The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is about a pilgrimage to Canterbury that is taking place in the spring. Twenty nine pilgrims gather, Chaucer being one, to go on the pilgrimage. All the pilgrims decide to each tell tales on the way to pass the time, and whoever has the best tale win a free dinner. The book can be described as many different things depending on who was ask. The Canterbury Tales definitely challenges the reader with the satirical writing, and the messages Chaucer wants the reader to know about church figures and women of the time.
Throughout The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer often writes in a satirical way in order to really say what he wants without bluntly stating it. The part of the book that the satirical writing is
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Chaucer uses satire for the friar and the prioress but not for the monk. He said,”The rule of Maurus or Saint Benedict, By reason it was old and somewhat strict, This said monk let such old things slowly pace And followed new-world manners in their place. He cared not for that text a clean-plucked hen Which holds that hunters are not holy men; Nor that a monk, when he is cloisterless, Is like unto a fish that’s waterless; That is to say, a monk out of his cloister.”(Chaucer 173-181). Chaucer is trying to convey that even though the monk has rules that should be followed that he is well aware of, he just pushes them under the rug. Chaucer also said,”He was an easy man to give penance When knowing he should gain a good pittance; For to a begging friar, money given Is sign that any man has been well shriven.”(Chaucer 223-226). He is making a statement about how even though the friar was a priest, he begged for money from the people of his congregation. The way Chaucer describes the prioress, monk, and friar, it’s obvious that Chaucer is criticizing the church figures of his time for not being the people they should