Essay Sample on Canterbury Tales: Chaucer's Views on Religion, Women, and Marriage

The Chaucer's views on religion, marriage, and women in The Canterbury Tales is based on the fascination that Chaucer's has based on individual being interactions, ideas received from marriage institution and the predominant social practices. During Chaucer's period, marriage was viewed as an aspect transaction that was mainly organized by men to serve in political and economic ends. The portrayal of marriage and women in the 14th century in The Canterbury Tales clearly shows how women had no opportunity to enjoy social status. Chaucer's views as subject to men since men were created superior to them. He backs up his view on the religious aspect of why God created woman from man's rib and not the head. The women were therefore forced to live a life of inferiority and had to depend on a manfully. Chaucer's views on marriage, Women, and religion mainly reflect the life in England in the 14th century.

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Chaucer's Views on Women

Chaucer displays women have a source of evil based on creation when Eve falls into the temptation of eating fruit knowledge and life. In this context, women are regarded as a snare and temptation that requires women to be avoided by both virtuous and sane persons. Women having brought the fall of Adam are regarded as a great failure to society (Paduraru 5). Chaucer describes them as human beings that were reduced to playthings and chattel status for men. Women life was quite miserable during this period and was regarded to have the lowest status in society.

They were subjected to harsh conditions of life, and Chaucer's view is that they were treated no better than the slaves. Women in this cultural setting were viewed as objects to men who would purchase and sell them whenever they felt like doing so. In this context, women were viewed as a marketable commodity (Gestsdottir 4). Their life was a total misery with no education, and they were forced to work in the field and hearth. Nothing prevented women from early marriages and the practice of dowry systems. Political considerations highly drove such early marriages. They worked under strict supervision and unhealthy conditions.

Their guardians and parents hugely sold girls in exchange for money. In this context, women were views as sources of finance to society. On the other hand, women from aristocratic and noble families lived a comparatively better social life (Chen 1367). They dressed nicely and had the opportunity to be educated, although they had no right to political matters. Chaucer displays how women from the higher class had the opportunity to enjoy their social status. Apart from attending to religious duties, they were taught in nunneries in order to gain respect in the society. There was a big gap between rich women and poor women in the society.

Chaucer's Views on Marriage

Chaucer's view on marriage in The Canterbury Tales, display the aspect of marriage during the medieval time. During this time, there were two models of marriage, and in them existed an opposition. The ecclesiastical and secular were regarded as the two models of marriage. The two models had a different purpose of serving; for instance, the ecclesiastical model was meant to safeguard divine order while the secular model was mainly meant to safeguard the social order. During the medieval period, a secular model of marriage was highly used to control the patrimony primarily. It was also meant to enlarge or maintain family ties and possessions (Kidd 29). Chaucer's view on marriage gives detailed information on how marriage was primarily organized to benefit men in serving political and economic issues.

Women are viewed as useful in the sense that they are childbearing and can be exchanged for goods and lands during the marriage. Once the wedding was conducted, and the woman got married, they had no right to possess any property (Kidd 29). They lost economic rights on property possession and were left to live a peasant life. The secular model of marriage was differing to the religious purpose of marriage, which states that the major reason is to procreate. The church also started several other purposes for marriage, such as avoidance of fornication.

According to Chaucer, marriage was based on property exchange, and the main purpose here was the union of money and property and not of the two lovers. It was also practiced as purchase trade between families, Families were linked to others through marriage, and it was viewed to be of great impact to the affairs on business and war (Kittredge 435). The oldest son to the family benefited since they would become the heir of the family property, strengthening the family, and ensuring that it stays undivided. Marriages were only allowed to take place between pairs from the same social status, according to Carta, that was laid in 1215 (Kittredge 435).

Women had no choice regarding anything to do with marriage. This was a decision that was mainly made by the parents and kingship. Women had no possession of the property, and it was quite difficult for them to acquire independence because they were fully controlled by their fathers before they were married, and afterward by their husband (Kittredge 435). Women had no freedom in their marriage life because they lost possession of their property as soon as they got married. In marriages, women were expected to be submissive to their husbands and bear children.

Chaucer's Views on Religion

In Canterbury Tales, Chaucer's views on religion disclose corruption in religious matters. Chaucer points out how most corruptible characters that tend to spend most of their time on secular things forgetting their faith. In this context, Chaucer defines religion as being corrupt. For instance, a certain character by the name Friar is highly focused on horses and money than he is taking care of the monastery. Friar act of seducing women and finding their husbands contribute to religious corruption practices (Chairani et al. 573). Another aspect of religious corruption is shown by Prioress, who is working hard to become a court lady rather than proving help in a nunnery. In this context, Chaucer shows how religion during this medieval time was built on the corruptive background where people minded their own business more than the religious matters.

Monk also displays a clear version of religious corruption by failing to help the poor and took money for forgiveness. Chaucer shows how inhumane this monk was by leaving people who lived in poverty, suffering instead of helping them. He also used the money to pay some beggars to relocate to certain areas and promised them that they would get the full amount of money. The monk act of inhuman and greediness displays a highly corrupt religious (Chairani et al. 573). Most of the religious leaders, according to Chaucer, displayed acts of corruption in the church. Chaucer also displays a few of the church characters who were true to their faith and religion.

Conclusion

Chaucer's views on marriage, women, and religion are clearly displayed in The Canterbury Tales. Women life was quite miserable during this period and was regarded to have the lowest status in society. Women are viewed as useful in the sense that they are childbearing and can be exchanged for goods and lands during the marriage. Families were linked to others through marriage, and it was viewed to be of great impact on the affairs of business and war. Most of the religious leaders, according to Chaucer, displayed acts of corruption in the church.

Works Cited

Chairani, Sri, Andang Suhendi, and Susi Ekalestari. "Medieval Religious Officials in Geoffrey Chaucer's Prologue to Canterbury Tales." KnE Social Sciences (2019): 570-584. http://kne-publishing.com/index.php/KnE-Social/article/view/4887/9784

Chen, Yongping. "Analysis of the Image of Bath Woman in Canterbury Tales." 2017 4th International Conference on Education, Management, and Computing Technology (ICEMCT 2017). Atlantis Press, 2017. https://download.atlantis-press.com/article/25874608.pdf

Gestsdottir, Saerun. Chaucer's female characters in the Canterbury Tales: Born to thralldom and penance, and to been under mannes governance. Diss. 2010. https://skemman.is/bitstream/1946/4941/1/thesis.pdf

Kidd, Justin. "Influencing Chaucer's Marriage Template." NOCTUA: medieval and renaissance studies (2016): 29. https://www.muw.edu/images/colleges/as/hpg/noctua/Noctua2016.pdf#page=30

Kittredge, George Lyman. "Chaucer's Discussion of Marriage." Modern Philology 9.4 (1912): 435-467. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdfplus/10.1086/386872

Paduraru, Alina Mihaela. "Women in The Canterbury Tales: the Prioress, the Wife of Bath, the Second Nun, a hen, and a lady falcon." (2018). https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/4732/3e060f5469396bfe07bbb9503fe1c1a43ae1.pdf