The Canterbury Teales by Geoffrey Chaucer - 2115 Words

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer can be understood as a text that criticizes glossing and those who gloss. In this case, glossing a text is the comments, explanations, and interpretations one infers from reading the piece of literature and the understanding that can be taken away from it; this is different for every individual who reads the written word. I believe Chaucer wrote some of these tales as a critique of certain figures in his society. The question one should ask when reading, or being read to, is what is the meaning behind the text and where does the meaning lie. When, directly, reading a text one can determine the meaning of the author through one’s own interpretation. When one is being read to, they are being given the information in a biased form; this prevents one from being able to interpret the text for oneself and leads to the audience being glossed, as well as the text, and Chaucer criticizes the crowd’s contentedness to be glossed at and to. Chaucer creates a multitude of female characters that are used to critique the current social order of his time some subtly and some overtly. He presents the audience with female Christian figures some of which represent a passive attitude and a meek demeanor to allow themselves to be used by the patriarchal dominated society; some Christian individuals who speak out against the authority that is placed upon the men in fourteenth century England whether or not they accept the idea of being subservient to men