CHAUCER’S USE OF SATIRE IN MULTIPLE GENRES WITHIN THE ...
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THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
CHAUCER’S USE OF SATIRE IN MULTIPLE GENRES WITHIN
THE CANTERBURY TALES
LOREN BASELER
SPRING 2020
A thesis
submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for baccalaureate degrees
in English and French
with honors in English
Reviewed and approved* by the following:
Caroline D. Eckhardt
Professor of Comparative Literature and English
Thesis Supervisor
Carla Mulford
Professor of English
Honors Adviser
* Signatures are on file in the Schreyer Honors College.
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ABSTRACT
This thesis will focus on The Canterbury Tales as a representation of Chaucer’s mastery
over the conventions of literary genres, along with his all-encompassing mode of satire. It will
analyze critical theory in relation to genre studies on Chaucer, as well as conduct a close-reading
analysis on “The Knight’s Tale,” “The Miller’s Tale,” and “The Pardoner’s Tale.” These three
are selected because each exemplifies a fundamentally different genre, and the differences in
genre demonstrate how Chaucer uses multiple different genres with satiric effects. The analyses
included here will discuss the genre conventions within the stories that are both preserved and
broken within these three tales. They will also discuss the mode of satire as it is used in each
story, whether that story seems to have a primarily conventional use of its main genre or not. The
goal of this thesis is to allow the reader to see the prevalence of social satire in various parts of
Chaucer’s work in The Canterbury Tales and discuss how he uses satire to address multiple
themes in three of its important genres: romance, fabliau, and exemplum.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... iii
Chapter 1: Chaucer’s Awareness of Genre in The Canterbury Tales ......................... 1
Common Medieval Genres within The Canterbury Tales ............................................... 3 Choice of the Tales .......................................................................................................... 11
Chapter 2: The Knight’s Tale ..................................................................................... 12
Existing Scholarship ........................................................................................................ 12 Genre Analysis ................................................................................................................. 14
Chapter 3: The Miller’s Tale....................................................................................... 22
Existing Scholarship ........................................................................................................ 22 Genre Analysis ................................................................................................................. 23
Chapter 4: The Pardoner’s Tale .................................................................................. 33
Existing Scholarship ........................................................................................................ 33 Genre Analysis ................................................................................................................. 34
Chapter 5: Societal Critiques through “The Knight’s Tale,” “The Miller’s Tale,” and
“The Pardoner’s Tale” .......................................................................................... 42
Works Cited ................................................................................................................. 48
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to my parents for their unwavering support throughout my education. Thank
you to Mrs. Cowart from Franklin Area High School who first introduced me to The Canterbury
Tales and who reinforced my love for literature. Thank you to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Caroline
D. Eckhardt, for her detailed readings of my thesis. Her thoughtful comments and dedicated
guidance helped me to complete this thesis to the best of my ability. I also thank her for her
positive encouragement both in and outside of the classroom, as her instruction has helped me
become more successful not only as a Chaucerian, but also as a continued learner.
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Chapter 1:
Chaucer’s Awareness of Genre in The Canterbury Tales
Throughout The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses satire to create commentaries on many
different aspects of his society, including its gender distinctions, other popular literature, social
class distinctions, and the role of the Church. He uses his tales to draw attention to the problems
associated with each of these categories, and his commentaries create an effective space for
satire to operate. Chaucer comments on his society through many different genres, perspectives,
and social classes in order to critique the ruling standards of his society. If we approach The
Canterbury Tales with the understanding that Chaucer wants to critique his society, then we can
see the appropriateness of satire in each genre that Chaucer utilizes.
Chaucer demonstrates his mastery and knowledge throughout The Canterbury Tales by
including a vast number of genres throughout his work. We can first see Chaucer’s manipulation
of genre by observing the work as a whole. The Canterbury Tales falls under the genre category
of a frame tale. Amanda Gerber discusses the qualities of a frame tale in her book Medieval
Ovid: Frame Narrative and Political Allegory in reference to many famous works including
Ovid’s Metamorphosis and also Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. She states that “the frame
narrative . . . can be generally identified by the application of framing devices that interweave a
collection of shorter embedded stories” (3). Chaucer utilizes this tactic in The Canterbury Tales
as he sets up the prologue with the indication that each person present in the story will be able to
tell their own tales about whatever they want to share. Gerber goes on to discuss the flexibility
and inconsistencies within the genre of frame narratives as she says, “the genre, if it can even be
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called such, often resists description owing to its capacity to encapsulate a multitude of genres
within its frame, its centuries of use, and its various cultural applications” (3). Gerber’s
hesitation about referring refer to frame narratives as a genre indicates the inconsistencies
throughout not only the works that are classified as such, but also the stipulations to classify a
work as a frame narrative. In fact, she refers to the inconsistences specifically when she states,
“the most consistent aspect of the frame narrative is its inconsistency . . . even more than its
function to gather materials, the frame narrative is defined by its interpretive context for
collected and juxtaposed tales” (3). By defining The Canterbury Tales as a frame narrative, we
recognize the expectation of different genres throughout the work. Chaucer uses this overall
genre for his work in order to enhance his ability to alter genre normative, as frame narratives
consist of smaller works within a whole.
