The Use Of Satire In The Canterbury Tales

Canterbury Tales and Satire

Satire has been around for centuries. It is a common tool for artists who want to express themselves. When Chaucer wrote Canterbury tales he did it to criticize the way society was. The form of criticism he had was satire. Every character that tells a story exhibits a satire of the social class in which they exist. Chaucer’s character representing Britain’s highest class is the knight who represented how not respected some of the higher class were. For the working class of medieval England, Chaucer had many characters, but the one that was the most interesting was the miller. There was also a monk that represented how religious spokespeople were represented. Chaucer satirizes many social classes in his book The Canterbury Tales.

Knights today are considered well educated, highly respected individuals. Chaucer introduces the knight as a highly respected individual. In the late 1300’s knights were commonplace and

The miller is portrayed as a drunk uneducated individual who was not necessarily wanted by any of the attendants sharing stories. This is satirical as millers were usually some of the wealthiest of the lower class as they supplied the food to their towns. A miller might even hire people to work under him because he would have extra money or a need for help. The Miller's story is also satirical in that it tells a tale about someone like the miller being taken advantage of and not a tale about how great he thinks he is.

Canterbury Tales satirizes many of the social classes in Britain in the 1300’s. The knight is made fun of by the fact that he is noble and his character appears as the opposite of real life. The monk is the embodiment of the Catholic Church and how it has come to disregard its own rules. The Miller satirizes how many people perceive those with trades poor even though they can be quite wealthy. Chaucer was able to satirize everyone because in his time everybody was