Tale of a Canterbury tale

My summary of the Friar's tala can be found
here dcadena314englitcomp.blogspot.com/2014/09/canterbury-tales-ii-what-character.html
 1. "Lady," said he, "God grant you a good life! 
You have here touched, as I may prosperous be,
Upon school matters of great difficulty;
You have said many things right well, I say;
But, lady, as we ride along our way,
We need but talk to carry on our game,
And leave authorities, in good God's name,
To preachers and to schools for clergymen.
But if it pleases all this company, then,
I'll tell you of a summoner, to make game.
By God, you could surmise it by the name
That of a summoner may no good be said;
I pray that no one will be angry made.
A summoner is a runner up and down
With summonses for fornication known,
And he is beaten well at each town's end." 

Here the friar wants to avoid talking about his own tale because he wants to keep his reputation of a benevolent friar. The host of the story telling sees this and tells him to tell his own tale.

This false thief, then, this summoner (said the friar)
Had always panders ready to his hand,
For any hawk to lure in all England,
Who told him all the scandal that they knew; 

For their acquaintances were nothing new. 

the friar talks of an archdeacon who is high in the church but chooses to steal. In reality, he is talking about himself. He considers himself false because he steals but is supposed to live a modest life.

This summoner, ever lurking for his prey, 

Rode out to summon a widow, an old rip,
Feigning a cause, for her he planned to strip.
It happened that he saw before him ride
A yeoman gay along a forest's side.
A bow he bore, and arrows bright and keen;
He wore a short coat of the Lincoln green,
And hat upon his head, with fringes black.
"Sir," said the summoner, "hail and well met, Jack!"
"Welcome," said he, "and every comrade good!
Whither do you ride under this greenwood?" 

Said this yeoman, "Will you go far today?"
This summoner replied to him with: "Nay,
Hard by this place," said he, "'tis my intent
To ride, sir, to collect a bit of rent 

Pertaining to my lord's temporality."
"And are you then a bailiff?"
"Aye," said he.
He dared not, no, for very filth and shame,
Say that he was a summoner, for the name. 

The friar has done so much stealing that he knows exactly what to do to get paid. He pretends to be someone else so that his true greedy character can emerge without being forced down by his reputation.

This summoner, who was as full of words 

As full of malice are these butcher birds,
And ever enquiring after everything

The friar is a pathological liar. He has to come up with lie after lie to make a decent living. but his job as a friar has pushed him to this life so everything he does to live contradicts the way he's supposed to act.

"Brother," said he, "here lives an ancient crone
Who'd quite as gladly lose her neck as own
She must give up a penny, good or bad.
But I'll have twelvepence, though it drive her mad
Or I will summon her to our office;
And yet God knows I know of her no vice.
But since you cannot, in this strange country,

Make your expenses, here take note of me."
This summoner knocked on the widow's gate. 

The friar is so desperate for money that he'll take advantage of an old woman so he can live. It shows that survival is more important than benevolence for the friar. 

2. Chaucer told the friar's&m tale to show innate human nature. the friar is basically an animal trapped in a corner and has no choice but to fight back and survive. The friar decides to take on the persona of a bailiff and extort money from people like the cart man and the old woman. He does this to save his reputation as a friar, but as a result his true , basic human character emerges. But society and th elite have pushed him into this corner. societies expectations of a friar are to be benevolent and modest, but when one constantly sees others lives, how can one not be jealous? When the friar is is pushed into a standard of living that is conceived as poor, how can he not want to try and move up in stature.