At a first glance, it can seem as though Chaucer follows the conventions of a frame
narrative genre. Frame narratives allow different genres to be present in each work, as
mentioned, but the presence of great variety is not common. The other classic frame narratives
mentioned above tell different stories, but each story contributes to a greater meaning in its
entirety. Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, however, does not seem stick to one theme
throughout. Chaucer’s tales have religious, social, and political messages that differ in each
story, and they do not culminate in an over-arching message for Chaucer’s readers. Even from
the onset of The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer breaks the expectations of his chosen genre, and this
breaking of genre sets up the rest of his narratives.
In the book A New Companion to Chaucer, Caroline D. Eckhardt discusses the vast
number of genres that are present in The Canterbury Tales and also the links between many of
those genres. She says, “Sometimes Chaucer builds extensive links between tales of different
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genres, as if to put genres in conversation with each other, whether in a parodying relationship or
not” (Eckhardt 191). The recognition of Chaucer’s purposeful use of multiple genres and their
relationship to each other can be applied to his use of satire. He employs a number of different
genres in order to demonstrate the versatility of the function of satire, and satire is a mode
through which we can bind together “The Knight’s Tale,” “The Miller’s Tale,” and “The
Pardoner’s Tale.”
Common Medieval Genres within The Canterbury Tales
Chaucer’s choice of genre in The Canterbury Tales is based on other common genres and
traditions of medieval literature. One of the most common modes of existence of medieval
literature is the oral tradition that preceded it and accompanied written documents. The long oral
tradition that came before Chaucer’s time had heavily influenced many genres of written
literature, and the frame-tale genre is one of the genres that has been the most influenced. Lee
Haring discusses the importance of the oral tradition in the frame narrative in his article
“Framing in Oral Narrative.” Haring discusses this tradition in relation to A Thousand and One
Nights, but his arguments remain relevant to other works within the frame-narrative genre.
Haring states that A Thousand and One Nights, “shows the literary imitation of that orally
invented device; it standardizes the movement from one story into the next” (229). The framing
genre was built directly from the tradition of telling stories to other people, and Chaucer
emulates this tradition in The Canterbury Tales. Even though The Canterbury Tales was written
near the end of the medieval period where the written tradition had been more established,
Chaucer’s focus on stories that also circulated in oral tradition would have helped him appeal to
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a medieval audience. Each of Chaucer’s tales could have also stood alone without the context of
the others, as if someone would have heard only one or two of the stories at a time. Thus,
Chaucer’s tales are effective individually as well as contributing to the work as a whole. Every
person who potentially heard the tales could take away a different message depending on the tale
and message behind it, and the impact remained whether they heard the rest of the stories or not.
As we know, Chaucer’s tales remained unfinished, but the effectiveness of each tale on its own
helped it remain popular for readers and researchers today.
In addition to the overall frame-tale genre, the Harvard website pages for Chaucer literary
studies discusses some of the other genres present in The Canterbury Tales and also the aspects
of these different genres. This section of the thesis will discuss the genres present in the three
chosen tales and the most common defining aspects of these genres. In later chapters, how these
expectations of genre were or were not met will be discussed in regard to each tale. The first
genre mentioned on Harvard’s website is the fabliau. “The Miller’s Tale” is classified as a classic
example of a fabliau. There are other examples of this genre in The Canterbury Tales including
the Reeve’s Tale, the Shipman’s Tale, and the Summoner’s Tale. Fabliaux often follow specific
genre conventions, as outlined by the following sources, but not every fabliau follows this form.
