The friar wondered aloud whether all friars were in a state of grace; in response, the angel asked Satan to lift up his tail. Suddenly twenty thousand friars were seen swarming around Satan's "arse. A friar, who goes about seeking contributions, promises prayers and possible salvation in exchange for anything his parishioners will give. Once back at the convent, the friar promptly forgets to make the promised prayers. One day, the friar goes to the home of old Thomas, a rich but uneducated old man who has been ill for a long time.
The friar assures Thomas that he and his brother friars have been praying for him. When Thomas' wife enters the house, the friar kisses and fondles her. She requests that he preach to Thomas about anger because Thomas is so unpleasant.
Before leaving, the wife reminds the Friar that her baby died recently. The friar pretends to know this because he and the other friars have seen the child being carried upward, and they have prayed and fasted. He gives the wife a long sermon on the virtues of fasting and sins of gluttony. The friar then turns to Thomas and embarks upon a long sermon on the necessity of avoiding excessive wealth.
He assures Thomas that the convent prays for him every night and that Thomas should donate a portion of his gold to the convent. In fact, he says that Thomas should give everything to the friars. The friar then preaches on the sin of anger and quotes many classical examples.
In so doing, he makes Thomas more and more angry until Thomas finally says that he has a gift for the friar, on the condition that the friar swears to share the gift with the other friars. When children saw the Summoner they were generally afraid Chaucer. Chaucer uses the physiognomy of the Summoner to show his true character. Chaucer constructs the Summoner's portrait so as to describe the Summoner's medical conditions Braswell-Means.
The Summoner is clearly unnaturally hot as both his description and his cures indicate; the combination of these two suggests that the Summoner is choleric or bad tempered Braswell-Means.
The Summoner's disease is also associated with sexuality; this was not only directed towards women but possibly children as well Braswell-Means. This explains why Chaucer was sure to What the Summoner is trying to get the travelers to understand is that Friars are not all what they seem and do not always do what they promise.
This is another point Chaucer is trying to make about how the church is corrupt by pining the Summoner and the Friar against each other. Chaucer gets the Summoner to tell this tale so that he shows what he believes Friars are in reality compared to what they appear to be which is high and mighty. This also proves to the crude demeanor that the Summoner carries showing somewhat jealousy towards the Friar, trying to ward the travelers away from believing him Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Summoner is a basic translation of the warning Chaucer is attempting to display with how he thinks the church is being evolved into something it should not be.
Get Access. Good Essays. Read More. Satisfactory Essays. Summoner In The Canterbury Tales. Short Story- Observations of Hell. Better Essays. Greed In Candide Essay.
Chaucer Tales: The General Prologue. Powerful Essays. Women In Hamlet Analysis. Related Topics. Beyond taking bribes, we also suspect the Summoner of seducing young girls; not only does he have them all in his confidence, but "ful prively a finch eek coude he pul" General Prologue , an expression that can mean to trick, but also to seduce a young girl. With the Summoner's portrait we have a critique not only of his individual character, but also of the situation that has created him.
Although the Summoner's conviction that one can avoid excommunication by paying a bribe is morally reprehensible, it may also have been true. Historians also think that summoners were not paid enough money by the church to really make a living; thus, they may have had to depend upon bribery to get by. Parents Home Homeschool College Resources.
Study Guide. By Geoffrey Chaucer. Previous Next.
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