and illustrate these vulgar topics and how they were several hundred years ago. Chaucer applies uncensored rebukes towards controversial topics, in the tales, to contradict orthodox beliefs towards these issues and how some of them are not as callous as they seem. The Canterbury Tales should not be erased from schools because they offer a sense of entertainment, perspective, morality and a distinct narrative for each tale. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The overarching plot of The Canterbury Tales is a group of unique people who venture on a pilgrimage. They will all go to Canterbury to visit St. Thomas Beckett. The presenter, Harry Bailey, proposes the idea of a narrative competition between the “pilgrims”. Each person tells a story, real or imagined, that explores one or two conversation-provoking themes. Some areas of interest are implied indirectly, such as criticism of the church. These implications are shown in tales such as "The Friar's Tale", "The Summoner's Tale", and "The Pardoner's Tale". The Summoner and Friar's Tales clash with each other as The Pardoner discusses his own misdeeds and sins. Chaucer includes these insinuations about the three members of the church to highlight the corruption of the Church. While some may find these remarks offensive, they still provide insight into the juxtaposition of people's conventional perception of the Church. The reader's responsibility is to form an opinion and connect with the information provided. According to an article written by Martin Stevens and Kathleen Falvey, “Chaucer certainly wrote the Canterbury Tales to draw us in with his characters and their performances, and the road drama has everything to do with our understanding of the stories being told along the route, in taverns or 'at a thropes ende'. But that's exactly the point. It provided characters as a means to a larger end: our understanding of how each fiction is shaped by its narrator and how the purposes of narrative differ markedly from the narrator's intent and the audience's perception.” Also related to “The Pardoner's Tale” is: “Read as a play, the Canterbury Tales are entertainment, an escape from the tedium of monotonous travel. On this level, the Pardoner's Tale offers the most interesting drama of the entire pilgrimage – enticing enough to want to understand it entirely as an event.” Even literary experts find The Canterbury Tales to have a sense of fun. “The Pardoner's Tale” demonstrates that sinful people have a sense of righteousness. Again, “It's not that the Forgiver says a 'moral thing'; it is that he himself becomes part of a 'moral thing' that Chaucer recounts.” Many would argue that these religious narratives indicate a sense of animosity towards the Church of London. However, they are actually just Chaucer's interpretation of his unscrupulousness without malicious intent. As for revenge, that's a different story. “The act of avenging oneself or another; retributive infliction of injury or punishment; wound or damage caused for vindictive reasons”, this is how revenge is defined. In the Canterbury Tales, revenge is evident. In stories like “The Miller's” and “The Reeve's,”.
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