Deceit Then and Now Chaucer’s, The Canterbury Tales, ridicule some common human frailties. Some of the frailties exposed satirize the church. Two characters whose weaknesses do such are The Pardoner and The Wife of Bath who are manipulative, selfish, and deceitful – all characteristics despised by the church. The Pardoner is manipulative in many ways. One is that he can make people believe nearly anything he says. He can get them to believe things will …showed first 75 words of 303 total…

…showed last 75 words of 303 total…to seduce men and get them to marry her. The manipulative actions of The Pardoner and the selfish actions of The Wife of Bath are all deceiving to the church. The deceitful actions of both The Pardoner and The Wife of Bath were against the church. By creating these characters, and showing how people can be manipulative, selfish, and deceitful, Chaucer can reveal what kind of people existed in his time, as well as today.