The characteristics outlined here are instead a common and recurrent pattern throughout different
fabliaux. The most common aspect of a fabliau is the comical tone of the story. Harvard’s
website cites The Riverside Chaucer to give the definition of a fabliau: “A fabliau is a brief,
comic tale in verse, usually scurrilous and often scatological or obscene” (7). The quote goes on
to discuss many other aspects that classify a fabliau as such. The characters are ordinary people,
often relatable to the common working-class at the time, yet it remains unordinary at the same
time. The characters are exaggerated in their gullibility, low morality, or sexuality, and while
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seemingly fabliaux tell stories of every-day people, the actual characterizations of the people are
often unattainable (Riverside 7). The fabliau is a French genre that was popular in the thirteenth
century, but it fell out of popularity among the writers of Chaucer’s time. While there were
comedies, they lacked the obscenity and crudeness associated with the fabliau and were mostly
in prose rather than verse (Medieval Genres). Chaucer chose a genre that was not a common
among English writers at the time, and this choice is indicative of his desire to incorporate satire
and social commentary into each of his stories, since the fabliau is a near perfect genre for
satirical purposes. The Riverside Chaucer discusses the types of behaviors that are often
punished in fabliaux and how these behaviors do not always coincide with the standards set by
society, presumably the upper class. It states, “greed, hypocrisy, and pride are invariably
punished, but so too are old age, mere slow-wittedness, and, most frequently, the presumption of
a husband, especially and old one, who attempts to guard his wife’s chastity” (8). The fabliau has
satirical elements inherently, and it is these satirical elements that Chaucer capitalizes on in “The
Miller’s Tale.” The fabliau allows a reader to see the class distinctions in Chaucer’s society, and
his choice of this genre is a direct commentary on his society at the time.
Chaucer’s arguably most popular tale, “The Knight’s Tale,” is commonly referred to as
an example of medieval romance. There are many interesting aspects of this tale that could make
it the most popular, but the prevalence of medieval romance at the time probably led to its
popularity today. Chaucer’s use of a classic and popular genre of his time makes his alterations
and breaks of the genre evident when it is compared to other works in this genre. There are many
different types of medieval romance, and the genre itself contains a broad range of
characteristics. This analysis will focus on the most frequent genre conventions in medieval
romance, but does not encapsulate all of them. Geraldine Heng discusses the prevalence of the
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medieval romance in her book Empire of Magic Medieval Romance and the Politics of Cultural
Fantasy. She says, “If romance did not begin in the Middle Ages, the genre is nonetheless so
indelibly marked by the Middle Ages – when it was arguably the most prominent, sophisticated,
and widely synonymous with medieval time itself” (2). The popularity of the medieval romance
genre is an important aspect to consider when analyzing Chaucer’s “Knight’s Tale” because of
subsequent breaking of the genre conventions. Yin Liu defines several aspects of a medieval
romance including the presence of supernatural figures, love as a guiding force, knights, and
fantastic battles (Liu). While not all medieval romances followed these genre conventions, many
of them contained these aspects of the genre, and Chaucer’s tale is no different. Chaucer seems
to focus on the marriage-type of medieval romance that usually includes the aforementioned
aspects. The medieval romance is a foundation for medieval literature, so Chaucer’s use of this
genre is another way for him to interject satire. Chaucer uses the most popular genre of his time
period to attract readers, and then he alters the genre conventions of the romance to criticize the
standards set by the genre. His ridicule of his society is evident in the changes he makes to his
romance, and these changes ultimately affect the entire reading of the story.
The final tale that this thesis will discuss is “The Pardoner’s Tale.” This tale is an
exemplum which is a story that is meant to teach a lesson to its readers. Exempla themselves
have many different styles as well, and the following sources outline only some of the common
characteristics that we see when analyzing the exemplum genre. There are many levels to the so-
called lessons that readers learn in “The Pardoner’s Tale,” and the importance of the lessons is
defined by the genre conventions of an exemplum. John Lyons discusses the convention of an
exemplum story in his book Exemplum: The Rhetoric of Example in Early Modern France and
Italy. Lyons claims that “once a text has advertised an example, the complexity, not to say
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trickiness, of the relationships established is often completely unperceived to the reader” (ix). An
exemplum, thus, needs to be inferred by a reader the same way that one infers a metaphor or
other type of literary device. The difference lies in the subtleties of an exemplum. The story
teaches a lesson of some sort to the reader through the actions of the characters, and the reader is
meant to apply this learned lesson to their lives. Lyons discusses the applications of exemplum
when he says, “Example may therefore qualify as the most ideological of figures, in the sense of
being the figure that is most intimately bound to a representation of the world and that most
serves as a veil for the mechanics of that representation” (ix). Exemplum as a genre, as Lyons
argues, is the closest one can get to an actual representation of the real world within literature.
Using this interpretation of an exemplum, we can analyze Chaucer’s choice to use this genre as
another form of satire. The Pardoner in Chaucer’s tale is not one of good moral standing, and his
statements in his prologue prove to the audience that he is not a man to be trusted. Chaucer takes
the genre of exemplum that emphasizes trusting the figure providing the example and breaks it
by giving his audience an untrustworthy figure. This mockery of the genre provides an opening
for satire to play a critical role in the telling of “The Pardoner’s Tale.”
