There are many way to address a problem. One of the most obvious would be to simply come out and state what you have a problem with and why. However, some authors, particularly Chaucer, expressed their grievances a different way, through the use of satire. Satire is a powerful way to address a problem. Instead of saying exactly what you disapprove of, you let the reader realise what the problem is themselves through a satirical approach. Chaucer uses satire in the character's development in the Pardoner's Prologue, uses sarcasm and juvenalian satire in The Wife of Bath’s Prologue, and finally uses hyperbole in The Wife of Bath’s Tale. In Chaucer’s Pardoner’s Prologue, he uses satire in the development of his character, the Pardoner. Chaucer …show more content…
In this prologue, the woman speaking is tell the reader all about how she loved to control her husband. At this time, a strong sense of patriarchy was present in society. The belief that men were smart and should therefore make all decisions was very apparent. It is because of that belief that this prologue constitutes as juvenalian satire. What Chaucer is saying through this woman would make men very angry. The topic Chaucer is addressing through the story is very controversial, meaning it was very radical and offended many people. As a result of this strong patriarchal society, men were seem as smarter. Hearing how the wife of bath manipulated her husbands is a clear indication of Chaucer's use of satire. She would go out dressed scandalously and return in the very early morning after an enjoyable evening. When she entered her home, seeing the apparent rage on her husband's face, she would then break into this story of how she searched from him all night. By the end of the conversation her was apologizing to her. This what the first time the idea was presented that women could out smart men, or simply be smarter than them. Chaucer is attacking the patriarchy through his use of satire in The Wife of Bath’s
In “The Pardoner’s Tale,” Geoffrey Chaucer masterfully frames an informal homily. Through the use of verbal and situational irony, Chaucer is able to accentuate the moral characteristics of the Pardoner. The essence of the story is exemplified by the blatant discrepancy between the character of the storyteller and the message of his story. By analyzing this contrast, the reader can place himself in the mind of the Pardoner in order to account for his psychology.
The use of euphemism and crudeness in “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue” is simultaneously unnerving and amusing, and begs the question of how a “wicked” woman like The Wife could ever actually progress in medieval society. Chaucer incorporates subtle allusions to female sexual organs and it is this bluntness (that would raise eyebrows even today) which establishes the Wife as such a powerfully outspoken character. Because courtship in Chaucer’s time was considered worthy of complete submission, the fact that the Wife places such emphasis on domination and even psychological power hints at her being an object of irony (and not a feminist figure “before her time”). It is for this reason that Chaucer’s delicate use of “queynte”- a term from which
Characters from Chaucer’s Prologue are very well developed and full fledged characters, he goes very far into the depth of the character which only enhances his story, making it one of the highest regarded in the English language. Whether it be the characters, of the Pardoner, the Nun, or the rich Monk, it all expresses things of people that need to be changed in society, which I agree wholeheartedly with.
Chaucer’s disapproval that the Church no longer seems to function to help people is evident in “The Pardoner’s Tale” and “The Pardoner’s Prologue”, though it seems he believes in the idea of the Church as a whole. It is clear that Chaucer still believes in the ideals behind the Church, for he allows the Pardoner to tell a beautiful tale even though he uses it to swindle people of their money, and after the tale allows a tiny bit of goodness to shine from the Pardoner. This is Chaucer commenting that there is good in everyone, even the most wretched and corrupt of people, a very Catholic idea. In the end, Chaucer seems to be saying there is something inherently virtuous in all of us, no matter how skewed from our morality we may
The Pardoner’s Prologue/Tale begins with a sort of introduction, hence the title “Prologue”. It is here that we learn of the reaction that the Host gives after hearing the Physician’s Tale previously. The Host seems to be so shocked at the death of the young Roman girl in the tale that he asks the Pardoner to tell the group a merrier, more farcical tale. After some time, the Pardoner is ready to present his tale, including both moral interjection and a merrier tone. The Pardoner begins by describing a group of young Flemish people who spend their time drinking and indulging themselves in all forms of excess. He continues to tell the tale, in which the people eventually end up drinking posioned wine and all die. As is, there are more details in the tale that we did not go over there are some key elements that help us to better understand the Pardoner upon hearing his tale. First of all, we know from The General Prologue that the Pardoner is just as bad or corrupt as others in his “profession”. However, after hearing his tale it is quite shocking about his frankness about his own hypocrisy. We know that he bluntly accuses himself of fraud, avarice, and gluttony all things that he preaches against throughout this tale. It is in lines, 432-433 that the Pardoner states, “But that is nat my principal entente;/ I preche nothyng but for coveitise.” It is here that we truly begin to learn that The Pardoner’s Tale is merely an example of a story that is often used by preachers to emphasize a moral point to their audience. That is why, this tale in particular helps to comprehend Chaucer’s own opinions, and how he used satire to display
Chaucer first begins his sly jab at the Church’s motives through the description of the Pardoner’s physical appearance and attitude in his “Canterbury Tales.” Chaucer uses the Pardoner as a representation of the Church as a whole, and by describing the Pardoner and his defects, is able to show what he thinks of the Roman Catholic Church. All people present in the “Canterbury Tales” must tell a tale as a part of story-telling contest, and the pilgrim Chaucer, the character in the story Chaucer uses to portray himself, writes down the tales as they are told, as well as the story teller. The description of the Pardoner hints at the relationship and similarity between the Pardoner and the Church as a whole, as well as marks the beginning of the irony to be observed throughout the “Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale.” The narrator describes the Pardoner as an extremely over confident, arrogant, and unattractive man, noting that his hair is “as yellow as wex,” lying thin and fl...
