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The Function of the Pilgrimage in Medieval Literature

The English Medieval Literature is a source of much information about the common people.
It reveals aspects about the social status of women, religion, beliefs and customs. Medieval England
did not recognize the existence of any class between the aristocracy and the commons. However,
there existed a large and increasingly important middle class who could afford a proper education.
Geoffrey Chaucer was born in such a wealthy family, son of a wine merchant. His education offered
him important positions near the Royal Court. Although he had a busy life at the Court, he was
much concerned with literature, reading Italian and French works of poetry. He also wrote a
significant number of poems in the vernacular English, inspired by the Italian literature.
The Canterbury Tales was Chaucers chief literary interest until his death. As a commoner
himself, he had a sympathy for the lower classes which he describes in this literary work. His
original plan was to write about 120 stories, two for each pilgrim to tell on the way to Canterbury
and two on the way back. He wrote The Canterbury Tales in English, for common people. He
wasnt obedient neither to the Court, whose official language was French, not to the Church, whose
official language was Latin. With an intense realism of his characters, Geoffrey documents various
social tensions of his the Medieval England. Surviving tales have an unknown order, but some
scholars choose the order on a combination of the links and the geographical landmarks that
pilgrims pass on their way to Canterbury.
The premise for storytelling is a pilgrimage to the shrine of the famous English saint,
Thomas a Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury who was murdered in his church. Medieval
pilgrims were notorious story-tellers. We are invited by the narrator to take part in a travel through
the English medieval society and listen to their stories. They are common people described with
much detail in the General Prologue. The group ride together and entertain each other with stories.
A knight, a miller, a wife, nuns, a parson, a monk, a pardoner (responsible with indulgence sales)
and other pilgrims from various social classes are brought together by the pilgrimage. The
pilgrimage offer them a common purpose. Some stories have a noble air, like the Knights tale
placed in Athens, with legendary characters, such as Theseus, Emelye and Palamon. Other stories
have much humor, such as the Millers tale about an adulteress wife. Women were stigmatized in
those times, considered to be the cause of all sin and evil. Stories are often turned against a certain
member of this group of pilgrims, often against women. But in this pilgrimage there are women
who want to defend their status through another story. The Wife of Bath describes a knight, the
materialization of masculine virtue, as a most ill-behaved and ill-mannered man. The story contest
turns into a fight. Tales become highly offensive, directed to one another. However, in the spirit of
the pilgrimage fellowship, they forgive each other and laugh together. The pilgrimage creates strong
friendship bonds and a way of knowing each other.
Religion, especially Christianity, was a daily subject for the Medieval People of England.
Pilgrimages were ways of atoning sins, but Chaucers pilgrims which lacks mercy, humility,
modesty and any other sign of Christian piety. The Wife of Bath performs theological disputes
whether it is right or wrong to be married several times, since she had five husbands. She comes
with biblical arguments, showing how 1 much concerned with religion were commoners.
Through pilgrimage, travelers discover their inner struggles, view of world, religious
opinions, secrets or marital problems. Each story has a prologue where a member of the group
reveals his own self. The pilgrimage develops conflicts through storytelling and reveals secrets
which are never told elsewhere. Some stories are verosimil, describing real-life situations. Other
stories are fantastic, depicting fantastic creatures, magicians associated with science, magic powers
and popular beliefs. Pilgrimage is a place for all sorts of stories, Greek and Roman legends, tragic
tales or merry tales, moral tales and chivalry tales. The pilgrimage is a place where everyone can
show themselves as the really are, with honesty. The Pardoner reveals his fraudulent activity with
false relics. The Wife of Bath shows her experience with men, the Prioress unravels her hate for
Jews and the Cook rides blind drunk at the back of the company. It is nothing pious to be found at
this group of pilgrims. They drink, laugh and tell a great deal of picaresque stories about adulteress
women. The pilgrimage reveals the character of each member with their innermost traits, as a place
where everyone confesses himself with honesty.
In Canterbury Tales pilgrimage is a premise for story telling, a way of communication, a
place where secrets are told and where debates take place.
