Religion in Medieval Europe as Depicted in the Tales

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The Canterbury Tales
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Religion in Medieval Europe as Depicted in the Tales
There are numerous religious characters in the tales, and the entire storyline surrounding Canterbury itself is in the setting of a pilgrimage, which is always religious. It is therefore quite a fact that religion occupies a very central theme in the entire fabric of these tales.
Through the tales, there is a clear battle between good and evil. The monk for example, is painted as very gentle as well as virtuous, “Fat was this Lord, he stood in goodly case” (p.7).This clearly depicts him as a good man. Similarly, the Prioress is painted as not only virtuous but also very gentle and graceful.
However, as the tales wear on, the bad elements clearly come to the fore. The Friar is clearly very corrupt and full of dark tendencies, “…in town he knew the taverns, everyone, and every good host and each barmaid too - Better than begging lepers, these he knew…” (p.8).He was the personification of everything evil an...