The Friar Verses The Summoner: Adversaries through Similarities in Greed

J.D. Hunnicutt
ENL 4311

Course 60159

Hunnicutt 2 One of the most intriguing aspects of the pilgrims in Geoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales, which separates in from other contemporary texts, lies in the unique insight into their interpersonal beliefs and interactions with one another. Some of these interactions and insights, normally brought to the reader through the individual characters prologues and tales, invoke a sense of benign understanding. Others, such as the Miller and the Reeve, become antagonistic with regard to how each of the men regards the others profession. A much deeper animosity can be read to exist between the Friar and the Summoner. Unlike the other pilgrims, these two men appear to possess a profound hatred toward each other, both in regards to their profession and, more importantly, to each other personally. The roots of this mutual hatred lie hidden away in the culture of their day, but Chaucer brings it to the modern age through the two characters prologues and subsequent tales. By examining the dichotomy between the Friar and the Summoner, an understanding of the power struggle between two different ecclesiastic orders and the aggression which this struggle imparts can be seen as a reflection into the male/male relationships of Chaucers time. From The General Prologue, a description of each of the two men can be read. Each, as described in the text, possesses qualities which each man, according to their office, should not inherently exhibit. The Friar, a man predestined by his calling to a life of poverty, chastity and simplistic lifestyle, becomes a man beset with the very sins his charge should prevent. He gives penitence to his congregation far too easily and for money as well. He paid for marriages, which confers that he not only possesses the financial means for these actions but also that he may be involved with sexual misconduct (210-214). Tales of debauchery and misconduct become repeated through the remainder of the Friars description, leading the reader to doubt the sincerity of the Friar towards any matter.

Hunnicutt 3 The description of the Summoner repeats the theme of a man who not fulfilling the proper duties of his calling. Described in the text as having blotchy, narrow eyes with scaly brows and red, knobbed lesions on his cheeks, the Summoner possess physical attributes which would immediately cause a person to become taken aback by the man (625-633). The Summoner, like the Friar, uses the evangelical power of his office for his own gain. This similarity in duties can be seen as the leading cause between the two mens heated distain for one another. With both competing for the patronage of the local community, the offices the men possess would naturally bring them against each other, with neither accountable to the others local authority. From these initial accounts, the Friar and the Summoner appear as natural adversaries. The depth of their aversion cannot be fully comprehended, however, until the beginnings of their personal interaction, which occurs at the end of the Wife of Baths prologue. As the Friar comments on the length of the Wife of Baths prologue, the Summoner immediately rebukes him for speaking, exclaiming: A frere wol entremette hym evere mo! (834). This attack by the Summoner over a seeming innocent remark by the Friar throws the two men at one another with each vowing to tell slanderous tales of one anothers profession. The odd placement of this foreshadowing in the Wife of Baths prologue allows the reader to contemplate on the upcoming tales. The surface of the hatred between the two men, ironically with both having ties to the Church and the keys to their citizens eternal salvation, by this interchange showing a breaching, yet the deep seated animosity they share fully develops in their individual tales. After the Wife of Bath concludes, the Friar begins his tale, wasting no time in telling the pilgrims: Pardee ye may wel knowe by the name/ That of a sumonour may no good be sayd. (1280-1281). Despite the Host rebuking the men in order to maintain civility, the hatred the men

Hunnicutt 4 share cannot be overcome. Again, the complete hatred between these two men, who by their office should be examples of patience and Godly love, becomes twisted through their underlying mutual desire for power and wealth, as described in The General Prologue. The tale told by the Friar immediately disgraces and defames the office of the Summoner. The Summoner immediately cries foul as to the degradations placed upon him by the Friar, but quiets when again rebuked by the host into allow the Friar to continue. This moment shows the separation between the depths of hatred the Friar and the Summoner possess toward one another, as opposed to the Miller and the Reeve. One of the most interesting points made by the Friar in his tale lies in the fact that the Summoner described acts worse than the demon he encounters. When the demon refuses to take a poor mans horses, cart and hay due to the fact that the cursing uttered showed not the truth in the mans heart, the Summoner laughs at the demons pity and resolves to show how true larceny may be performed (1548-1580). The Summoner attempts to bully an old woman out of not only her money but also her new pan. With the Summoner unrepentant in his devilish actions, the demon takes him to Hell. This vital aspect of the Friars Tale demonstrates the utter contempt he holds towards the Summoner. Both men as viewed by the community around them should be examples of Gods true Church, yet the Friar places the Summoner as more corrupt and evil than even a true demon from Hell. The Summoner begins his retort, exclaiming the reason the Friar knows so much about the nature of Hell comes from the fact that: Freres and feendes been but lyte asunder! (1674). In the tale the Summoner tales, a Friar walks about a town, regarded as forgiving sins by his prayers in exchange for a payment to the Church. A scribe with the Friar writes down the names of those whose sins the Friar needs to pray for, yet as soon as the two leave, the names written down become wiped away. (1757-1759). The Friar exclaims foul to this most egregious

Hunnicutt 5 accusation, but the Host allows the same level of cruelty for the Summoner as he allowed for the Friar. As the Friar enters a sick mans house, the man informs the Friar that he already gave alms for his sins to the local church. The man exclaims to the Friar that he gave to him many times, yet his illness remains. The Friar rebukes the man for the majority of the Summoners tale, showing the Summoners belief that the Friars uses long rhetoric to confuse and eventually wear down his parishioners, without any true Godly words. At the end, the Friar becomes a fool, having been farted on by the sick man and brought down before the villages lord by the wit of a common squire. Although several of the pilgrims argue with one another, no other pair can be shown to possess more hatred and contempt for each other than the Friar and the Summoner. These two men, both of whom hold ecclesiastic offices, should naturally be above such base emotions, yet they become the exact opposite. The allusions to greed in both mens hearts by the textual evidence can be seen as the prime reason behind this most foul animosity.

Hunnicutt 6 Works Cited Chaucer, Geoffrey. Canterbury Tales. Ed. Robert Boeing and Andrew Taylor. Ontario, Canada: Broadview, 2008.