In the "General Prologue," Chaucer presents an array of characters from

the 1400's in order to paint portraits of human dishonesty and stupidity as well
as virtue. Out of these twenty-nine character portraits three of them are espe
cially interesting because they deal with charity. Charity during the 1400's, w
as a virtue of both religious and human traits. One character, the Parson, exem
plifies Chaucer's idea of charity, and two characters, Prioress, and Friar, to s
atirize the idea of charity and show that they are using charity for either devi
ous reasons or out of convention or habit.
According to the definition from the Webster's dictionary, charity means
giving to the needy and helping the poor. In Chaucer's time, however, charity
meant much more. It included a love of G-d and doing the will of G-d as well a
s the kind of person one is. Thus Charity had two parts, one human, the other d
ivine. Two parts that mixed in different portions depending on a person. Chari
ty was a human virtue that the Church encouraged. People believed that if one d
oes something good, he will be rewarded by G-d. Many people did meaningful, cha
ritable things out the goodness of their hearts, but others had done it for othe
r reasons. Those reasons included making money from people's suffering and givi
ng 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 t
hese parts of charity in his portraits to show how they can be combined differen
tly in different people and to distinguish "true" charity from "false" charity.
Parson exemplifies Chaucer's idea of true charity. Even though Parson d
oes not have any money, he considers himself rich spiritually. Going around the
village, he teaches the poor and those who can't go to church about what G-d is
and how to be a religious person. He gives more than he receives. In fact, he
avoids preaching to the rich and well-to-do because he prefers going to the hum
ble and poor, who truly need his help and G-d. He doesn't
run to London to earn easy bread
By singing masses for the wealthy dead,
Or find some Brotherhood and get enrolled.
He stayed at home and watched over his fold
So that no wolf should make the sheep miscarry. (p.16)
Parson is seen as an ideal priest, and his actions describe the real meaning of
what charity is. He is "virtuous," "Never contemptuous" toward sinners, "never
disdainful," and "discreet."(p.17) Getting people to Heaven is his main goal,
not their money or his own advancement.
Friar, on the other hand, uses charity for devious purposes. By getting
a license from the Pope, which lets him go around the country and hear confessi
ons, he uses this license to make money for himself. Also he runs an agency in
which he fixes up young women with men for a fee. Unlike Parson, who goes out o
f his way to help the poor, the Friar thinks that
nothing good can come
Of commerce with such slum-and-gutter dwellers,
But only with the rich and victual-sellers. (p.9)
By visiting only rich people, Friar's primary purpose is to make money and not t
o give forgiveness for the sins as he is supposed to do. He is using his positi
on for his own purposes under the disguise of charity, which in his case is bein
g greedy and being guilty of committing one of the seven sins.
Without knowing it, Prioress uses charity as a convention. Since her fa
ther does not have enough for a dowry, he is forced to send Prioress to a nunne
ry. Prioress does not have much of a choice herself, since in the Middle Ages,
women had little choice in their future, usually being married or becoming prost
itutes. Because she grew up in a wealthy, not very religious family, she does n
ot know the real meaning of being a nun and of what charity means beyond what th
e Church has told her. Because she is told that she has to follow a certain dis

cipline, she complies with it without questioning the true meaning. Instead of
helping poor people, she helps animals by feeding them, simply because the Churc
h said feed the needy.
She had little dogs she would be feeding.
With roasted flesh, or milk, or fine white bread. (p.7)
The way she eats "no morsel from her lips did she let fall"(p.6), the way she
dresses, " Her cloak ... had a graceful charm...whence hung a golden brooch of b
rightest sheen....(p.7), suggests that she belongs to an upper class and not to
the order of nuns. Chaucer shows that she follows the denotative meaning of ch
arity. She knows what charity means intellectually and religiously but has not
experienced it spiritually. Ironically, around her neck she wears a brooch that
declares "Love Conquers All," (p.7) without having slightest indication of what
this statement truly means.
By presenting us with these characters, Chaucer describes an overview of
what life was during the Middle Ages.