How Does Chaucer Use Satire In Canterbury Tales

Another example of Juvenalian satire is A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift (Thomas). Jonathan Swift is actually one of the most

We often see satire in our everyday lives such as on televisions, novels, and music; but why is satire used? Satire is a form of writing used to denounce human vice, giving readers an insight on the flaws that the author sees in society. There are two different types of way to present satire: horation and juvenialian. In the three works: Candide by Voltaire, Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes, and A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift all demonstrate the use of satire. However, Don Quixote presents only horation satire and A Modest Proposal uses juvenalian satire, while Candide uses both types of satire. By combining both horatian and juvenilian satire one’s piece is able to present social criticism more effectively than only using one.

Satire is defined as “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” (Oxford). Another term that people would be more familiar with to describe this would be sarcasm. Language can be utilized in a nasty way, especially when wanting to demoralize another. Sarcasm is evil in and of itself and is a very Odyssean way of attacking someone. This is a powerful weapon used in Chaucer’s, Canterbury Tales. “The Canterbury Tales is the major work by Geoffrey Chaucer, medieval England's leading

Humor and ridicule are weapons for Juvenalian satire; it is angry, caustic, resentful, and personal (“Understanding Satire”, para. 1). On a more positive note, Horatian satire is a form of literary satire in which the author light heartedly pokes fun at human nature, less harshly. The emphasis is on humor, but still identifying the topic the author wants the audience to become aware of. An example of Horatian satire would be Jane Austens’ Pride and Prejudice, which lightly teases at the idea of other women’s literature of that time period. A Modest Proposal, on the other hand, would be a form of Juvenalian satire (“Understanding Satire”, para. 3).

Juvenalian satire is a harsh satire. It bombards vice with ridicule and contempt by bringing to light

Chaucer the pilgrim thinks highly of the guildsmen, but Chaucer the poet uses satire to show that money and appearance cannot buy

Chaucer effectively uses satire in the General Prologue by showing hypocrisy, selfishness, and other shortcomings on various characters, all from different estates. He demonstrates how people from low power levels of society can act selfishly and unethically, as well as how powerful church officials can show deviousness and sinfulness. One of the characters from the General Prologue that the narrator describes is the friar, who thinks the sick and poor are beneath him, and spends a lot of time with different women. The friar listens to confessions and quickly absolves them, however he thinks even the poor that confesses to him, should pay him money. The monk, who is another character described by the narrator, ignores the old fashioned rules

Horatian and Juvenalian works of satire which are two completely different types of satire. Satire is a literary form or technique in which humor or irony is used to criticize people’s foolishness or immorality. Two pieces that show the great difference between a Horatian and a Juvenalian satire are “The Rape of the Lock” and “A Modest Proposal.” A Horatian satire is a piece of work named after the Roman satirist Horace.

Maltreatment of other has and will always be a problem. People who appear different are treated differently. It helps less if someone that has even one similar feature, like skin color, does something wrong, all of a sudden everyone similar to that person is labeled as a villain against the person(s) wronged. For example, the muslim banned. Though, it is nothing new, because it also happened in England in the 1300, which Chaucer attacked using satire.

The Best of Challenging Society with Satire: A Critique of Chaucer’s use of Satire in the General Prologue, the Wife of Bath’s Tale, and the Pardoner’s Tale Satire is a writing technique often used to demean a certain person or group of people, and it is something that also can challenge the beliefs of someone. Satire is defines as, “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.” As before mentioned, satire is a part of making poems and stories. One author who made use of this literary idea was Geoffrey Chaucer.

It tells in his tale that the Pardoner’s favorite thing to preach against is greed, but what people don’t know is that he is only the pardoner because he likes the money; he is greedy. Chaucer uses this type of satire to help illustrate that the Pardoned is a hypocrite. “Out come the pence, and specially for myself, for my exclusive purpose is to win and not at all to castigate their sin.” When the pardoned says this he is basically saying that I’m only doing this job for the money, and that he could care less about the people he is supposed to help. That is how Chaucer uses satire for the Pardoner.

Geoffrey Chaucer famous for his work called The Canterbury Tales, it is composed of 24 tales. Chaucer died before he could finish the series. Chaucer himself was very opinionated. Throughout his work, he mentioned his views and problems with society. In all the tales there is a sense of sarcasm or satire.

Chaucer was very unique in the way that he used his language. In his stories you never really understand what’s going on until the next passage. There are two different kinds of satire he like to use. He likes to use sarcasm as well as exaggerated speech. This is important when reading his writing. His prologue is very long but simple and to the point. He was the best writer of his time. He was a novelist before they existed.

One character Chaucer uses to ridicule hypocrisy is the Pardoner. Throughout the description of the pardoner, it is shown that he is corrupt. He uses lies and

The aim of any true satirical work is to poke fun at a certain aspect of society, while also inspiring reform to that very same aspect in one way or another. In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Chaucer satirizes the Medieval Church and those associated with the church. Medieval society was centered largely around the Church. Ideally, the people were expected to understand that earthly possessions were meaningless when compared to the prospect of closeness with God. Man was expected to work until he died, at which time he would receive eternal salvation. This eternal salvation was achieved by obeying God's commandments. This theory, however, was becoming progressively corrupted as hypocrisy began to pollute the Church, particularly at the higher