Preview

What Is Chaucer's Use Of Satire In The Canterbury Tales

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
171 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is Chaucer's Use Of Satire In The Canterbury Tales
Even in the General Prologue, the reader is exposed to Chaucer's satiric tone. This is especially true when he introduces to us the characters. For example, The Knight's description is understatement. He is meant to poke fun at the Knights's of Chaucer's time that no longer followed the Code of Chivalry. Usually, the more Chaucer dislikes a character the more prevalent satire is in their description. An example of this is the Pardoner, his horrible description is overstatement to show what a horrible person he is. Also the animalistic description of him is a parody for the same purpose. Corruption of the Catholic Church was a major problem during Chaucer's time and, is a major theme in The Canterbury Tales. Through the use of satire, he exposes
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Satire In Chaucer's Tales
    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Satire In Chaucer's Tales

    What three groups would you add to the journey? Geoffrey Chaucer took three types on his journey to Canterbury. They were the religious group, the upper class, and the middle working class. Chaucer wrote his tales in Middle English around the 1350’s. Chaucer had many people from each group go. He mostly wrote in a satiric tone. Satire is another word for sarcasm or irony. Irony is saying one thing while meaning another. He used both juvenilia and horashian. Juvenilia is harsh sarcasm. An example would be the friar. Horashian is soft or gentle sarcasm. The main nun would be a great example of this. If I were to take a pilgrimage I would take three groups, musicians, athlete, and comedians.…

    • 686 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Satire In General Prologue, Pardoner's Tale
    • 1886 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Satire In General Prologue, Pardoner's Tale

    What in the heck do you mean? Isn’t that a use of satire one might ask? Satire is saying one thing and meaning another. It is a perfect example of irony. Irony can be seen in our everyday lives and is greatly used throughout comedy and poetry. Especially in the old poetry. Satire can also be seen as a slightly different version of sarcasm depending on how it is used in context. There is a great deal of satire in any aspect of life if you choose to look hard enough. It is used mostly by women, once one does their research well enough. Women like to use it when they are talking to their men and accusing them of something and they decide to try…

    • 1886 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Philosophical Beliefs of Geoffrey Chaucer: Why has Chaucer's works been kept alive for so long? What are his beliefs?
    • 1099 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Philosophical Beliefs of Geoffrey Chaucer: Why has Chaucer's works been kept alive for so long? What are his beliefs?

    The philosophy behind Christianity is to gain a higher spirituality, and be elevated over material things. Chaucer reveals a Church based upon corruption and immorality. Chaucer views Christianity as it is viewed today, a vehicle to transport someone to a "higher spiritual plane". Chaucer first starts exposing the corruption straight from the prologue. Regarding the Nun, Chaucer explains her interest in jewelry and looking exquisite "She wore a coral trinket on her arm, a set of beads, the gaudies trickled in green, Whence hung a golden brooch of brighteset sheen" (Prologue). Concerning the Monk, It is written how highly he valued hunting and horses over spirituality "Who rode the country; hunting was his sport" (Prologue). Regarding the Friar, Chaucer explains in detail, his passion with women, drinking, and worldly things "Highly beloved and intimate was he with country folk within his boundary, and city dames of honour and possession... He knew the taverns well in every town and every innkeeper and barmaid too" (Prologue). Pertaining to the Pardoner and the Summoner Chaucer revealed their diabolical scheme to seize the money of a simpleton. The Summoner would inform people of their "sins". The Pardoner would absolve them for a sizable fee. Their entire lives were filled…

    • 1099 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Patriarchy In Canterbury Tales Essay
    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Patriarchy In Canterbury Tales Essay

    Chaucer’s attack on the hypocrisy of the whole church is found repeatedly in the General Prologue as well as The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale. The fight against patriarchy clashes with the blindness of people and fraud in the church. He in his…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The pardoners prologue and Tale: Abuse in the Medieval Church by Pardoners
    • 1012 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The pardoners prologue and Tale: Abuse in the Medieval Church by Pardoners

    Throughout the Prologue Chaucer exemplifies the Medieval confessio; this allows the Pardoner to expose his scandalous and blasphemous abuse of power. The Pardoner boastingly reveals that he is a “ful vicious man”, telling the audience that he would usually only tell stories for money. “ …and that is avarce. But though myself be gilty in that sinne,” This Medieval confessio shows the first hand abuse to the church and creates a very arrogant tone. The Pardoner is aware that he is acting against the church and exploiting the churches people but yet he confesses to his audience in order to provoke a sense of drama and controversy. This act of confession discloses to us exactly what a Medieval Pardoner should not being doing, they were originally someone who collected money on behalf of a religous foundation but Chaucer demonstrates many saw the opportunity to extort the money for their own benefit thus abusing the church.…

    • 1012 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Examples Of Comedy In Canterbury Tales
    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Examples Of Comedy In Canterbury Tales

    Both the “Miller’s Tale” and the “Nun’s Priest’s Tale” in the Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, can be categorized as comedy. As defined in the Oxford dictionary, comedy is a form of professional entertainment consisting of jokes and sketches, intended to make an audience laugh. However, it may be confusing for some audiences when they find another definition of the word comedy. Also as defined by the Oxford dictionary, comedy is a category of theater characterized by its humorous or satirical tone and its depiction of amusing people or incidents, in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. The first definition is broad and fails to characterize the complexity of the comedy found in the Canterbury Tales. The second…

    • 980 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Hilarious Flaws
    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hilarious Flaws

    Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” celebrates and satires humanity, especially the “everyman”, in his story he included to characters in particular, one representing the best of humanity and the other illustrating the worst. Chaucer practically idolizes the Knight, who represents everything us humans aspire to be. “He was of sovereign value in all eyes. And though so much distinguished, he was wise and in his bearing modest as a maid. He never yet a boorish thing had said in all his life to any, come what might; he was a true, perfect gentle-knight.” (Chaucer 69-74) Chaucer says that though the knight had been through so many brave and amazing situations, from Alexandria to Prussia, fought against the Turks, and in Granada, he had never once been over confident; he remained as modest as one could be. The Knight symbolizes everything good in a human, Chaucer does not satire him at all; however, it is the complete opposite with the Pardoner. The Pardoner symbolizes the lowest a man could get, he cheats, he steals,…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Canterbury Tales Interpretive Essay
    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Canterbury Tales Interpretive Essay

    Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales became one of the first ever works that began to approach the standards of modern literature. It was probably one of the first books to offer the readers entertainment, and not just another set of boring morals. However, the morals, cleverly disguised, are present in almost every story. Besides, the book offers the descriptions of the most common aspects of the human nature. The books points out both the good and the bad qualities of the people, however, the most obvious descriptions are those of the sinful flaws of humans, such as greed and lust.…

    • 641 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Canterbury Tales Character Analysis
    • 1909 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Canterbury Tales Character Analysis

    In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, many characters go on a religious pilgrimage to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket. On the way to Canterbury, each person on the journey tells a tale. Whoever tells the best story, gets rewarded a lavish free meal. The pilgrimage includes people from the nobility, clergy, and commoner class. For each class, Chaucer develops many different character types that were representative of the society of the time. With a broad spectrum of people and action, The Canterbury tales consists of many different ideas such as social satire, courtly love/ chivalry,morality, and corruption and deceit. One of the most important ideas of the story is that Chaucer puts forward a criteria that…

    • 1909 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Pardoner's Tale Satire Essay
    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Pardoner's Tale Satire Essay

    For many years, satire – “a technique employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule” – has been a tool used by authors to bring attention to a specific topic. One of the most famous satires is Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. Within these tales is the “Pardoner’s Tale,” which is a satirical and allegorical poem mocking the corruption of the Catholic Church.…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Chaucer's Obscenities
    • 2911 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Chaucer's Obscenities

    (Slide 1) After declaring that “Chaucer followed Nature everywhere,” and that God’s plenty can be found in his works, John Dryden, in his Preface to the Fables, Ancient and Modern, considers why Chaucer includes “low characters” in the Canterbury Tales, such as “the Reeve, the Miller, the Shipman, the Merchant, the Sumner, and above all, the Wife of Bath, in the prologue to her tale.” This tendency toward the low, Dryden suggests, is a quality that Chaucer shares with Boccaccio, whom he also includes in the Fables. “What need [had] they,” Dryden asks, “of introducing such characters, where obscene words were proper in their mouths.” Dryden’s answer to this question is simple: there is no need for such characters, with their obscene words. And, in the case of the Canterbury Tales, the solution is equally simple; Dryden omits from his collection the tales containing these obscene words.…

    • 2911 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Use Of Satire In The Canterbury Tales
    • 2304 Words
    • 10 Pages

    The Use Of Satire In The Canterbury Tales

    At any and all times that Chaucer is talking about talking about a character in his this tale it’s extremely important to remember that the character is completely made up and all of their ideas and words come directly from Chaucer himself. This of course wasn’t known to the readers of the story or they would have possibly lynched Chaucer for believing in such ways. Chaucer so creatively uses satire to talk about how the church is ran by hypocritical people, such as the Pardoner, is pure genius and should be treated as such. He even has a quote where the Pardoner says that he really doesn’t care about the people and they can all go to hell and pick blackberries for all he cares. This is so sarcastic and ironic that people actually tried to find the Pardoner, only to be told that Chaucer couldn’t remember where he was from.…

    • 2304 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Prioress, The Friar In The Prologue To The Canterbury Tales
    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Prioress, The Friar In The Prologue To The Canterbury Tales

    Characters’ behavior are inappropriate; details are uncharacteristic of the person they are meant to modeling (Medieval Period)…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Satire and Irony in the Canterbury Tales Essay Example
    • 1498 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Satire and Irony in the Canterbury Tales Essay Example

    Geoffrey Chaucer was one of the greatest English poets during the Middle Ages. He will forever be known as the leading author in English writing before the time of William Shakespeare. Chaucer wrote narrative poems in Middle English, the form of English used from about 1100 to about 1485. One of the keys to Chaucer’s continued critical success is the scope and diversity of his work. Readers of each century have discovered something new in Chaucer and have learned something about them, as well.…

    • 1498 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Jajaj
    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jajaj

    “Absalom & Achitophel is a retelling of a biblical story with an eye on contemporary events and characters in England”. Discuss.…

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics