Chaucer's Use Of Satire In The Canterbury Tales

In the the collection of poem “Canterbury Tales,” the author, Geoffrey Chaucer, uses a lighthearted tone as well as satire and short tales to convey his views on the people of society at the time. In the prologue of Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses satire to reveal the true characters and misconduct of the citizens of Canterbury. While Chaucer cannot outright say what he thinks of everyone, he uses subtle details that imply his meaning. For example, the Summoner was someone who was supposed to be an intermediate between the citizens and God. Chaucer describes him as someone with “eyes [that] were narrow,” (ln 643), “black scabby brows,” and “a thin beard” (ln 645). This gives the image that the Summoner wass a mean and stingy person. In the middle ages, people who were connected with God were ranked

By showing that even the summoner was such a fraud, Chaucer gives the image that it was not uncommon that other higher ranked officials were also dishonest at that time. The Summoner was supposed to be someone who had high morals and advocated upholding rules. However, Chaucer describes him as a “noble varlet” (665) who would allow men to have affairs with other women “just for a quart of wine” (ln 667). Chaucer juxtaposes “noble” and “varlet” to discreetly convey that he, in fact, was a scoundrel. Additionally, Chaucer uses a lighthearted tone when describing the Summoner’s corruption. He pokes fun at how a person who was supposed to be holy, was so easily bribed. This communicates his message to the audience that there is more to someone than meets the eye, and one should not trust others so easily. Historically speaking, this was important if one was a noble or an