Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer Parson, Who

¶ … Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer [...] parson, who is one of the truly good characters in the tale. Chaucer does not make a satire of him, as he does the rest of the characters. The parson is a good and decent man who cares about his religion and his parishioners deeply. His is unlike the other characters in that Chaucer holds him up as a model, rather than making a mockery of him.

THE PARSON

From his first introduction, Chaucer portrays the Parson as a good but poor man who would not leave his flock to better himself. Chaucer writes, "nat his benefice to hyre / And leet his sheep encombred in the myre / and ran to London unto Seinte Poules / to seken him," (507-512). This shows he is honest, and cares about the people of his church, so he would not leave them and got to London to find a better position, even though he is poor (32N507-514). Instead, Chaucer says he "dwelte at hoom, and kepte well his folde" (507-510), which means he stayed close to his home, and took good care of his parishioners (32N507-514). He is an honest man who believes in God, and in the goodness of what he does, and only wants to help the people of his town lead more religious and holy lives. This is one reason Chaucer does not satirize this character, because he is a good man, the best among the group of pilgrims. Others may also have good tendencies, such as the knight, but this poor parson is the best among them, and helps hold the group together on their pilgrimage.

Another way Chaucer illustrates how good the parson is comes from his work, which Chaucer says is "hooly thought and werk" (478). He is saying the parson has only holy thoughts and does holy work, and he is absolutely devoted to God and his church. Chaucer also shows him as a kind man who is not greedy, when he says he does not "cursen for his tithes" (486), which means he does not exclude those members of his parish who cannot afford to tithe and make offerings (31N486). He is good and kind to all, regardless of their ability to help pay for his church. This may be one reason he is poor, but it makes him a better man than those priests who might think only of their pocket, rather than the souls of their parishioners.

Another quality of the parson that Chaucer is sure to share with his readers is the parson's fairness toward all. Chaucer has already shown he is not a greedy man, and will not turn away a worshippor for money, but Chaucer goes on to say he is "to drawen folk to heven by fairnesse, / By good ensample, this was his bisyness" (519-520). Here, Chaucer is saying that the parson knows more people will get to heaven if they are fair, and he uses his own fairness and justness as an example. The parson sets a good example for his flock, and this is another reason Chaucer holds him up as a model to the other pilgrims, the parson is a fair and just man. This is not to say he is a pushover, however. He knows when to draw the line, and he drew the line at sin. Chaucer says if he found a sinner in his congregation, "Hym wolde he snybben sharply" (523). This means he would rebuke the sinner, and let him know he knew what was happening with the people of his church (32N523). His first duty was to his God and religion, and his second duty was to his people.