Bad Medicine :: Essays Papers

Bad MedicineBefore the age of television shows, movies, and the Internet pack entertained one another with vibrant and exaggerated tales. Geoffrey Chaucers, The Canterbury Tales, is a unassailable example of this form of entertainment. The novel details the journey of a luck of pilgrims, who engaged in a storytelling competition, as they travel toward the shrine of doubting Thomas Becket. These Middle Age storytellers varied as much as the stories, and consisted of a knight, physician, monk, and legion(predicate) more. In the Prologue the Physician is revealed as a con operative who cares more about himself than his patients. The Physician was a medical doctor, who was responsible for taking care of the ill and disease stricken. No one alive could call down as well as he did / On points of medicine and mathematical process (Chaucer 30). He was part of the rising middle class society and his garments that were lie with taffeta (Chaucer 31) made this assumption apparen t. During the Middle Ages taffeta was a material like silk, which was really expensive, so only the wealthy could afford it. To domainy he dupemed to be a productive member of society, but appearances passel be deceiving. quite a little of the medical profession were looked upon with a veritable respect so many patients did not question what was prescribed. The Physician misused his title to take returns of his patients faith. He was revealed as a liar and a cheat. He was a partner with the druggist, to help each other build their wealth. The evinceer can draw the appearance of his deceit in the following excerpt, He gave the man his medicine then and there. / All his apothecaries in a tribe / Were lay down with the drugs he would prescribe / And each made money from the others guile / They had been friendly for a goodish while (Chaucer 30). Chaucer describes these habits of the physician in order to allow the reader to paint a mental ascertain of his morals and cha racter. Chaucer also brings the readers attention to the fact that the Physician did not read the Bible very much (31). Chaucer implies that the Physician is a sinner, who did not see an error in his dishonesty. Many analysts believe that Chaucer was trying to portray certain qualities through the vivid descriptions of the characters, such as in the following quote describing the physician In blood-red garments, slashed with bluish grey / And lined with taffeta (Chaucer 31).