Reality in the Sarcasm

(A Discussion on Chaucer 's usage of Satire to Meet His Agenda.)

Geoffrey Chaucer was known as the father of the English Language. During Chaucer 's time in the late 1300’s, he had many issues with the state of how people lived. He used his writing to criticize the societal issues he noticed during his time. He uses Satire in his writings to get his message across to the common people during the 1300’s. Satire is defined as the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people 's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. The main story Chaucer uses satire to criticize the community in which he lives is in his stories the Canterbury Tales. “Despite its distracting tone, there are several important issues at the center of this debate. Questions of puns in Chaucer are not always undecidable, nor need their existence be dependent solely on critical ingenuity or moral delicacy”(Dane). There are three main issues Chaucer sees issues with and uses satire to expose these social issues to the common people.

Geoffrey Chaucer uses satire in the Pardoner 's Tale to explain his issue with the churches hypocrisy. "The Pardoner 's Tale" works on a similar comic device, of bad people unwittingly participating in their own downfall. The story itself has a surprise, ironic ending, as the man who prepared poisonous drinks is stabbed and the men who did the stabbing