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Haneen Abusada Ms. Collins Advanced Placement-English Literature and Composition 13 October 2011 The Canterbury Tales Chaucer ingenious technique of writing displayed the impossible to possible in making English a respectable literary language. During his time, French was popularly used within the scholars. Chaucer was viewed as a genius of the Middle Ages with his unique taste in writing literature. The common people began a burial ground called, “The Poets’ Corner” in Westminster Abbey, in honor of Chaucer when he passed away.
Chaucer was not the last poet buried there, many famous and beyond their time poets were honored the burial with Chaucer there on after. In his lifetime, Chaucer established his finest works in his last two decades. One in which is, “The Canterbury Tales” with 30 different characters. These characters are realistically mirrors of the common people in the Middle Ages and how society was viewed. In “The Canterbury Tales”, the characters contradistinctive individualities and occupations help establish the characters storyline.
In the story, the people are gathered to make a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Thomas a Becket at Canterbury. The reason for the pilgrimage is to visit Becket shrine, an Archbishop in Canterbury who was murdered. It is said that the shrine gives the impression of a feeling of rebirth. In his Canterbury tales, Chaucer depicts the Doctor as someone who understands the human body and soul, who is similar to House in contemporary times and this essay, will reveal their similarities. To begin with, the doctor in The Canterbury Tales was the most educated on the studies of medicine and surgery.
The Doctor would study his patient’s habits closely and precisely, taking his interpretation in mind when creating a diagnostics. In the Middle Ages, studies in medieval science established the prediction of four different qualities that determined the type of humors of the body; dry, cold, moist or hot. These qualities can be better understood with the four elements that make up earth. Physicians would put this technique in their evaluation. The Doctor had mastered in identifying people’s humor.
Along with their humor, the doctor could claim the veracity of the case faster than the average physician during that time. The doctor’s morals are his obsession with gold and lack of the beliefs of the bible. The pilgrim isn’t necessary bad because he does help people. His fault is his infatuation for wanting more and more gold. The character must be going on the pilgrimage for this addiction. His reasons for the pilgrimage are genuine since gold wasn’t passed around occasionally. The acquiring of gold wasn’t so easy. All the Doctor saw in his eyes and needed was financial gain.
The Doctor saw himself as a symbolic being since he was allowed to cure people. With that said, he had the sense that he should live like one. His trip was to help him put his morals in line and check. A modern foil who shares these similarities and contracts is the character House. Simultaneously, House is a well-known and popular doctor among the everyday people. Cases all over the country tend to make a request to have House as their Doctor to find their cure that other doctors of modern day can’t solve. House views patients as a puzzle.
If their puzzle looks interesting, unique and challenging then he accepts it. House doesn’t put the outcome of the patient dying or making it alive in consideration. The only thing he focuses on is the last puzzle piece. Coupled with the Doctor, House studies the person’s behavior, physical being and language. House is depicted as a morally ambiguous character with his judgments of people without the whole story. He contradicts others opinions and ideas if they are not worthy and equal to his. In contract to the Doctor, House had an addiction as well.
His addiction is Vicadin which symbolically is his gold. The character has severe pain in his leg which is cured with obsessive amounts of Vicadin. His occupation as a doctor allows him to get easy access to his most desired thing, likewise the Doctor getting gold through his occupation as payment. The character House goes on his own pilgrimage in modern day which is rehab. In this scenario, house gets help for his addiction. The difference between House and the Doctor is that House has friends who help and support him through his tough times.
The Doctor was not described to be close to any other characters, resulting in a harder time. In the final analysis, both characters face similar struggles during each of their times. Both characters are tormented in falling in their addiction. Their conclusions of people are based on how the people live. In any event, these characters are brilliant with their thinking and way of delivering to their diagnostics. Their morals chased them to their own pilgrimage. In, “The Canterbury Tales” and “House” the characters have their own battles during their time but come to salvation in the end.