The Summoner in The Canterbury Tales
The Summoner in The Canterbury Tales
In The Canterbury Tales written by Chaucer, the Summoner is a character that has an important role in the story. He is a character that is seen throughout society for having a significant job because it is a job working for the Church, though he did not perform his job to the best of his ability because he was easily lured away from his job with the use of red wine. The Summoner is employed by the Church as a means of summoning people to be tried for their sins at the Church, hence his name. Since he performs his job so poorly, Chaucer uses the Summoner in The Canterbury Tales to illustrate the ideas of deceit and corruption. Overall, the Summoner is a drunken and sinful individual that was meant to represent the Church. This shows the connection the Summoner had with the theme of The Canterbury Tales. The theme of the story is the corruption of the Church, which the Summoner portrays perfectly.
Chaucer gives a very detailed description on the Summoner’s physical appearance. Chaucer makes the reader see that the Summoner’s disgusting physical features reflect the wretched state of his soul. His fiery red pimpled face is the direct result of his sinful and lecherous activities. His food habits are far from sober. He delights in eating garlic, leeks, and onions, yet his weakness for wine further amplifies his physical conditions. He suffers from some kind of leprosy that Chaucer states is unable to be cured by any known remedy, “No quicksilver, lead ointment, tartar creams, no brimstone, no boracic, so it seems, could make a salve that had the power to bit, clean up, or cure his whelks of knobby white or purge the pimples sitting on his cheeks (Chaucer 647-651).” The Summoner appears extremely repulsive with festering blotches on his face, black, bushy eyebrows, and scanty beard. It is hardly surprising that children are terrified of his gruesome appearance. Through this description of the
In The Canterbury Tales written by Chaucer, the Summoner is a character that has an important role in the story. He is a character that is seen throughout society for having a significant job because it is a job working for the Church, though he did not perform his job to the best of his ability because he was easily lured away from his job with the use of red wine. The Summoner is employed by the Church as a means of summoning people to be tried for their sins at the Church, hence his name. Since he performs his job so poorly, Chaucer uses the Summoner in The Canterbury Tales to illustrate the ideas of deceit and corruption. Overall, the Summoner is a drunken and sinful individual that was meant to represent the Church. This shows the connection the Summoner had with the theme of The Canterbury Tales. The theme of the story is the corruption of the Church, which the Summoner portrays perfectly.
Chaucer gives a very detailed description on the Summoner’s physical appearance. Chaucer makes the reader see that the Summoner’s disgusting physical features reflect the wretched state of his soul. His fiery red pimpled face is the direct result of his sinful and lecherous activities. His food habits are far from sober. He delights in eating garlic, leeks, and onions, yet his weakness for wine further amplifies his physical conditions. He suffers from some kind of leprosy that Chaucer states is unable to be cured by any known remedy, “No quicksilver, lead ointment, tartar creams, no brimstone, no boracic, so it seems, could make a salve that had the power to bit, clean up, or cure his whelks of knobby white or purge the pimples sitting on his cheeks (Chaucer 647-651).” The Summoner appears extremely repulsive with festering blotches on his face, black, bushy eyebrows, and scanty beard. It is hardly surprising that children are terrified of his gruesome appearance. Through this description of the