The anonymus morality play Everyman also uses the theme of pilgrimage, but in a more
abstract way. Its characters are allegorical, like Everyman, Mercy, Discretion, Good Deeds or
Mischief. The play presents in an allegorical way the forces which can help to save Everyman from
the eternal damnation. Everyman will have to make a journey from life to death. In this journey
towards death he will have to gather friends like Friendship, Good Deeds, Kindred and Cousin. All
forsake Everyman in his quest towards his grave, except Good Deeds who will follow him in his
pilgrimage.
The pilgrimage itself is an important type in medieval literature, providing base for many
medieval writing, such as Chaucers Canterbury Tales. The metaphor is life as a journey towards
God. In Everyman the emphasis is quite firmly laid on the fact that it is a journey that you make
alone. To atone for his sins, Everyman will have to take this journey, even if he has to whip himself
as a sign of atonement. Priesthood is also an important stop on his journey, where he will receive
forgiveness. The moral play puts stress on the importance of priesthood. When Everyman is ready
to go, Good Deeds stops him, telling him he needs three more people to accompany him:
Discretion, Strength and Beauty. Everyman gathers his friends and is finally happy now that he has
everything he needs to go on his pilgrimage to the afterlife. But all his fellow pilgrims will forsake
him when he reaches his grave. Only Good Deeds will be happy to follow him beyond death.
Pilgrimage in Everyman is an allegory of the life which moves inevitably and irreversibly
towards death. It serves as a way to convey the Catholic doctrine of life, death, virtue and sin,
priesthood, the futility of worldly goods and fame.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, although it does not expresses directly the idea of a
pilgrimage, it describes a travel in the search of the Green Chapel. Sir Gawain is a young knight
who steps forward and accepts the Green Knights challenge. After beheading the Green Knight in a
beheading game, he will have to search for him to receive back the blow of an axe. His journey will
not test only Gawains bravery, but also his honesty and integrity.
The passing of the seasons are poetically described and symbolizes the change in Gawains
heart. Just as the external world shifts over the course of the year, so does Gawains inner climate.
He transforms from a joyous youth to a mournful figure as the world passes from winter to summer
and back again. Gawain is called to demonstrate his steadfastness in a world designed to change by
cycles of life and death. On the Day of All Saints, Gawain will start his pilgrimage, searching for
the Green Chapel. He encounter various enemies - wolves and dragons, bulls and bears, boars and
giants - but always prevails over his enemies. On the Christmas Eve, the desperate Gawain prays to
Virgin Mary that he might find a place to attend Christmas Mass. Gawain looks up and sees a
beautiful castle. The host is Sir Bertilak, which had been disguised into the Green Knight. The
second part of his quest will be a loyalty and honesty test and will take place in this castle. His
honesty is tested by the hosts wife. Sir Gawain promises to give to his host everything he will
receive from the two women of the2 castle, the hosts wife and Morgan le Feye. His partial honesty
shows that he is not a perfect knight. He gives two kisses to his host, but he hides the sash which he
received from the hosts wife. His journey to the Green Chapel is a road towards maturity. He
atones his mistake of hiding the sash by receiving a little cut on his neck. After completing the
quest, Sir Gawain returns as an experienced knight.
 For Sir Gawain pilgrimage is a way to achieve perfection. The travel is his road to maturity
and symbolize his inner development. He defeat beasts and, with the help of Holy Mary, he finds
the Green Knight. He is tempted by Bertilaks mistress and he rejects her in a chivalry way. The last
part of his journey is an atonement for his mistake of hiding the sash. The only injury he gets is a
small cut on his neck. He returns victorious in Camelot to tell his tale.
In all three literary works, pilgrimage has a common purpose: inner development.
Canterbury Tales pilgrims develops communication and exchange knowledge, Everyman purifies
his soul as he prepares for the afterlife, while Sir Gawain becomes a better knight. They all go
through changes, in a way or another. The main functions of pilgrimage in the English Medieval
Literature is to show the irreversible passage of time, the development of a character, storytelling
and communication.