Chaucer
(A Discussion of Geoffrey Chaucer’s use of Satire in Canterbury Tales Directed Towards Church Hypocrisy, Class Nobility, and the Patriarchy) All well known, articulate speakers and writers throughout history use critical speaking techniques to rally support from those around them. One such tool is the use of satire in public speaking or writing. Satire is the combination of a poignant message along with sarcasm. Arguably the founder of Middle English, Geoffrey Chaucer was a mastermind in the use of satire within his writing. “His genius is like that of Shakespeare, having a high degree of negative capability. Hence, Chaucer gives us no impression of being a great satirist, although in his writings...we have sharp little sallies of
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He cannot see that he is exposing his criminality to his listeners,” (Andrews). The ultimate joke is that the pardoner is too drunk to understand that he is revealing his “game” to everyone around him. Through his writing of The Wife of Bath’s Prologue, Chaucer breaks down the patriarchy by explaining that women truly can have all the power and freedom they desire with manipulation. In her prologue, the wife explains that women are far smarter and more cunning than men. She explains her various tactics in which she uses her sexual power as well as deceitful tricks to place herself in complete control over her husbands. “So there’s one thing at least that I can boast, that in the end I always ruled the roast; cunning or force was sure to make them stumble, and always keeping up a steady grumble,” (126). Throughout all her marriages, the wife always tricks the husband into giving her total freedom to do as she pleases. As this would be a radical lifestyle of the time, it was a clear strike against patriarchy in Medieval times. “Ironically, she reveals herself to be the garrulous, indiscreet, deceitful woman, the ‘jangleresse' and gossip that has been under attack by male authorities. She is as free with her speech as she is with her sexual activity,” (Miles). Her extensive prologue sets up the reader to yet another radical dig at social class systems within her
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, he introduces a character known as the Wife of Bath. It is her turn to tell the stories, and her tale begins discussing her past marriages in the prologue. Married five times, the Wife of Bath tells us about her own marital issues, and the way she was able to manipulate the gender roles to her own advantage. As interesting of a character as she is, I find Chaucer created the Wife of Bath to deliberately introduce the issues gender roles play in our society. I believe that the role the of the Wife of Bath in the tale was purposely written by Chaucer to twist the traditional gender roles of the time, satirizing how gender plays in society.
Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales are some of the most widely read and anthologized pieces of medieval poetry. These tales are generally celebrated and enjoyed because of the author’s use of wit and satire, as Chaucer often uses word play and characterization to deliver hard-hitting, yet entertaining truths about his time period. This is the case in “The Miller’s Tale,” which portrays the story of a carpenter with an adulterous wife and the shenanigans that take place during and after one of her affairs. After closely examining “Absalom’s Revenge,” the last section of this tale, it is clear to see that Chaucer uses language, puns, and other writing techniques to provide a commentary on the lewdness of some who lived during the Middle Ages.
Both the Pardoner and the Friar are portrayed as quick-thinking charlatans. Chaucer does seem to admire the Pardoner’s skill, and skilled he is, but his actions do not befit a man of the cloth. The Pardoner is spoken of as using bogus relics to con “poor up-country parsons” out of their hard-earned cash. These small hustles netted him “more in a day than the parson in a month or two”. When choosing his occupation, I’m sure the Pardoner did not see the light of the lord but rather, dollar signs. Chaucer goes on to say that yes, the pardoner did preach rather well and his stories were quite splendid, however that might be on account that he could “win money from the crowd”.
There is an evident change from women being completely subjected to men's superiority and authority to them starting the question the social rules and beliefs. Through "The Wife of Bath" Chaucer illustrates women’s need to be in control in order for men to be happy. Through Alisoun, Chaucer demonstrates how women are beginning to advocate for their rights and illustrates medieval society’s views of women in power ultimately conveying that women need to be in power for men to be happy
Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is considered a work of satire towards medieval society by many literary critics. Chaucer uses the Wife of Bath as a prime way to quip a key fourteenth century practice wherein medieval society is patriarchal from noblemen to peasants. Women are one of the most restrained groups. The Wife of Bath narrates a story mocking male superiority and spouts a pro-women narrative. In this tale, the Wife of Bath shows women not submitting to a man’s world. For this period in time, she is a progressive who implies men are not in control of society which does not fit the mold of women at the time. She infers women are running everything from behind the curtain with men merely being used as puppets.
