The Parson In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

In The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer portrays 26 pilgrims with their virtues and vices. The Parson was a religiously devout and wise man, who despised cursing, so he charged for it. The Wife of Bath has the strength to stand up for herself over any male, but is very lustful and extreme in her beliefs of matriarchal dominance, to the point of being sexist. The Parson was a man of poverty, but was as rich as a king in his teachings. He set a very clear example of what a good Christian should be like. Unlike the other clergymen, such as the Monk and the Friar, the Parson practiced that which he preached. In the face of much adversity, he remained calm and collected instead of becoming angered. The Parson was very well versed in the Gospel, and would share his knowledge
She made it clear in each of her marriages that she was the one in charge. This should be considered a virtue of hers, because if a man attempted to dump all of the household workload on her while he sat around relaxing, she would stand up for herself and force him to do the work. The Wife, however, could sometimes take the belief of the wife playing the dominant role in the marriage too far. She made her first three husbands feel as though it were always their fault, and would not take responsibility for her actions. Chaucer describes the woman as “somewhat deaf, which was a pity” (456). This could perhaps symbolize her ignorance to her husband’s complaints and issues, for the pure reason that she thinks the husband should submit to the will of the wife. The wife would nearly put herself on a pedestal, and would use her husband’s money to buy herself elegant clothing. However, the Wife clearly was not satisfied with one man to marry. The author writes, “She’d had five husbands, all at the church door, / Apart from other company in youth” (470). This unquestionably demonstrates her deadly sin: