The Use Of Satire In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

1165 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Chaucer Use Of Satire

When someone is trying to prove a point or make a statement, what do you think is the most effective was to do so? Do you think using sarcasm is an efficient way to do so? Do you think that by using sarcasm you will just anger the party that you’re trying to get your point across to? What if the person or group of people doesn’t understand what you’re trying to say or still doesn’t agree with the point that you’re making? Chaucer, a very controversial writer, uses sarcasm, or satire, to get his points and views across in a very alarming way. What Chaucer did in the mid 1350’s was very controversial and had a lot of repercussions, although many of them could be seen as good. Chaucer is considered the father of the English language because he …show more content…

After reading The General Prologue, it is quite clear that Chaucer’s idea of the church isn’t necessarily a very appreciative one. He makes it very obvious right in the beginning that he thinks the church is a game and that it’s not actually a legit institution. “I have a text, it always is the same and always has been, since I learnt the game, old as the hills and fresher than the grass.” (Page 125, Lines 5-7) Already by line 7, Chaucer has made it clear what he thinks about the church. He says that being a Pardoner for the church is just a game, and that it’s not actually legit. He will go on to talk about how the church and all of the people who run the church are just greedy individuals and they are just doing it for the money. And he will also state that the people that attend the church and believe in what it is doing are just yokels. Yokels are unsophisticated people living a rural are. Chaucer means that the people who attend church are stupid people who will believe anything that the church tells them. This is all very ironic and satiric considering that Chaucer says all of this through a Pardoner, who at the end of the story asks the people to pay him to pardon them. Even though they just listened to him tell the story of how the church is a game and that he is just doing it for the …show more content…

In The wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale, Chaucer suggests that we shouldn’t have different classes throughout communities. He says that having lower, middle, and upper classes isn’t right and that a man’s worth shouldn’t be decided because of how much money he has. “Such as descends from ancient wealth and worth. If that’s the claim you make for gentlemen such arrogance is hardly worth a hen. Whoever loves to work for virtuous ends, public and private, and who most intends to do what deeds of gentleness he can, take him to be the greatest gentleman.” (Page 146, Lines 256-262) Chaucer is suggesting that just because you have a lot of money, doesn’t mean that you’re a gentleman, and just because you’re poor, doesn’t mean that you’re not a gentleman. Chaucer suggests that this idea of different classes is non-Christian, and that it isn’t right for the church to believe in this. Chaucer is challenging something very controversial again because the rich and wealthy have all of the power, and he is saying that they

Show More
Related

  • How Does Chaucer Use Indirect Characterization In The Canterbury Tales

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    This might seem ironic coming from a man in this period, but it is not so ironic when one looks at the Canterbury Tales and acknowledges it as a fine work of parody. Chaucer attacks other traditions vigorously, a good example of which is his discussion of corruption in the church . His critical look at the standards for women which are especially enforced by the church add humor to the tale of the Wife of Bath while also making a political statement. Chaucer prepares the reader for the tale with his brief description of the wife in the Prologue. She is a skilled cloth-maker and devoted Christian pilgrim trips as well as several other shrines in different countries.

    Read More

  • Essay on Verbal and Situational Irony in The Pardoner’s Tale of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Satire of the Knight in the Prologue and Knight's Tale of "The Canterbury Tales"

    2185 Words  | 5 Pages

    Satire. Satire is a biting literary tool, one that Geoffery Chaucer used liberally when he wrote his Canterbury Tales. Webster's New World Dictionary says that satire is "the use of ridicule, sarcasm, etc. to attack vices, follies, etc." Using that definition, I think that all of the pilgrims in the Canterbury Tales are satirized to some extent; some of the satirizations are more subtle than others. The Knight is one of the pilgrims that is more subtly satirized.

    Read More

  • The Pardoner's Tale And The Wife Of Bath Satire Analysis

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 not my principal intent; I preach nothing but for convenience.” 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 them.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Pardoner's Prologue And Tale

    1340 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...irony, the corruption he believes can be found in the Church, pointing at its common tendency in this time to take advantage of the people through its power. He also shows through the Pardoner that perhaps immoral people cannot guide people to morality, through subtle lines such as “For though myself be a ful vicious man,/ A moral tale yit I you telle can” (GP 171-172). Through Chaucer’s portrayal of the Pardoner in this tale, the audience is able to see that the Pardoner is a self-absorbed, greedy man that mirrors what the author thinks of the Church, and that the Pardoner is the exact opposite of what he preaches, which also points towards the supposed corruption of the Church. The irony found throughout this work serves the important purpose of bringing attention to the dishonesty and fraud Chaucer believes can be found in the Roman Catholic Church at this time.

    Read More

  • Satire: Enlightened Wit in the Age of Reason

    1466 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mad Magazine, The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live. In our society, satire is among the most prevalent of comedic forms. This was not always true, for before the 18th century, satire was not a fully developed form. Satire, however, rose out of necessity; writers and artists needed a way to ambiguously criticize their governments, their churches, and their aristocrats. By the 18th century, satire was hugely popular. Satire as an art form has its roots in the classics, especially in the Roman Horace's Satires. Satire as it was originally proposed was a form of literature using sarcasm, irony, and wit, to bring about a change in society, but in the eighteenth century Voltaire, Jonathan Swift and William Hogarth expanded satire to include politics, as well as art. The political climate of the time was one of tension. Any criticism of government would bring harsh punishments, sometimes exile or death. In order to voice opinions without fear of punishment, malcontented writers turned to Satire. Voltaire's Candide and Swift's Modest Proposal are two examples of this new genre. By creating a fictional world modeled after the world he hated, Voltaire was able to attack scientists, and theologians with impunity. Jonathan Swift created many fictional worlds in his great work, Gulliver's Travels, where he constantly drew parallels to the English government.

