Many times in society, important figures or celebrities often live two different lifestyles. When in the public eye, they portray themselves as someone that would appeal to the people. Behind closed doors, however, they are someone completely different. This is especially evident in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer uses ironic characteristics of the Friar and Merchant from “The Prologue” and the Knight from “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” to criticize the deceptive nature of the people during The Middle Ages.
The author uses irony through the friar’s corruption to reveal the essence of the time period. In most literature, a friar is a religious man who, often times, is compared to a monk. He is supposed to go around the impoverished cities and beg on poor people’s behalf. However, Chaucer adds a completely different spin on whom the Friar is in Canterbury Tales. The Friar in this piece of literature does the opposite of what his position entails. Instead of begging for the peasants, he begs and gets enough …show more content…
This observation is first displayed when the Knight is charged with rape of a woman. It said that “by very force [he] took her maidenhead” (line 24). Knights during this time period were regarded highly and were hand-picked from nobles to fight in wars for the King. With this status, one would expect a very honorable man, however, Chaucer reveals something completely different. In fact, the Knight was even superficial. After an old woman basically exonerated him from his crime, he agreed to do whatever she wanted in return. Her ultimatum was for him to marry her and the Knight’s immediate response was to call the old woman ”torture that his wife looked foul” (line 208). Chaucer utilizes this satire to show the readers how profane the people of this era is. Even the people with high rankings within the feudal system are as unscrupulous as anyone
The author uses irony through the friar’s corruption to reveal the essence of the time period. In most literature, a friar is a religious man who, often times, is compared to a monk. He is supposed to go around the impoverished cities and beg on poor people’s behalf. However, Chaucer adds a completely different spin on whom the Friar is in Canterbury Tales. The Friar in this piece of literature does the opposite of what his position entails. Instead of begging for the peasants, he begs and gets enough …show more content…
This observation is first displayed when the Knight is charged with rape of a woman. It said that “by very force [he] took her maidenhead” (line 24). Knights during this time period were regarded highly and were hand-picked from nobles to fight in wars for the King. With this status, one would expect a very honorable man, however, Chaucer reveals something completely different. In fact, the Knight was even superficial. After an old woman basically exonerated him from his crime, he agreed to do whatever she wanted in return. Her ultimatum was for him to marry her and the Knight’s immediate response was to call the old woman ”torture that his wife looked foul” (line 208). Chaucer utilizes this satire to show the readers how profane the people of this era is. Even the people with high rankings within the feudal system are as unscrupulous as anyone