Chaucers Canterbury Tales - Concept of Charity in the General Prologue :: General Prologue Essays

The Concept of Charity in the habitual Prologue In the General Prologue, Chaucer presents an array of characters from the 1400s in order to paint portraits of world dish onesty and stupidity as well as virtue. Out of these twenty-nine character portraits three of them atomic number 18 especially interesting because they deal with beneficence. Charity during the 1400s, was a virtue of both religious and human traits. One character, the Parson, exemplifies Chaucers idea of charity, and two characters, Prioress, and Friar, to satirize the idea of charity and show that they are using charity for either devious reasons or out of convention or habit. According to the definition from the Websters dictionary, charity means natural endowment to the needy and helping the poor. In Chaucers time, however, charity meant much more. It included a love of G-d and doing the will of G-d as well as the kind of person one is. Thus Charity had two parts, one human, the other divine. T wo parts that mixed in different portions depending on a person. Charity was a human virtue that the Church encouraged. People believed that if one does something good, he will be rewarded by G-d. Many people did meaningful, charitable things out the goodness of their hearts, but others had through it for other reasons. Those reasons included making money from peoples pang and giving to charity because someone told them to do so, rather than from the goodness of their hearts or to ease the suffering of others. Chaucer plays off both of these parts of charity in his portraits to show how they can be combined differently in different people and to distinguish current charity from false charity. Parson exemplifies Chaucers idea of true charity. Even though Parson does not have any money, he considers himself sizable spiritually. Going or so the village, he teaches the poor and those who cant go to church about what G-d is and how to be a religious person. He gives mor e than he receives. In fact, he avoids preaching to the rich and well-to-do because he prefers going to the humble and poor, who truly need his help and G-d. He doesnt run to London to earn easy bread