As odd as it seems, I
actually thought that the Summoner’s Tale was not nearly as scathing as I
expected, especially after reading the prologue. The tale just did not quite
live up to the remark that Satan should “Shewe forth thin ers, and lat the frere
se / Where is the nest of frères in this place” (1690-1691). I think part of it
was the contrast between it and the Friar’s Tale. In class we talked about the
moment right before the summoner is taken by the fiend. He had a chance to
repent and completely denied it, saying that “that is nat min entente…/…for to
repent me” (1630-1631). It seems there is a very specific place where the
summoner severely fails. I don’t see as much of that with the friar. Sure there
is the moment that he gets his reward for greed, but his offence does not seem
to come to a point like the summoner’s.
The closest to it is the
moment the sick man tells him about to take something he has hidden (the
location of which raises no question in the friar’s mind. odd). When the hears
it, “‘A!’ thought this frere, ‘that shal go with me!’” (2144). Even after he
got the sick man’s “contribution” then the friar sees nothing wrong in his own conduct.
He complains to the sick man, and he complains to lord of the land. We do not
even get his reaction to the squire’s unique solution. It seems the summoner is
trying to point out the persistent state of friars. Maybe the point is that friar’s
never see their wrong and are stupid, destructive, and greedy. Even so, it does
not seem like the summoner has “quiten him every grot” (1292) when summoner’s
are destined to hell but friars only have to put their nose to the wheel.
