What satire or social commentary was Chaucer implying in the story.

The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer
British Literature Mid-Term Exam
Thomas a Beckett served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He was a friend of King Henry II who was frustrated by Beckett’s refusal to follow his policy suggestions in favor of following the dictates of the Church. At one point, Henry was so perturbed by Beckett, he uttered the words, “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?!”
Several of his knights heard this and immediately traveled to Canterbury Cathedral and murdered Becket at the altar. Henry was aghast at this and determined to atone for his sin by making a pilgrimage to the cathedral, which became a shrine to Beckett. Thomas a Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Becket went down in history as a martyr and a saint for standing up for his faith. Beckett’s martyrdom made him a beloved saint, and the site of his death became the destination of pilgrimages. The thirty travelers in the Canterbury Tales are on a pilgrimage to see the tomb of Becket.
Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in which a group of pilgrims traveling to Canterbury Cathedral compete in a storytelling contest. The stories told by the pilgrims reflect the concerns sparked by social problems of the late medieval period in England. The tales could be described both as social realism and as satire. At the same time that Chaucer takes care to honestly show the perspective of each of his characters, he also aims to critique the hypocrisy of the church and the social problems posed by Medieval politics and social custom.
The medieval society was set on three foundations: the nobility, the church, and the peasantry. Chaucer’s satire targets all segments of the medieval social issues, human immorality, and depraved heart.
This project is a research project. You are going to choose a pilgrim from the list provided. Once you have chosen your pilgrim, you will research him/her and write a report about him/her. The report will include the following information in the prescribed format:
Introduction: You will give a brief explanation about why Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales. You will also provide an explanation about the pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral.
Paragraph Two: you will name your pilgrim and provide a physical and character description. You will include in this description what the pilgrim does for a living as well as what he/she is like. This information is given in the Prologue of The Canterbury Tales, and you may look the pilgrim up on the Internet. You may use sites such as SparkNotes, Schmoop, etc. but there are also more scholarly websites to be used, and you are expected to use some of them as well. Part of your description must include what social commentary Chaucer was making about the pilgrim.
Paragraph Three: In this paragraph, you will summarize the tale (story) that the pilgrim told. Modern English versions of the tales can be found at the following website:
https://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/browse?type=Lccn&key=PR1866%20%2eC85%201993
(Links to an external site.)
You will read the story and then summarize it in your own words!
Paragraph Four: In this paragraph you will discuss the purpose of the tale. What satire or social commentary was Chaucer implying in the story.
Conclusion: Conclude your report with your own words, telling why The Canterbury Tales is such an important work of literature.
The report should be between 500-1500 words. This will be typed, double-spaced in Times New Roman 12 pt font. It will be submitted electronically to Turnitin. I will give directions for that later. Your report must have a list of websites/resources used on a Bibliography page.
In-text citations must be used. Information on that to follow.
The project is due before midnight on December 10, 2021. Late submissions will not be accepted and will receive an exam grade of zero.
The Pilgrims
I Picked (THE REEVE)

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