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Feudalism and social status in the medieval period
Feudalism and social status in the medieval period
Examples of a satire essay
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Literary critic Northrop Frye once said, “Two things […] are essential to satire; one is wit or humor […], the other is an object of attack.” The truth in this statement becomes evident when discussing society. As society progresses, people continuously develop new beliefs and ideas. These beliefs and ideas, however, do not always resonate with everyone and thus arises controversy. As an approach to this controversy, people often resort to satire in many ways, shapes, and forms. It has been an innate quality for humans to challenge ideals and instigate change, and this is true for society back then and now. Both ridiculing the flaws in their respective cultures, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales from the Middle Ages and the 2004 comedy …show more content…
film Mean Girls are prime examples of satirical works. The Canterbury Tales and Mean Girls both provide criticism on the individual peoples of their time.
In Chaucer’s work, a group of twenty-nine pilgrims is on a journey to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury. Each of them introduces themselves and reveals their insights in their individual prologues as well as in their frame stories. Chaucer’s commentary comes through in these passages. For example, in “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue,” Chaucer suggests that women do not always abide by the standards and expectations society has lain upon them. The Wife of Bath is an openly sexual character and has had “five husbands […] at the church door” (161), revealing her extensive experience in the art of sex and dating—a taboo practice for women. Likewise in Mean Girls, high school cliques are portrayed as overly stereotypical. The most noteworthy of these cliques is The Plastics, which consists of the three most popular and attractive girls in fictional North Shore High School. These girls are stereotyped by the fact that they are narcissistic, manipulative, and above all, fake (hence, the name of their group). In one scene, leader Regina George portrayed by Rachel McAdams is shown giving a false compliment to a girl wearing a “vintage” skirt. Scenes like this one ridicule the “popular” kids in school for being stuck-up and …show more content…
condescending. While these works touch upon individuals specifically, they also touch upon the stratifications of their societies as a whole.
As a Middle Ages literary work, The Canterbury Tales abides by the system of Feudalism. Feudalism is a social system in which people of lower status served their higher counterparts in order to receive protection and land. Some of the pilgrims on the pilgrimage to Canterbury belong to the lower domain of the hierarchy, such as the plowman. The Plowman is a humble man who goes “steadily about his work […] / To thrash his corn, to dig, or to manure / Or make a ditch” (157). He is uneducated because his role as a plowman does not require a formal education, which, by principle, places him on the bottom of the hierarchy. These roles are rigid in that they are both difficult to break into and break out of. If one is on the lower ranks, he or she is more often than not to stay there. The higher-ups also tend to look down upon those of low status. This is particularly true in Mean Girls. A geek in the Mathletes team is unlikely to become popular because being a part of Mathletes is considered “social suicide”—a term referring to any act that kills one’s social life and reputation. Put simply, once a geek always a
geek. Professor Ruben Quintero at California State University, Los Angeles argued that “the satirist, either explicitly or implicitly, tries to sway us toward an ideal alternative, toward a condition of what the satirist believes should be.” The Canterbury Tales and Mean Girls both fall under this category because they teach their audiences about the realities of society. The creators of these works present issues in comical ways to influence society to act toward an “ideal alternative.”
While the tone may range from playful to angry, satire generally criticizes in order to make a change. Exaggeration, parody, reversal, and incongruity are satirical devices. Author’s use satirical devices to strengthen their central idea.
During the medieval ages, women were described as evil creatures that would destroy anyone standing in their way to get what they want. People claimed that women's malicious intentions clouded their judgment from doing the right thing forcing them to be selfish. In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales and Malory’s The Death of King Arthur, both focus on women’s behavioral impulses through their dishonesty, manipulation, and their promiscuity.
Political issues or matters concerning the well-being of mankind is not something new to us. Social and political hierarchies have existed for millennia, yet the ways in which people have voiced their concerns or opinions on sensitive topics related to these hierarchies have evolved over time. One way in which people have addressed important society matters has been through satire. Typically satirical writings are fueled by anger brought about by a political event or societal issue. Instead of voicing their anger directly to the people, Jonathan Swift and other satirical authors, have used satire as “the engine of anger, rather than the direct expression of anger” (Egendorf 40). In doing so,
According to Everything’s an Argument by Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz, “Humor has always played an important role in argument…” (38). Humor itself is something that activates amusement or laughter. Moreover, in popular culture satire is a tool that is used to point out things in our society. Satire opens the minds of people to philosophies they might completely deny, using humor. There are many elements of satire that identify flaws within our society. A couple of satire elements that will be discussed are irony and exaggeration. In addition, a parody is used in popular culture as a way to mock or mimic situation or person.
People never change. In every town you will always be able to find the "rich guy," the "smart guy," the "thief," and the "chief." It has been that way since the first man was swindled out of his lunch. Throughout his life, Geoffrey Chaucer encountered every kind of person and brought them to life for us in "The Canterbury Tales," a collection of short stories written in the 1300's. There are tales of saints, tales of promiscuity, tales of fraud, and tales of love. While reading, one has no choice but to come to the simple realization that nothing has really changed from Chaucer's time to ours. In "The Canterbury Tales" Chaucer depicted people from all walks of life. Society then had three basic classes of virtue that most people fell under: the Revered, the Commonfolk, and the Despicable. In the days of Chaucer, these people could be found in any village or town, just as they can be found today in our towns. Times were different then, but the people haven't changed a bit.
