FRIAR’S TALE, THE

byGeoffrey Chaucer

(ca. 1390)

The Friar’s Taleis one of Chaucer’s comicCANTERBURY TALES. Told by the pilgrim Friar, the quintessence of venality himself, the tale satirizes the abuses of summoners (officers of the ecclesiastical court) and is essentially a moral tale attacking the sin of simony (the abuse of church offices through bribery and graft). The Friar, a mendicant preacher, employs what is basically a sermon element, anexemplumor short anecdote illustrating a moral point, condemning the sin of greed.As such, the tale is partly intended to insult the pilgrim Summoner, who responds with a vicious attack on friars inThe SUMMONER’S TALE.

In the tale a greedy and corrupt Archdeacon employs an equally avaricious Summoner, who is also a thief and a “bawd,” or pimp. The Summoner sets out to extort money from an innocent old woman by means of a false summons. On the way he meets a Yeoman dressed in a jacket of green. As the two fall in together, the Yeoman introduces himself as a bailiff, and the Summoner, ashamed of his true occupation, claims to be a bailiff as well. They get along so well that they swear brotherhood and make a pact to share everything they obtain on their ride. As the Summoner presses to know more about the Yeoman, he finally reveals that he is a Fiend and that his dwelling is in Hell—and that he roams the earth in search of souls.

Far from being put off by this revelation, the Summoner becomes very curious about what things are like in Hell, and is fascinated by the Devil’s ability to change shape. He never recognizes that he might be in some danger himself. As they ride, they pass by a carter whose horses are stuck in the mud. When the carter curses the horses, the Summoner tells the Devil to take them, since the carter has given them to the devil. But the Fiend tells him that the curse is not heartfelt, and, therefore, he cannot touch the animals.When the two arrive at the old woman’s house and the Summoner attempts to extort money from her, she curses him, and because the curse is truly from her heart, the Devil carries the Summoner off to hell.Important to the story is the often-repeated word “intent”: As it is the widow’s heartfeltintentthat the Summoner go to the Devil unless he will repent of his sins, it is the Summoner’s avowedintentnever to repent, and that is what ultimately damns him.

While several analogues toThe Friar’s Taleexist, making use of the folk motif of the “heartfelt curse,” Chaucer’s is especially notable for its characterization of the obliviously corrupt Summoner and for the lively dialogue between the characters. The satire of the blackmail and extortion rampant in ecclesiastical courts is also something unique to Chaucer.

■ Bloomfield,Morton W. “ ‘The Friar’s Tale’ as a Liminal Tale,”Chaucer Review17 (1983): 286–291.

■ Hahn, Thomas. “Text and Context: Chaucer’s ‘Friar’s Tale,’ ”Studies in the Age of Chaucer5 (1983): 67–101.

■ Kline, Daniel T. “ ‘Myne by Right’: Oath Making and Intent in The Friar’s Tale.”Philological Quarterly77 (1998): 271–293.

■ Ridley, Florence H.“The Friar and the Critics.” InThe Idea ofMedieval Literature: New Essays on Chaucer and Medieval Culture in Honor of Donald R.Howard, edited by James M. Dean and Christian Zacher, 160–172. Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1992.

■ Williams, David.“From Chaucer’s Pan to Logic’s Fire: Intentionality in Chaucer’s ‘Friar’s Tale.’ ” InLiterature and Ethics: Essays Presented to A.E.Malloch, edited by Gary Wihl and David Williams, 77–95. Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1988.