Satire Used In Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales
(The Use of Juvenalian and Horatian Satire in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales)
In Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, he writes of many different characters, this includes a prologue of each describing themselves, and their tale they have to tell to the rest. It is quoted from a historical context, “Chaucer served in a variety of positions as diplomat and civil servant, including as a Member of Parliament, comptroller of customs, head of secret missions, and negotiator of trade agreements… Aside from a career in politics, Chaucer was well known for his writings. His active role within the government and in the company of aristocracy led Chaucer to realize the broad differences among characters in …show more content…
Although most believe that the prologues and tales of these characters is to merely entertain, this is not so. Chaucer is trying to express his frustration with several views of society as well as institutions. Satire can be defined as so, “A usually topical literary composition holding up human or individual vices, folly, abuses, or shortcomings to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, sometimes with an intent to bring about improvement” (Satire, DISCovering). Satire can be more thoroughly described by such, “In a more particular sense, satire is a literary form, traced back to the Romans and in particular to the works of Juvenal (c. 50/60–127 CE) and Horace (65–8 BCE), who both wrote about their own times, though in different tones. Horace is characterized as more urbane and witty, Juvenal as more savage and critical” (Satire, International). Chaucer uses both Juvenalian satire and Horatian satire. He is more kind to some characters than others by using Horatian satire, and to the others he uses Juvenalian satire to be cruel and show his disgust with them. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses forms of satire to reach is intended audiences throughout the “General Prologue”, the “Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale”, and the “Wife’s Prologue and …show more content…
In lines 16-24 Pardoner tells as Chaucer writes, “My hands and tongue together spin the yarn/And all my antics are a joy to see./The curse of avarice and cupidity/Is all me sermon, for it frees the pelf./Out come the pence, and specially for myself,/For my exclusive purpose is to win/And not at all to castigate their sin./Once dead what matter how their souls may fare?/They can go blackberrying, for all I care!” (Coghill). This meaning, the Pardoner says his moral lesson only to get money out of people, while they are thinking they are being pardoned for their sin, he is only being greedy, and he even says he does not care whether or not they go to Hell once they die or not. In these lines, Chaucer is using something Juvenalian satire to cast eyes on the Church. This is something that the Church would not find funny or entertaining at all because it is speaking a flaw in the system of the Church, which is outrageous and unheard of in this time, but Chaucer dares to do it because he believes that the people need to know about this as well. What Chaucer writes would not be found funny by the Yokels, or even normal standing people, because they know the Church is a fraud, maybe not some, but now they must question and speculate everyone of the Church because of the
(The Use of Juvenalian and Horatian Satire in Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales)
In Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, he writes of many different characters, this includes a prologue of each describing themselves, and their tale they have to tell to the rest. It is quoted from a historical context, “Chaucer served in a variety of positions as diplomat and civil servant, including as a Member of Parliament, comptroller of customs, head of secret missions, and negotiator of trade agreements… Aside from a career in politics, Chaucer was well known for his writings. His active role within the government and in the company of aristocracy led Chaucer to realize the broad differences among characters in …show more content…
Although most believe that the prologues and tales of these characters is to merely entertain, this is not so. Chaucer is trying to express his frustration with several views of society as well as institutions. Satire can be defined as so, “A usually topical literary composition holding up human or individual vices, folly, abuses, or shortcomings to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, sometimes with an intent to bring about improvement” (Satire, DISCovering). Satire can be more thoroughly described by such, “In a more particular sense, satire is a literary form, traced back to the Romans and in particular to the works of Juvenal (c. 50/60–127 CE) and Horace (65–8 BCE), who both wrote about their own times, though in different tones. Horace is characterized as more urbane and witty, Juvenal as more savage and critical” (Satire, International). Chaucer uses both Juvenalian satire and Horatian satire. He is more kind to some characters than others by using Horatian satire, and to the others he uses Juvenalian satire to be cruel and show his disgust with them. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses forms of satire to reach is intended audiences throughout the “General Prologue”, the “Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale”, and the “Wife’s Prologue and …show more content…
In lines 16-24 Pardoner tells as Chaucer writes, “My hands and tongue together spin the yarn/And all my antics are a joy to see./The curse of avarice and cupidity/Is all me sermon, for it frees the pelf./Out come the pence, and specially for myself,/For my exclusive purpose is to win/And not at all to castigate their sin./Once dead what matter how their souls may fare?/They can go blackberrying, for all I care!” (Coghill). This meaning, the Pardoner says his moral lesson only to get money out of people, while they are thinking they are being pardoned for their sin, he is only being greedy, and he even says he does not care whether or not they go to Hell once they die or not. In these lines, Chaucer is using something Juvenalian satire to cast eyes on the Church. This is something that the Church would not find funny or entertaining at all because it is speaking a flaw in the system of the Church, which is outrageous and unheard of in this time, but Chaucer dares to do it because he believes that the people need to know about this as well. What Chaucer writes would not be found funny by the Yokels, or even normal standing people, because they know the Church is a fraud, maybe not some, but now they must question and speculate everyone of the Church because of the