In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, an interesting mix of people gather to comment on various issues in the society. The most commendable aspect of their stories is that none of them seems to be interested in making an issue out of anything. They are simply who are they and through them we get to see beyond the caricatures and stereotypes that society has constructed. These people are all very different from what they are expected to be. Wife of Bath, for example, is not your average timid woman of the 16th or 17th century. She is a bold, lusty, and vocal person with a mind of her own who can be described as a man-eater.
             Middle Ages were not exactly a time of static moral values. Things had been changing but change was slow and people were not very receptive. Sexuality however was an important subject as people were seeking new meanings of the term and there was some experimentation in this area. Thus we notice that the entire Canterbury Tales pays great deal of attention to the subject of sexuality. While ordinary people were expected to be chaste, in the Middle Ages, things had begun to change and even the celibates were seen bearing children. Similarly The Monk's description in the General Prologue depicts a person who is the complete opposite of Saint Augustine's ideal. The Monk owns horses because he is fond of riding. And he loves hunting as well. He spends his time hunting and riding instead of investing it in manual labor as Augustine suggested. The narrator is rather happy with this Monk's original thinking and his individuality. Describing the things he owns, the narrator says, "Many a dainty horse he had in stable" (p. 23) and "Greyhounds he had, as swift as birds, to course." (p. 24). When talking about his passions and the way he spends his time, the narrator informs, "Hunting a hare or riding at a fence/Was all his fun, he spared for no expense." (p. 24). The Mo...