In The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the stereotypes and roles in society are reexamined and made new through the characters in the book. Chaucer discusses different stereotypes and separates his characters from the social norm by giving them highly ironic and/or unusual characteristics. Specifically, in the stories of The Wife of Bath and The Miller’s Tale, Chaucer examines stereotypes of women and men and attempts to define their basic wants and needs.
First, it is essential to know the definition of parody as “the imitative use of the words, style, attitude, tone and ideas of an author in such a way as to make them ridiculous. Its purpose may be corrective as well as derisive” (Cuddon, 660). What Chaucer wants to prove in the course of the tales is that how ridiculous is the society showing certain behaviour codes using irony or simply mocking of the stereotypes that people believed important in that epoch.
The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales is a masterpiece of satire due to the frequent use of verbal irony and insults towards the characters and their roles in society. A major source of Irony is Chaucer’s representation of the Church. He uses the Prioress, the Monk and the Friar, who are all supposed to be holy virtuous people to represent the Church. In his writing he suggests that they are actually corrupt, break their vows and in no way model the “holiness” of Christianity.
In the 14th century Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, which included a progressive view of women's concerns in "The Wife of Bath." During a time when women were still considered chattel existing almost exclusively to produce heirs, Chaucer takes a stand on issues affecting women that were not commonly given consideration. Writing in the first person, Chaucer is able to describe life from the viewpoint of a woman. Through this style, Chaucer addresses subject matter that would have been too candid for a female writer during his time period. By writing "The Wife of Bath" in a satirical way, Chaucer points out issues facing women regarding double standards, the validity of female desire, and the economic necessity of women to marry well while keeping the text humorous with some common female stereotypes regarding deception that have persisted into present day culture.
The Wife of Bath represents the "liberal" extreme in regards to female stereotypes of the Middle Ages. Unlike most women being anonymous during the Middle Ages, she has a mind of her own and voices herself. Furthermore, she thinks extremely highly of herself and enjoys showing off her Sunday clothes whenever the opportunity arises. She intimidates men and women alike due to the power she possesses. Because of her obnoxious attitude Chaucer makes her toothless, fat and large. Doubtlessly, she is very ugly, almost to the point of "not-presentable. This to me shows how Chaucer depicts what men don't want. The Prioress, on the other hand, serves as a foil to the Wife of Bath. Chaucer describes her as "tender-hearted" who cannot bear the sight of pain or physical suffering. She will cry at the thought of a dog dying. It could represent that she has a frail soul with low tolerance for pain and suffering. The latter description carries over into the modern stereotypes about women as skittish and afraid members of society who need to be cared for.
The Wife of Bath is both the joke and the jokester herself within the text, which highlights Chaucer’s ulterior motive of calling medieval anti-feminist stereotypes into question. The reader can see this idea through a multitude of instances, mainly when speaking of her last husband and her story of the knight and his quest. Women of that time period were essentially powerless, and Chaucer simply highlights a woman who is tired of this notion and wants to change it. What Jankyn did of reading “that cursed book all night” and the actions that ensued show that not only is The Wife of Bath tired of the fact that only men were writing and recording stories that put women in a bad light, but that it also had to be pretty frustrating to put up with
Morgan implies, “Geoffrey Chaucer is a major influential figure in the history of English literature.” Chaucer battled problem that we face today. Chaucer fights the idea of the patriarchy by creating the character The Wife of Bath. The Wife of Bath challenges the idea that men are better than women. Chaucer claims on page 145 line 212, “Less than your wife, nay, than your very love.” The Wife of Bath wouldn’t listen to any man over her. She was an independent woman that only listened to
Gilbert Highet affirms Chaucer’s satire in these tales to address the institution of marriage in his book The Anatomy of Satire: “Such is that delightful satire on marriage seen from the woman 's point of view, the Wife of Bath 's Prologue in Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales.” In Chaucer’s day, the idea that women were not supposed to and generally did not enjoy sex was widely accepted. Chaucer immediately shatters this societal assertion when his character, the Wife, avows, “I can’t keep continent for years and years…One may advise a woman to be [a virgin]; Advice is no commandment in my view.” Chaucer secondly attacks the assumption that women are inferior to men throughout the prologue and her tale, but it is clear that the Wife knows how to manipulate her men. Her only challenge was her last husband, married for love: he believed readily in the wickedness of women. In physical confrontation, they fought it out, until he apologized, although she herself was also hurt. “In the end we made it up together…So help me God I was as kind to him as any wife from Denmark to the rim of India, and as true. And he to me,” vividly indicates that their relations were not peaceful until a mutualistic and equivalent understanding was
Chaucer's Irony - The Canterbury Tales Chaucer's Irony Irony is a vitally important part of The Canterbury Tales, and Chaucer's ingenious use of this literary device does a lot to provide this book with the classic status it enjoys even today. Chaucer has mastered the techniques required to skilfully put his points across and subtle irony and satire is particularly effective in making a point. The Canterbury Tales are well-known as an attack on the Church and its rôle in fourteenth century society. With the ambiguity introduced by the naïve and ignorant "Chaucer the pilgrim", the writer is able to make ironic attacks on characters and what they represent from a whole new angle. The differences in opinion of Chaucer the pilgrim and Chaucer the writer are much more than nuances - the two personas are very often diametrically opposed so as to cause effectual irony.