Canterbury Tales; Professions - 1185 Words

During the Middle Ages there were many professions, some of them were honorable others were not. In Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, there are profiles of some the professions that were present during the Middle Ages. Among the professions there were a few that seemed unappealing. Personally, I do not like the professions that accept bribes; in this case the Friar represented characteristics of that profession. Other professions provoke suffering of another human being. For example, the Summoner’s job was to bring people accused of violating Church law to court. This profession would not appeal to me since I do not find it rewarding to bring people to court that essentially might be punished and possibly for the wrong reasons. After reading†¦show more content†¦Another major reason I chose being a knight as a profession is based simply on the fact that all knights have to be males. Back in the day, females had little to no rights. It would also be pleassant to be a male and possess power that females did not have. Even women of status and power did have the right to choose for themselves. A woman’s fate is often predetermined by gods of the King whom is a male figure. In the Canterbury Tales, the female characters are often over shadowed by the male character. There are several examples in the Knight’s Tale that help me illustrate my point. The Knights Tale is a tale about two knights, Arcite and Palamon, who are captured in battle and imprisoned in Athens under the order of King Theseus. While imprisoned in a tower, both see Emelye, the sister of Queen Hippolyta, and fall instantly in love with her. They fight over Emelye, but their fight is stopped when Theseus finds them. Theseus sets the rules for a duel between the two knights for Emelyes affection. In actuality, Emelye does not even want the men to fight and wants both of them to live. She prays to Diana asking to marry neither of the men so they can both live. She leaves i t to the gods to decide and cannot decide herself. Emelye tends to take herself out of the equation and only thinks about the greater good of other people. Even though her attempt isShow MoreRelated Analysis of The Canons Yeomans Tale Essay762 Words   |  4 PagesYeomans Tale (The Canterbury Tales) Prologue to the Canons Yeomans Tale: When the story of Saint Cecilia was finished and the company continued on their journey, they came across two men. One of them was clad all in black and had been traveling quickly on their horses; the narrator believes that he must be a canon (an alchemist). The Canons Yeoman said that they wished to join the company on their journey, for they had heard of their tales. 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