Essay On The Satirical Message Of Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

The Underlying Satirical Message of The Canterbury Tales Written between 1387 and 1400, Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales have attracted the attention of historians and English scholars from all over. This satirical piece poses many questions and gives an interesting insight in the lives of 30 characters, many of which being employed by the church. Chaucer gives an ironic twist to many, if not all the characters of The Canterbury Tales. The narrator addresses each character by their occupation, then continues on to describe the character. Each character described has many positive aspects about them, with few negative aspects. The satire of The Canterbury Tales lies in the negative descriptions of the many characters, and conveys a similar message …show more content…
The question still remains: what prompted Chaucer to write The Canterbury Tales? The tales were written after one of his biggest life crisis, where he lost his wife, much of his power, and reputation. It can be reasoned that Chaucer’s failures prompted him to write about how the noble class and many church members also have failed, and that real events in his life prompted parts of the tales that each character tells. The exact reason for his writing remains …show more content…
The narrator starts with a member of the “noble” class: the knight. The knight is described to have “ loved chivalry. Truth, honour, freedom and all courtesy” (“The Canterbury Tales: Prologue”). He fought in many battles and displayed nothing short of bravery and courage at all times. He “ was a truly perfect, gentle knight”. The irony lies in the knight’s son: a squire, who played his flute and would sing and dance. He participated in few battles, and wore his meager accomplishments like badges of honor. His son represented everything a knight shouldn’t be. The knight did the job he was paid to do well, and had much to show from his job, but failed at his job as a