Satire is a great tool used by many writers and actors since ancient times. The earliest example that we know about is a script from 2nd millennium BC in Ancient Egypt (Definition: Satire) and since then has evolved into a great part of our society. Satire is used to point out the faults of human vice in order for change and reform in either of two ways. There is a very bitter Juvenalian or a mild and light Horatian. In order to fully understand these forms of satire, method, purpose, and applications will be addressed.
There are two vastly differing works of literature that employ similar elements of satire, whether the story is long or short, an essay or novella. In these two works, the authors bring light to ongoing social, political, and philosophical issues of their time and age. The two works I am referring to are Jonathan Swift’s satirical essay, A Modest Proposal, and Voltaire’s novella, Candide, or Optimism. In both A Modest Proposal and Candide, there is a portrayal of irony, cold logic and reasoning rather than emotion, and misguided philosophy. Exploring the issues within these texts can implement a better understanding of not only the literature itself, but also the historical context and the issues of the time.
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.
Throughout the ages, the story of the original sin is used to explain the struggles of women and why they are inferior to man. Eve “took of [the forbidden tree’s] fruit and ate” (Genesis 3:6), and as punishment, God made it so “[her husband] shall rule over her” (3:16). As an important text during the lifetime of the characters who tell the collection of stories that compose the Canterbury Tales, most of the pilgrims were familiar with this scripture and believed that the Bible’s word was law. For that reason, the popular belief of the time was that women were inferior to their male counterparts. However, a couple of characters in the tales challenge this viewpoint and show that women were also capable of making their own choices. As the pilgrims struggle with the issue of where women belong, their view of Eve in the story of original sin is altered as well. From mild indifference to intimate involvement, each pilgrim has a different attachment to the story of the Eve, and their views on women in society are reflected in their connection to the story.
Although society has advanced dramatically technologically, I feel that we still have a long way to go when it comes to how we view one another. It amazes me that in a society such as ours, that bases its existence on the equality of all people, that misogyny (as it occurred in medieval times) still takes place. A timeless example of misogyny is the objectifying of women, which suggests that a woman's sexual beauty is her only worth. In dealing with this misconstruction, some women, as in the case of Bercilak's wife in "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and Alisoun in "The Miller's Tale" from The Canterbury Tales, use their sex appeal to deceive, lure, and, manipulate men. A small part of me shamefully admits that I respect, and even appreciate, the way in which a woman can outsmart a man by entertaining his sexist views; however, as a whole, I strongly feel that if a woman uses her sexuality for her own advancement, then she is contributing to her own misogyny.
Satire invites critical self-introspection from us in a way that no other media can. It also acts as an unbiased mirror that reflects the mirror image of the flaws of our society. This beautiful process, when unhindered and uncensored, is the epitome of western freedom of speech, which is the single most significant right that deserves to be cherished and defended. According to McClennen, however, all mirror images of satire might not be beneficial. She believes that shows such as South Park and The Simpsons, which are not afraid to attack anything, do not lead to any kind of positive political discourse.
John Marwood Cleese, an English actor, comedian, writer and film producer said, “If I can get you to laugh with me, you like me better, which makes you more open to my ideas. And if I can persuade you to laugh at the particular point I make, by laughing at it you acknowledge its truth”. The point he brings up is the ideology of satire. Satire, by definition, is a technique utilized by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society. This can be done by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule ("Satire - Definition and Examples", para.1). Often times, the humor used opens the audiences’ minds to the underlying problem that the writer is trying to reveal. By examining the purpose and methods of satire, dissecting literary works, and displaying examples in the media, satire is shown to be a valuable tool.
Satire is a true patriot of British comedy as it can be found in nearly all British comedies even to this day. Monty Python and the Holy Grail waste no time in poking
An interesting aspect of the famous literary work, "The Canterbury Tales," is the contrast of realistic and exaggerated qualities that Chaucer entitles to each of his characters. When viewed more closely, one can determine whether each of the characters is convincing or questionable based on their personalities. This essay will analyze the characteristics and personalities of the Knight, Squire, Monk, Plowman, Miller, and Parson of Chaucer's tale.
Comedy has always been the little engine that could, pushing against societal norms and boundaries. George Carlin pushed the social bounds of language with his Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television bit. Richard Pryor walked past the razor’s edge of race dialogue in America. Lenny Bruce pushed the limits of society’s sexuality. Comedy is predicated on the idea of saying what no one else will. As Mel Brooks put it, “comedy is the lecherous little elf whispering in the king’s ear, always telling the truth about human behavior… Comedy has to walk a thin line, [and] take risks.” Humor and satire has been challenged time and time again by social dictators who wish to preserve a certain image, and as a result, comedy has always been the canary in the coal mine for a society’s sensibilities. It reveals who has power in society and who is exempt from criticism.