The Wife of Bath apparently attempts to emphasize female dominance over men. She contradicts many of the harsh customs and declares her own haughty assessment of women’s function in society and in relationships. In the story, Chaucer explains that what women want is sovereignty over their husbands. According to the tale, women desire to be treated as masters over their love. The story also suggests that
In so much that the Wife of Bath fights back against the oppression against women, she in turn ends up treating her husbands in the same oppressive manner. It is interesting to note that in her rants against men being the controlling force in marriages, she herself was a bully to her husbands. This makes it difficult to interpret Chaucer's intentions in creating a strong women character advocating for her due rights. By vocalizing her thoughts and what were most likely many women's thoughts of his day, he gives an identity and power to those without a
During this period, there was no questioning the fact that women were property. Men dominated the earth and women were kept at home. It was customary for men to beat their wives at home, the only restriction was that the stick must be no thicker than a man’s thumb. With The Wife of Bath’s Prologue, Chaucer starts criticizing this idea that women are less valuable or important than men. Bath’s wife speaks of her five husbands and their horrible treatment of her.
Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath Prologue and Tale” focus on the story telling of a woman who has experienced her fair share of marital issues. She is depicted as a promiscuous woman, married five times and had plenty of male suitors, the Wife was not like any other woman during this era. Although her reputation was how most perceived her, she was not a fan of being scrutinized for what she considered as her duty as a woman; to not remain single. This is seen through the depiction of women in society, how marriage ought to be in the eyes of religion, and how men were to view a woman like her. The language that is used throughout Chaucer’s prologue and tale allude to the evolution of women as well as how they struggled to gain any recognition in
Satire (The Analysis of Chaucer’s Use of Satire to Reach His Intended Audience) The freedom of speech was not fully recognized until the colonist wanted to be separate from Britain and their church; however Chaucer was the one that introduced them to speaking out. “The Canterbury Tales is a series of stories told by an interacting group of characters in the course of a journey which is seen, in accordance with a common medieval conception, as an image of human life in time. ”(Traversi, Derek A) Chaucer wrote the tale using characters as his voice claiming that the people in the story said what he had actually written himself.
Pardoner is a vain man who has thin, scraggly hair, a high voice, and is beardless. He
Chaucer's use of satire in The Canterbury Tales reveals the aspects of a corrupt Church. In Chaucer’s work, members of the first estate are sycophants; using their advantages granted by their status for personal gain. One pilgrim who disregards the rules of the church is the Monk. Chaucer describes the Monk as a man “Who rode the country; hunting was his sport”(Chaucer 7). Clergymen such as the Monk, were not granted the benefit of living an “uncloistered”(8) life; which demonstrates the Monks ignoble behavior toward the monastery.
Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales, using his characters as the mouthpiece for his iconoclastic views. Chaucer had serious issues with the hypocrisy of the church as well as, many other sacred institutions. The only reason that Chaucer was not exiled or even imprisoned for his views is the way in which he exposed them. Through the allegorical meanings of this text and Chaucer’s claim that he is simply retelling the events of his pilgrimage to Canterbury as it occurred, Chaucer is saved from extreme persecution. From the beginning of time there has always been issues with challenging the higher order; allowing people to make their own decisions and separate themselves from the way of the church often lead to death. In 1350 the
In the Wife of Bath’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer, various women, such as the Queen and the old hag, stake their claim to authority over men. Yet, they do so in a very covert manner. The knight has clearly abused his male power. He is a rapist. With the help of women, however, he is rehabilitated and seems to achieve the ultimate happiness. When these women support the feminist viewpoint that women should have mastery over their husbands, they are also echoing the sentiments the Wife of Bath presents in her prologue. Yet, these women abandon mastery the moment they attain it. The old hag relinquishes mastery back to her husband immediately after he grants it to her,
To begin, back in the days on Geoffrey Chaucer, religion was ruled by one and only one church, the Roman Catholic Church. He never really agreed with the ways of the church so he wrote a series of tales making fun of the people of England and the ways of the church. Even though he was purposely making fun of the church, he had to be careful of the way he said some things. With some of the characters he creates, Chaucer finds himself apologizing in advance for what he is about to say; or what the characters were about to say. By doing this Chaucer is using satire. Satire is when you say something but mean another or the opposite of the thing you say. Most of Chaucer’s tales are not appropriate for high schools, but of