Although the tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer were for entertainment, he also used them as subtle social commentary on the world he lived in (Fisher 1977 7). The prologue to ôThe ParsonÆs Taleö is considered to be one of the finest fragments of ChaucerÆs writing (3). In fact, some scholars speculate that one of the reasons that this portion of The Canterbury Tales is so much more somber than the rest is that Chaucer was near the end of his life and was becoming more concerned with the state of his own soul as well as with the state of the Church (346). This paper will discuss ChaucerÆs portrait of the ideal priest and servant of the Church in the figure of the Parson and then compare this portrait to the ecclesiastical figures of the Friar, the Pardoner, and the Monk and consider whether they live up this ideal.
The first description of the character of the Parson in The Canterbury Tales is in the ôGeneral Prologue.ö Here, Chaucer is describing the Parson as well as his idea of the model priest. For example, Chaucer depicts the Parson as ôA good man was ther of religiounö (Part I line 477) who ôfirst he wroghte, and afterward he taughteö (Part I line 497). Chaucer is showing the Parson to be Christlike, since Christ also taught by example, as Chaucer points out: ôBut Cristes loore and his apostles twelve/He taughte, but first he folwed it hymselveö (Part I lines 527-8).
Chaucer then demonstrates the nature of the Parson in ôThe ParsonÆs Tale.ö In keeping with the other tales, the Parson promises a ômyrie tale in proseö (Part X line 46) to the Hoste when a tale is requested of him near the end of the journey. Yet, his tale is not merely for entertainment, nor is it a sermon. It is a discourse on the examination of the conscience, sin, and repentance (Fisher 345). According to Fisher, this is the type of treatise or homily that ôdevout people read or had read to them to prepare themselves for confessi...