Canterbury Tales: Power Corrupts

Part I of Essay
The pilgrims in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales exhibit human characteristics ranging from righteousness to corruption. Two of the pilgrims, the Clerk and Frere (Friar) demonstrate traits on opposite ends of the spectrum of human nature. The Clerk, wishing to educat ....

Part II of Essay
.... Having no job left the Clerk broke; his only source of income was his friends loaning him money. Not to anyone’s surprise, he spent the money on books and education. He loved to teach others and be taught. He listened carefully to what everyone had to say and never said anything more than what was appropriate for the specific time. This showed his modesty and willingness to learn new viewpoints and not just teach everyone his views. The Friar was a happy and lustful man, who having taken a vow to poverty and preaching, added as part of ....