Immorality and the Friar in the Canterbury Tales It is a sad commentary on the clergy that, in the Middle Ages, this class responsible for morality was often the class most marked by corruption. Few works of the era satirically highlight this phenomenon like Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer's "General Prologue" introduces us to a cast of clergy, or people of the "Second Estate," who range in nature from the pious to the corrupt. The Friar appears to be an excellent example of the corrupt nature of many low-level clerics of the time: while his activities were not heretical or atrocious, his behavior is certainly not in accord with the selfless moral teachings he is supposed to espouse. By the narrator's account, he is a snob, corrupted by greed, and acts in very unchristian ways. It is clear that he is a man of low moral standards. When we are first introduced to the Friar, we are told that he possesses a level of social grace far above his station in life. We are told that in the four begging orders there is no one so expert in gentle and sociable speech as he (lines 210-211, Norton), and that he is a very ceremonious fellow (lines 209). This does not seem in keeping with a man who is supposed to earn his living by begging, a man who is supposed to live without a roof over his head. This level of education and affinity for the ceremony probably derives from an aristocratic birth: often, the younger sons and daughters of nobles who could not be provided for simply entered the clergy. This contributed to a large group of clergy coming to the church not because they felt a divine calling, but simply because this was what was expected of them (his pilgrimage companion, the Prioress, also… .... half of the sheet ...th money from those who can barely afford bread. The morals of this friar are much closer to vice than to virtue any doubt that he is a man of low morals is now completely swept away. Chaucer's "General Prologue" is remarkable; in that it allows us to see not only what characters they claim to represent, but also what they are really like on the inside. Chaucer's portrayal of the Friar, who is supposed to be a man of absolute piety and virtue, makes it immediately clear that he is the opposite. The friar's elitist background and behavior, his greed supported by begging and vices that are opposed to true Christianity demonstrate that he is a man of low moral standards. Certainly, Chaucer paints a masterful contrast between image and reality. Bibliography The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Sixth Edition, Volume 1.MH Abrams, et al, editor. WW Norton and company. New York: 1993.