We are brought to a tavern just outside of London in about 1390, where a group of pilgrims have gathered in preparation for their journey to visit the shrine of St.Thomas Becket in Canterbury. The narrator, Chaucer, encounters them and joins their company. Chaucer describes all the pilgrims in humorous and often grotesque detail, including issues such as avarice, effeminacy, and social prestige. Within these descriptions of each pilgrim, such as the Friar, the Summoner, the Nun, the Pardoner, the Squire, the Monk, the Doctor, the Guildsmen, and the Wife of Bath, lies the development of the central theme, humor bordering on satire.
One distinct way Chaucer makes the theme known is by characterizing the Summoner and the The Friar based on the avarice they both posses. Chaucer includes many indications that the Summoner and the Friar take advantage of the church for wealth. For example, mentioning the things he would only do in return for wine ("He would allow-just for a quart of wine-Any good lad to keep a concubine", 667). He also laughs at "the pimples sitting on his cheeks", 651. Chaucer continues to expose the Summoner by describing him as a dishonest person ("I know he lied in what he said", 677), contributing to his avarice. Similarly, Chaucer reveals that the Friar, who was qualified to hear confessions, did not give penance for genuine reasons but rather for the silver his penitents gave him ("He was an easy man in penance-giving", 227, "Therefore instead of weeping and of prayer One should give silver for a poor Friar's care", 235). He also holds him up to scorn for spending a vast amount of time in the taverns only in seek of a profit ("But anywhere a profit might accrue", 253). The Doctor also falls into this category based on the sarcasm Chaucer uses to describe the way he does his job. Chaucer describes him as a "perfect practicing physician", 432, mocking his lack of concern for his patients by carelessly diagnosing them and prescribing them medicine ("He watched his patients favorable star.
