What is Chaucer's view of the monk in The Canterbury Tales?
Not very positively, I'm afraid. Chaucer only wholly approves of the Knight, the Parson, and the Plowman in his Prologue.
The monk wears fine clothing and disregards the oath of the holy life he has pledged himself to living. He is more concerned with worldly things like hunting and eating and dressing well. In fact, Chaucer calls him a "monk out of his cloister" who is not "worth an oyster".
The monk keeps nice horses and fancy greyhounds for hunting purposes. He dresses extremely well and is very fat. In other words, he lives more richly than a holy man should, he squanders money that the poor could be using by supporting animals, and eats more than is necessary to keep himself alive and healthy.
What is Chaucer's view of the clergy in The Canterbury Tales?
In TheCanterbury Tales , Chaucer pays great attention to the clergy. Already in the Prologue, six clerics are...
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described in detail. These are the Prioress, the Monk, the Friar, the Summoner, the Pardoner, and the Parson. The other two, the second Nun and the Priest, are only mentioned here, but later they tell their own tales. Chaucer’s clergy are not just a list of characters, for the most part disagreeable, but they are also personalities interacting with one another.
For example, the Summoner and the Pardoner might be in a homosexual relationship, while the Pardoner and the Friar dislike each other. It is the characters’ interaction that allows the reader to see the church and its ills from the inside. It is possible too that by considering the church and its representatives in such a peculiar way, Chaucer is trying to make sense of the causes of its degradation.
Chaucer expresses a personal attitude to each of his characters. Sometimes, it is explicitly negative, as is the Friar’s case. Some characters are depicted with hidden irony. Sometimes it is difficult to understand the author’s attitude towards his characters. The most vivid example of this ambivalence is the Prioress. There is no consensus among the scholars as to Chaucer’s attitude towards this character and as to how he treats her anti-Semitic tale. The only character described without a hint of irony and with true respect is the Parson:
This noble ensample to his sheep he gaf
That first he wrought, and afterward he taught.
Out of the gospel he the wordes caught,
And this figure he added yet thereto,
That if gold ruste, what should iron do?
For if a priest be foul, on whom we trust,
No wonder is a lewed man to rust...
A better priest I trow that nowhere none is.
He waited after no pomp nor reverence,
Nor maked him a spiced conscience
But Christe's lore, and his apostles' twelve,
He taught, and first he follow'd it himselve. (1, Prologue)
What was Chaucer's view of the Oxford Cleric in The Canterbury Tales?
Geoffrey Chaucer portrayed the Oxford Cleric in a neutral light. He didn't include any negative descriptions nor characteristics about the Oxford Cleric, but he didn't overly praise him either.
Overall, Chaucer simply stated the facts when it came to the Oxford Cleric and his tactics. The Oxford Cleric was absolutely consumed by his schooling and studies. He spent all the money he had on his books. The appearance of the student himself and his horse reflect this, as well. His horse was described as "thinner than a rake" and the student was said to be "not too fat," as well.
As far as the type of person the Oxford Cleric was, Chaucer portrayed him as respectful, quiet and appreciative. His words were always respectful. He only spoke when it was necessary. And he prayed for those that gave him money for his schooling.
Unlike the other pilgrims that were either committing sins against their religion, or others that were praised by Chaucer for their good deeds or holy nature, the student just seemed to be right in the middle in terms of how Chaucer described him.