    Read More

  • Parody in The Canterbury Tales

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    “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”.

    Read More

  • Historical Characteristics In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

    926 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are two types of people in this world, the first ones are, the people who doesn't really like reading books because most of them doesn't have pictures on it, and they find it extremely boring. Then the other type of people, who simply gets lost into their book every time they read, because they just simply love reading. Some of them even say that when they're reading, it is taking them to a different world that only their imagination can create. That is why some people consider their books as their most priced possessions, because of how much it means to them and also some books can be rather pricey. Indeed, books can really be expensive, however, you might be too astonished when you see the following books, because they're considered

    Read More

  • Geoffrey Chaucer's Use Of Satire In The Canterbury Tales

    1451 Words  | 3 Pages

    During Chaucer’s time, there were major issues of class, nobility, and money. During 1350, there was a very rigid class structure. During this time, people who had more money were considered of higher value. Also, people who were poor were not considered of great value. During the Wife of Bath’s Tale, the old woman challenges the young knight about nobility. She argues that men who are of nobility are supposed to be gentlemen, or are a nice guy. Also, she says that men cannot be born a gentleman, just because you are born to a particular family doesn’t mean that you are a nice guy. She says this in the poem by saying, “but gentleness, as you will recognize, is not annexed in nature to possessions, men fail in living up to their professions; but fire never ceases to be fire. God knows you’ll often find, if you enquire some lording full of villainy and shame. If you would be esteemed for the mere name of having been by birth a gentleman and stemming from some virtuous, noble clan, and do not live yourself by gentle deed or take your fathers’ noble code and creed, you are no gentleman, thought duke or earl. Vice and bad manners are what make a churl,” page 147. She says in the quote that just because your parents are nice people, doesn’t mean that you are a nice person, or vice versa. The old woman also challenges the knight by saying later on that if he was a

    Read More

  • The Tale of the Pardoner in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

    1940 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Canterbury Tales is a literary masterpiece in which the brilliant author Geoffrey Chaucer sought out to accomplish various goals. Chaucer wrote his tales during the late 1300’s.  This puts him right at the beginning of the decline of the Middle Ages.  Historically, we know that a middle class was just starting to take shape at this time, due to the emerging commerce industry. Chaucer was able to see the importance and future success of the middle class, and wrote his work with them in mind.  Knowing that the middle class was not interested in lofty philosophical literature, Chaucer wrote his work as an extremely comical and entertaining piece that would be more interesting to his audience.  Also, Chaucer tried to reach the middle class by writing The Canterbury Tales in English, the language of the middle class rather than French, the language of the educated upper class.  The most impressive aspect of Chaucer’s writing is how he incorporated into his piece some of his own controversial views of society, but yet kept it very entertaining and light on the surface level.  One of the most prevalent of these ideas was his view that certain aspects of the church had become corrupt.  This idea sharply contrasted previous Middle Age thought, which excepted the church’s absolute power and goodness unquestionably.  He used corrupt church officials in his tales to illustrate to his audience that certain aspects of the church needed to be reformed.  The most intriguing of these characters was the Pardoner.  Chaucer’s satirical account of the Pardoner is written in a very matter-of-fact manner that made it even more unsettling with his audience.  Chaucer uses his straightforwardness regarding the hypocrisy of the Pardoner, suggestive physiognomy of the character, and an interesting scene at the conclusion of the Pardoner’s Tale to inculcate his views of the church to his audience. The way that Chaucer used these literary devices to subtly make his views known to an audience while hooking them with entertainment, shows that Chaucer was truly a literary genius.

    Read More

  • Chaucer's Use of Satire towards the Corruptness of the Medieval Church

    668 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chaucer uses the Prioress, the Monk and the Friar to represent his views on the Church. He makes the three model members of the Church appear to have no problems with self-indulgence, greed, and being unfaithful to their vows. He displays his anti skeptical thoughts of the faults of the medieval church by making fun of its teachings and the people of the church, who use it for personal gain. Chaucer see’s the church as corrupt, hypocritical and greedy.

    Read More

  • Comparing Satire in Canterbury Tales, Pride and Prejudice and The Rape of the Lock

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    Use of Satire in Canterbury Tales, Pride and Prejudice and The Rape of the Lock

    Read More

  • English Satire in Gulliver’s Travels

    940 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gulliver’s Travels is a satirical novel about a sailor’s adventures through strange lands; the author of Gulliver’s Travels, Jonathan Swift, uses these adventures to satirize the English society. The most prevalent satire is used as Gulliver travels through the lands of Lilliput, Brombdinag, and the Houyhnhnms.

    Read More

  • Chaucer's Use Of Satire In The Canterbury Tales

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Chaucer's Irony - The Canterbury Tales

    1274 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about The Use Of Satire In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

Open Document