Danse Macabre - Guyot Marchand17 (Parson and Plowman)

"The Parson's Tale" seems, from the evidence of its prologue, to have been intended as the final tale of

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...

's poetic cycle ''

The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''Masterpiece, ...

''. The "tale", which is the longest of all the surviving contributions by Chaucer's pilgrims, is in fact neither a story nor a poem, but a long and unrelieved prose

treatise A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions."Treat ...

on penance. Critics and readers are generally unclear what rhetorical effect Chaucer may have intended by ending his cycle in this unlikely, extra-

generic Generic or generics may refer to: In business * Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark * Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...

fashion.

Framing narrative

In the prologue to the tale, the host asks the

Parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term d ...

for a

fable Fable is a literary genre: a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are anthropomorphized, and that illustrates or leads to a particular mo ...

(the form used earlier with such apparent success by the Nun's Priest) but the Parson refuses with a round condemnation of fable stories, saying instead that he will tell an improving tale in

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

since he can neither rhyme nor alliterate. It is also of interest that the host seems to be in some doubt as to the identity of the Parson, since he asks him to introduce himself: "Sire preest," quod he,, "artow a vicary? Or arte a person? Sey, sooth, by thy fey! Be what thou be, ne breke thou nat oure pley; For every man, save thou, hath toold his tale. ("Parson's Prologue", lines 22–25) Some idea of Chaucer's intended structure for the ''Canterbury Tales'' may be gleaned from this "final" prologue. The host speaks of ''al myn ordinaunce'' (being) ''almoost fulfild'' and says that the company ''lakketh...no tales mo than oon.'' Since known tales do not exist for all of the pilgrims, and since none reach the projected total of four tales each outlined in the "General Prologue", the host's remarks give a further indication of the way in which Chaucer's ultimate scheme for the cycle either was not realised or has not survived.

The Tale

The subject of the parson's "tale" (or rather, treatise) is

penitence Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of repentance for sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession. It also plays a par ...

. It may thus be taken as containing inferential criticism of the behaviour and character of humanity detectable in all the other pilgrims, knight included. Chaucer himself claims to be swayed by the plea for penitence, since he follows the Parson's Tale with a Retraction (the

conceit An extended metaphor, also known as a conceit or sustained metaphor, is the use of a single metaphor or analogy at length in a work of literature. It differs from a mere metaphor in its length, and in having more than one single point of contact bet ...

which appears to have been the intended close to the entire cycle) in which he personally asks forgiveness for any offences he may have caused and (perhaps) for ever having deigned to write works of ''worldly vanitee'' at all (line 1085). The parson divides

into three parts;

contrition In Christianity, contrition or contriteness (, i.e. crushed by guilt) is repentance for sins one has committed. The remorseful person is said to be ''contrite''. A central concept in much of Christianity, contrition is regarded as the first step ...

of the heart,

confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...

of the mouth, and satisfaction. The second part about confession is illustrated by referring to the

Seven Deadly Sins The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Although they are not directly mentioned in the Bible, there are parallels with the seven things ...

and offering remedies against them. The Seven Deadly Sins are pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust; they are "healed" by the

virtues Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standard ...

of humility, contentment, patience, fortitude, mercy, moderation, and chastity. Chaucer's text seems for the most part to be a combination, in English translation, of the texts of two Latin works on penitence popular at the time; the ''Summa casuum poenitentiae'' of Raymond of Peñafort, and the ''Summa vitiorum'' of

William Perault William Perault, (c. 1190 – 1271), also spelled Perauld; Latinized Peraldus or Peraltus, was a Dominican writer and preacher. Life He was born at Peyraud, France. He studied at the Sorbonne University of Paris, and there, being drawn to t ...

. This is mingled with fragments from other texts. It is not known whether Chaucer was the first to combine these particular sources, or whether he translated an existing combined edition, possibly from French. If the latter is the case, any direct source has been lost.

Character of the Parson

The Parson is considered by some to be the only good member of the clergy in ''The Canterbury Tales'', while others have detected ambiguities and possible hints of

Lollardy Lollardy, also known as Lollardism or the Lollard movement, was a proto-Protestant Christian religious movement that existed from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic ...

in the portrait.The explanatory notes to cite various instances of critical doubt; parsons were "frequent objects of satire" generally; Chaucer's parson in particular has been associated, variously by interpreters, with unauthorised sale of indulgences or carrying of false relics. Some have doubted whether he is even in orders at all, or have claimed that he is a eunuch and "ineligible for holy orders" . Chaucer, in the ''

General Prologue The General Prologue is the first part of ''The Canterbury Tales'' by Geoffrey Chaucer. It introduces the frame story, in which a group of pilgrims travelling to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury agree to take part in a storytelling com ...

'' calls him ''a povre Persoun of a Toun''. His depiction of a man who practices what he preaches seems to be positive: He was a shepherde and noght a

mercenarie A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

. And thogh he hooly were and vertuous, He was to synful men nat despitous, Ne of his speche daungerous ne

digne Digne-les-Bains (; Occitan: ''Dinha dei Banhs''), or simply and historically Digne (''Dinha'' in the classical norm or ''Digno'' in the Mistralian norm), is the prefecture of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Cô ...

, But in his techyng discreet and benynge. (Lines 514–518) if also rather forbidding; for instance, Chaucer's parson is no respecter of persons in demanding ultimate adherence to moral principles: But it were any person obstinat, What so he were, of heigh or lough estat, Hym wolde he snybben sharply for the nonys. (Lines 521–523) None of the explicit criticism of clergy that marks many of the other tales and character sketches is obvious here. The Parson is throughout depicted as a sensible and intelligent person. Chaucer is not uncritical of other clergy; in the paragraph headed "Lat us now touche the vice of flateryng", he describes flatterers – those who continuously sing placebo – as "develes chapelleyns".

Notes and references

External links

"The Parson's Prologue and Tale", middle-english hypertext with glossary and side-by-side middle english and modern english
retold in Modern English prose * {{Authority control Parson's Prologue and Tale Seven deadly sins in popular culture