“The Canterbury Tales” was written in the 14th century by Geoffrey Chaucer. These tales constitutes a frame story which each pilgrim has to tell their own story to the Chaucer, the pilgrim; not the poet. As we know, the tale itself is a satire, but the stylistic structure in the tales creates a sense that can be a parody as well. To support this idea of parody, it is need to know the definition of parody and how Chaucer use this style to make his own ideas clear through the general prologue and the tales such as “The Miller’s Tale” and “The Knight’s Tale”.
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.
On one hand, in “The Knight’s Tale”, Chaucer uses parody through Palamon and Arcite since they become parodies of the perfect knight as is stated in:
“This sorrowing prisoner, this Palamon,
Being in the chamber, pacing to and fro,
And to himself complaining of his woe,
Cursing his birth, he often cried "Alas!"
And so it was, by chance or other pass,
That through a window, closed by many a bar
Of iron, strong and square as any spar,
He cast his eyes upon Emilia,
And thereupon he blenched and cried out "Ah!"
As if he had been smitten to the heart.” (Chaucer, 24)
In this example, Chaucer, by writing this parody, is trying to express the idea that a lot of the ideals of chivalry are a ...
... middle of paper ...
...not change the style of the tale, referring to the tone and language used, but also the way that he appoints this overrated thing that love posses. As in “The Miller’s Tale” does not exist the courtesy or any other important value for society, Chaucer tries to express his own opinion about courtly love through the tale of the Miller saying that this not happen in everywhere or part of the society, demonstrating that the ideals of being a knight is very far away of the convention of what he thinks is valuable to society.
Works Cited
Cuddon, J.A., Revised by C.E. Preston. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. 4th ed. London /GB: Penguin Books Ltd, 2000. N. pag. Print.
McDonnell, Helen, Neil E. Nakadate, John Pfordresher, and Thomas E. Shoemate. ENGLAND in Literature. Medallion ed. N.p.: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1990. 69-80. Print.
Hansen, Elaine Tuttle. Chaucer and the Fictions of Gender. Berkeley: U of California P. 1992. Print. (Kennedy Library PR1928.W64 H36 1992)
Chaucer is a medieval author best known for his witty Canterbury Tales. He “was born between 1340 and 1345, probably in London. His father was a prosperous wine merchant” (BBC). Drawing inspiration from what he had experienced in his lifetime, Chaucer wrote his problems about his society with a series of short stories, names the Canterbury Tales. These tales are abnormal, due to being written in English, instead of Latin, like most stories of that period. Also, there is lots of examples of satire within the text. Within the General Prologue, Pardoner’s Prologue, and Wife of Bath’s Prologue, Chaucer uses both types of satire to reach his intended audience, which is the common public.
Chaucer’s Use of Satire (An in depth analysis into the General Prologue, Pardoner's Tale, and the Wife of Bath.) What does it mean for literature to be characterized as a type of satire? According to Oxford Dictionaries, “Satire, is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.” There are countless examples of how satire has enabled great writers to achieve their ultimate goals. In fact, many of the modern stories and works of literature that we study, have, in one way or another, some type of satire.
Chaucer identifies a pardoner as his main character for the story and utilizes the situational and verbal irony found in the pardoner’s interactions and deplorable personality to demonstrate his belief in the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church during this time. 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 a 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.”
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.
...er, also bitterly satirizes the chivalric code of Chaucer's romance, as Shakespeare, sickened by the self-mythologizing of the court, attempts to topple another of his age's grand cultural narratives. It has been noted that the points in his play which most bitterly satirize Chaucer's poem are those which correspond with Chaucer's deviations from HIS sources, Boccacio etc. Shakespeare is not only condemning the myths which pass through history, but also the alteration of these, whether for propagandic or artistic reasons. Shakespeare is at pains to demonstrate that tradition, which grants the illusion of official history to myth and legend, is a 'whore and a cuckold', just as its idealized heroes and heroines are. What we see in Troilus and Cressida are the ugliest implications of conflict and strife - opportunities for heroism and chivalry are continually perverted.
In addition to this Chaucer used illustrations of Friars failures of sticking to his religious beliefs by seducing women then marrying them off to other men, creating women into an object for men instead of an equal person, which breaks down the idea of him being a masculine chivalrous man. Which helps to show challenges that Chaucer has created, to show the differences in men and that everyone is
In his Miller’s Tale, Chaucer’s Miller weaves a tale which incorporates all three medieval estates, and develops a narrative which, when placed under examination, can be demonstrated as surpassing the simplistic and crude nature commonly attributed to such fabliaux. While his outward behavior in the Miller’s Prologue seems to immediately suggest a subversion of chivalric ideals, “So that with trouble upon his horse he sat,/ Nor bothered to doff his hood or hat,/ Nor deferred to anyone out of courtesy” the purpose of the Miller’s Tale is not to provoke those accustomed to more genteel manners to relinquish themselves of their learned moral and social restraint. (Chaucer 167) By lampooning romantic ideals, the Miller’s Tale effectively pays back
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.
Satire has been around for centuries. It is a common tool for artists who want to express themselves. When Chaucer wrote Canterbury tales he did it to criticize the way society was. The form of criticism he had was satire. Every character that tells a story exhibits a satire of the social class in which they exist. Chaucer’s character representing Britain’s highest class is the knight who represented how not respected some of the higher class were. For the working class of medieval England, Chaucer had many characters, but the one that was the most interesting was the miller. There was also a monk that represented how religious spokespeople were represented. Chaucer satirizes many social classes in his book The Canterbury Tales.
Chaucer is known for his satirical writings, they offer a different light on the middle ages than most traditional writing styles. In the Canterbury Tales his use of irony is how he displays the people of the middle ages are corrupt. For example when the three friends went looking for death, but then forgot all about death when they found money under the tree. Only little did they know death found them instead. Then in the Wife of Bath's tale, the Knight committed a horrible crime against a women, and instead of dying he had to find the answer the question what do women all want. This is ironic because he was so disrespectful to women and for his punishment he must please the women in order to gain the information. Satire is used throughout all of the tales, especially the Millers uses crude language to get the message across to the reader, as well as irony in this case they all were greedy and
Geoffrey Chaucer was a on a mission when he wrote The Canterbury Tales. That mission was to create a satire that attacked three major institutions. Raphel displays, “Medieval society was divided into three estates: the Church (those who prayed), the Nobility (those who fought), and the Patriarchy. The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales is an estates satire.” Chaucer wanted to shed light on the institutions that were taking advantage of the everyday man. Chaucer does this by making up tales about certain people that she light to the undercover world of the institutions. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses satire to attack the Church, the Patriarchy, and the Nobility.
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.
Geoffrey Chaucer, an English author, poet, and philosopher is often called the Father of English literature. He is best known for “The Canterbury Tales,” which is a satirically written social commentary of corruption in the church of England. Chaucer wrote about the bad people in the Church, using religious people to make his point. Chaucer wrote about some of the people he made a trip with to Canterbury. He used two of his tales, “The Pardoner’s Tale” and “The Wife of Bath Tale,” to call attention to two of the sins. Using satirical humor Geoffrey Chaucer insults the Church of England to let the world know about the corruption in the Church.
The Canterbury Tales is a great contemplation of stories, that display humorous and ironic examples of medieval life, which imitate moral and ethical problems in history and even those presented today. Chaucer owed a great deal to the authors who produced these works before his time. Chaucer tweaked their materials, gave them new meanings and revealed unscathed truths, thus providing fresh ideas to his readers. Chaucer's main goal for these tales was to create settings in which people can relate, to portray lessons and the irony of human existence.