What happens in Chapter 8 of The Canterbury Tales?
The Friar's Tale is told by the Friar as a sharp critique of the Summoner, his competitor among the pilgrims. One day, a corrupt summoner—an officer in the church courts who profits through extortion—sets out to collect money from a widow. On his way, he meets a yeoman in green, who eventually reveals himself to be a devil from Hell. They form a partnership, agreeing to share whatever they gain. When they come across a carter whose cart is stuck in the mud, the carter angrily curses his horses to the devil; the summoner encourages his new companion to take them, but the devil refuses, recognizing that the curse isn't serious. They reach the widow's home, where the summoner demands twelve pence from her on a made-up charge. In response, she curses him to the devil "body and soul." The devil asks if she truly means it—she affirms she does, unless the summoner repents. He declines to repent, and the devil takes him to Hell. The tale concludes with the Friar warning his fellow pilgrims about the grim fate that awaits summoners.
Analysis
Chaucer presents the Friar with a tale that features a satirical structure that is nearly geometrically precise: the summoner encounters his moral counterpart in the devil, and this symmetry is where the humor lies. Both characters are professional extortionists operating under the guise of institutional authority—one from the church, the other from hell—and Chaucer allows this parallel to build without commentary, trusting readers to appreciate its significance. The "yeoman in green" is a brilliant choice of costume: the color immediately suggests a forest outlaw before the supernatural twist is revealed, blending folklore with theology.
The tale’s main craft element is the double-curse structure. The carter's curse is performative—an expression of frustration rather than a genuine wish—and the devil, who insists on literal meaning, ignores it. In contrast, the widow's curse is intentional and conditional, depending on the summoner's refusal to repent. Chaucer uses this difference to highlight the medieval distinction between words spoken out of passion and those spoken with sincerity, giving the tale a surprisingly strong moral framework beneath its comedic exterior.
Tonal shifts are handled with care: the initial banter between the two riders is almost picaresque, warm, and conspiratorial, which makes the abrupt damnation feel even more dizzying. The Friar's final words to the pilgrims burst any remaining bubble of comfort, shifting the tale from an example to a personal attack. Throughout, Chaucer ensures that the Friar's own corruption remains visible, as the tale criticizes summoners while the storyteller himself is far from innocent—maintaining the ironic tension of the frame narrative.
Key quotes from Chapter 8
“And right anon they ryden forth hir weye. / And right anon the feend hente hym so faste, / And with hym to the place wher as he sholde caste / Hym into helle, ther as he sholde duelle.”
The tale's climax, in which the devil makes good on the widow's sincere curse and carries the summoner bodily to Hell.
“We have the same entente, / To wynne good, thou rekkest nevere how; / Right so fare I, for ryde I wolde right now / Unto the worldes ende for a preye.”
The devil lays bare the moral equivalence between himself and the summoner, framing their partnership as a shared philosophy of predatory gain.
“Nay, olde stot, that is nat myn entente / Quod this feend, for to wynne thee aught. / Thy body and this panne been myne by right.”
The devil declines the carter's inadvertent curse, distinguishing between words spoken in anger and a genuine act of will—the tale's pivotal theological distinction.