Summary:
Social hierarchy is highly stressed in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. The social hierarchies in the world today, particularly in the United States, share the same basic concept as those as those stressed in The Canterbury Tales, although they differ greatly with regard to their focus on religion.
Social hierarch is an aspect that is a highly stressed in Geoffrey Chaucer's, The Canterbury Tales. Social hierarchy is a rank of all the people that live in a society. The United States has a defined set of social classes as well. It consists of three main classes, a high class, a middle class, and low class. The social hierarchies in the world today share the same basic concept as those as those stressed in The Canterbury Tales, but they differ greatly in the amount of focus on religion.
Chaucer based The Canterbury Tales on the medieval times, when the social classes were lead by religious figures. The first class consisted of the knight and the squire who were a main part of the royal court. In the medieval times the king and queen would be the leading officials. The knight in The Canterbury Tales is known for his strength, courage, and triumphant war status. His son is the squire who follows in his fathers footsteps and is training to be a knight. Also another part of the high class were the life long dedicated church officials such as the pardoner, who preached whenever possible, the monk, the nun, and the friar. The middle class was made up of the professionals like the guidsmen, the clerk, and the man of law. THE miller, the manciple, and the keeve were also part of the middle class, but they were not recognized as men as the others. Although they were professional, they worked under another higher status professional.
The lowest class was made up of a peasant, plowman, and the yeoman, who was a servant. In today's society, the members that make up the society classes have changed a little. The high class is a class full of politics, fame, and fortune. This class consists of political leaders such as the president as well as celebrities, movie stars, and musical performers. In today's society, money talks, because celebrities can commit crimes without receiving any type of punishment. The middle class is made up of the average, everyday people considered white collar workers, with family and a comfortable income. This class is like the medieval class because these people are also considered to be professionals. The lowest class consists of the people who are barely making it. It consists of low income, or in many cases, people with no income, that live below or very near the poverty line.
The Canterbury Tales portrayed the medieval times perfectly. Like the medieval times, the loyal court was the highest class, followed by religious leaders who devoted their lives to the church, merchants, skilled workers, and laborers, and finally the servants, slaves, and peasants. The only characteristic that could be considered incorrect was the amount of corruptness that most of Chaucer's higher characters had. Many religious officials were portrayed as corrupt, selfish individuals. Despite changes, the social hierarchy has remained quite similar to the original medieval hierarchy.
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