A prime example of Chaucer’s view on the fraudulence of the people in his era were the men in positions of authority and trust. The Friar is perhaps one of the better known examples of fraud. As a Friar, he was to accept small donations on behalf of the church in return for offering penance for sinful behaviour. However, this was not the case. The sinner would have to “supply the poor Friar with the price of dinner” (line 228) in order to gain audience with the Friar, and if a sinner paid a hefty sum to the Friar, “the Friar would stake his oath he had repented.”

(line 224). Chaucer goes on to suggest that perhaps the Friar fails to assign what the church would consider appropriate penance, “he was an easy man for absolution,” (line 219), and spent too much of his free time in bars, as “he knew the taverns well in every town.” (Line 236). The Friar’s actions were not only fraudulent, they were scandalous, and this behaviour was also reflected in characters such as the Pardoner. The Pardoner, like the Friar, was a member of the church, further implicating Chaucer’s poor opinion of the Catholic church. Chaucer suggests that the Pardoner was not really sent from Rome, “But now come straight from Rome, or so said he,” (line 619) and that the facade was just a scheme to make large profits from the people. Throughout the rest of the Pardoner’s introduction, Chaucer makes it clear to the reader that the Pardoner feels that the men truly dedicated to Christ are easily taken advantage of, “He made dupes of the parson and his flock,” (line 650), and his main concern is not with the Church or Christ, but only with making profits, never expressing remorse for taking advantage of honest men, for “His conscience was a little plastic.” (Line 651).

Finally Chaucer explores what seems to be an significant social issue, vanity, as it is reflected in most characters in the Prologue. It is first introduced wi

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