By the time the Manciple's tale had ended it was already afternoon and the
pilgrims were entering a village. The Host then calls upon the Parson
to tell a lively story since he was the only person left who hadn't told
a tale. But the Parson tartly replies that the Host wouldn't get any stories
out of him since St. Paul reproved of romances, fables and similar ideas.
He could only provide them with a moral and edifying homily. He also says
that he can't rhyme and alliterate and would tell a pleasing thing in
prose and promises that he will guide them on their glorious pilgrimage
to the Celestial City of Jerusalem. The pilgrims agree to hear the Parson
and the Host bids him to hurry up with his homily since the sun would
soon set.
The Parson's Tale starts by defining (as the Parson had promised in the Prologue
to his tale) "the right way to Jerusalem the Celestial". The
Parson states that God is loving and merciful and does not wish the damnation
of any man. The proper way to gain admittance into the celestial city
is by contrition or repentance for one's sins and a determination to lead
a good life. The first cause of contrition is the sorrowful remembrance
of one's sins. The Parson adds later in the tale that another cause of
contrition is the sorrowful remembrance of the good that one has left
undone on earth. The Pardoner then launches into a long sermon about the
Seven Deadly Sins of Pride, Envy, Anger, Sloth, Avarice, Gluttony, and
Lechery. The Parson says that repentance for one's sins may be made through
voluntary confessions and also by giving charity and fasting. The Parson
ends his tale with a reminder that no matter how long a person has lived
his life in sin the mercy of God is always ready to receive him. Thus
a sinner can attain salvation and divine bliss through the love and grace
of God.
The Parson's Tale is the longest one in the poem. It is written in prose.
In fact it isn't a tale but a sermon on penance and a long treatise on
the seven deadly sins. It is far from a pleasing thing that the Parson
promised in his Prologue. The repentance theme is taken up again by Chaucer's
Retracciouns'. The source for the Parson's tale is attributed to two
thirteenth century religious tracts namely:
1) De Poenitentia by Raymond de Pennaforte, and 2) Summa de Vitiis by
Guilielmus Peraldus.
The Parson's Tale is in contrast with all the tales. It is a treatise on sin and repentance and shows the pilgrims the right way or the true pilgrimage. It is thus a suitable ending for the book. It provides the reader with a vision of the celestial city of Jerusalem and examines human experience in its entirety. The underlying moral of the tale is that self-awareness is a pre-requisite for the way to salvation.
Critics have argued that Chaucer designed the entire structure of The Canterbury
Tales in order to illustrate the Parson's theme of the Seven
Deadly Sins. Hence The Parson's Tale can be seen as providing a serious
comment on what has gone before.
Chaucer addresses the readers and tells them to thank Christ if they find anything pleasurable in the book since He is the source of all wisdom and goodness. However if the readers find something that they do not like in the book, he begs them to ascribe the fault to his incompetence and not to his will. He proclaims that he has written with the intention of teaching.
He entreats the reader to pray for God's mercy on him and asks forgiveness
for the trespasses he has made especially his translations and writing
of works dealing with worldly vanity. In this retraction he denounces
Troilus and Cressida, The House of
Fame, The Nineteen Ladies, The Book
of the Duchess, The Parliament of
Fowls, and also The Canterbury Tales which
he believes are sinful. He also refers to The Book of
the Lion and many other books which he now cannot remember.
But he asks for Divine Grace for his translations of Boethius and other
books of legends of the saints and prays for his soul's salvation.
In Retracciouns' Chaucer renounces all his previous works apart from the
Christian pieces. Scholars have been locked in a stormy debate over the
significance of this final part of the text. Although it is a part of
The Canterbury Tales it begs forgiveness for "the
tales of Canterbury" --- those that deal with immorality. It is indeed
puzzling why Chaucer wrote this retraction. Possibly the retraction could
be merely conventional, or sincere, or ironic. It is also possible that
it was not written by Chaucer and only added to the text at a later date.
Clapsaddle, Diane. "TheBestNotes on A Long Way Gone".
TheBestNotes.com.
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