Chaucer Covert Critique of the Church free essay sample

An examination of Geoffrey Chaucers critique of the church in his book Canterbury Tales. This paper illustrates how Geoffrey Chaucer ingeniously criticizes the Roman Catholic Church and advocates religious reform by accrediting his opinions to the characters in The Prioress Tale, The Friars Tale, The Parsons Tale, and The Clerks Tale through an elaborate system of various degrees of perception, which allowed Chaucer greater literary freedom. Specific biblical references are also used to support the thesis. Chaucers veiled criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and support for religious reform through his characters allows him more leeway than he would otherwise have. The intricate filter system allows Chaucer greater literary freedom due to the ambiguity generated as to where each thought originates. Despite this anonymity, Chaucer appears to have taken the advise of the Parson to repent, when he later retracts having written about worldly vanities. Chaucers Retraction, which concludes The Canterbury Tales, adds another level of complexity through which the reader must filter his work: is Chaucer truly repentant or is his Retraction just another device used to mislead?