No New Tale to Tell

In the two Canterbury tales that we recently read, we saw how greed, selfishness, and cunning brought the men to their deaths and how equality given to women in a marriage brought prosperity. These lessons can still be applied to our lives today, especially the Pardoner’s Tale. I’m pretty sure everyone has felt the temptation of greed and self-gain before. Even though sharing is encouraged in society as a form of social etiquette, the human instinct inside of us desires to have everything for ourselves. This may be because we as humans put ourselves before others in order to survive in prehistoric times. For example, when there are only two of your favorite cookies left, you want to eat all of them because they’re so delicious, but your moral side tells you to save one for your sibling. Not sharing will not bring you to your death, but it is moral to do so. There should also be a sense of trust if you’re working with a team to accomplish a common goal, so that nobody takes all the credit for something. In the second Canterbury tale, this can still be related to modern society because women still desire sovereignty over their husbands, but in a more gender-equal modern society in the U.S., this is less of a problem than third-world countries. I agree that there needs to be a balance of power in a relationship for it to last long.