Chaucer utilizes each of these genres in order to break the conventions within their
respective genres, including elements of satire within each tale that leaves readers with a
comment and critique of his society. Thus, it is important to discuss the role of satire as a lens
through which to view other genres as well. Satire as a mode can be molded to fit into the
classifications of any genre, and it is this versatility that Chaucer capitalizes on in order to frame
each of his genres as satirical.
Satire is often considered a low form of literature even though it is also one of the most
widespread and easily accessible types of literature. Gilbert Highet says in the opening of his
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book The Anatomy of Satire, “Satire is not the greatest type of literature” (3). Despite the ease of
subject, satire is often ranked below dramas and poetry. It is also a very common form of
literature, and many of the classic authors have written satirical works, such as Voltaire, Goethe,
Shakespeare, and many others. These authors used satire because of its relatability to an audience
and ease to communicate through. Highet says, “It pictures real men and women, often in lurid
colors, but always with unforgettable clarity. It uses the bold and vivid language of its own time,
eschewing stale clichés and dead conventions. Where other patterns of literature tend sometimes
to be formal and remote, satire is free, easy, and direct” (3). The people in satires are memorable
because of their extreme details. The characters are often bizarre, but still maintain close contact
with the reality of the reader. The realistic aspects of the characters are imperative to the
foundations of a satire, as the satire is used to leave a commentary on a social situation that the
reader most likely engages with on a regular basis. Satire also entertains the reader by using
vivid language. It can be difficult to read an entire play or drama for enjoyment because they
often lack language that will keep an audience engaged. The detailed language in many satires
keeps a reader’s focus, along with differentiating satire from other forms of literature that are not
as bold in their word choices. The last aspect of satire that Highet discusses is the formality that
often separates a text from a reader. Texts that use difficult language and a vast number of
literary devices are too formal for the average reader, and they may confuse the reader too much
and indirectly convince her to stop reading. Satire is a literary form that is accessible to everyone
who can read, despite an ability to analyze or think critically. While satire may not be considered
a great and classic form of literature, it remains one of the most direct and easy to understand
types of literature.
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To be able to discuss the function of satire, it is important to understand how the author is
directly connected to the message of the work. Arthur Pollard discusses the satirist in his book
Satire. Pollard makes claims about the goals and attitude of the satirist as he is writing his work.
Pollard begins by claiming that it would be difficult to know a satirist personally because of his
subject matter. He says, “He is more than usually conscious of the follies and vices of his fellows
and he cannot himself from showing that he is” (1). A satirist comments on the issues he sees in
his daily life, so it would be difficult to see your personal bad habits be an inspiration for a
commentary on the problems of society. The satirist does not draw his satires from imagines
issues within society. Rather, he comments on the problems he sees every day in his life. Pollard
also discusses the potential consequences that come with being a satirist, such as “he can so
easily lay himself open to the charge of moral superiority or even of hypocrisy if people think
that they see in him the faults he condemns in others” (1). It is in this instance of moral
superiority that people find faults within the satirist himself, either because the artist actually
commits the acts he is condemning or because they see the act in themselves. In the latter
instance, it would be natural for a reader to attempt to find fault in the satirist because he
emphasized their particular flaw. Pollard also discusses how a satirist and a preacher share
similar roles in that they both attempt to “persuade and convince” but the satirist’s position “in
relation to those he addresses is more delicate and more difficult than that of a preacher” (1). The
comparison of a preacher and a satirist helps us to understand the level of persuasion that a
satirist must possess. Pollard goes on to discuss the particularities of his comparison between the
satirist and the preacher: “The latter seeks primarily to make his hearers accept virtue; the former
must make his readers agree with him in identifying and condemning behavior and men he
regards as vicious. These men are our fellow-beings, and the vast majority of us would prefer not
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to condemn” (1). The satirist, then, is taking a risk in condemning is fellow-man. If he is to
condemn someone’s behaviors, he must convince every person who reads his satire that they too
should condemn those behaviors which goes against human nature, according to Pollard. Thus,
the satirist’s goal is often one of persuasion of the audience rather than simply drawing attention
to an issue.
Pollard also discusses the enjoyment of condemning a social structure that the satirist
receives from writing the satire and the reactions of the audience. Pollard says, “He [the satirist]
asks us to admire the skill . . . to recognize him as an artist and satire as an art. This desire,
however, is usually implicit” (1-2). The satirist receives enjoyment out of critiquing society,
according to Pollard, because he is able to articulate it in such a unique way, but this happiness
from constructing such a societal commentary is not the most rewarding aspect. The most
important aspect of creating a satire for the satirist is the more serious intent behind the writing.
This intent is to persuade the audience into the satirist’s belief system in order to condemn
certain behaviors that the author sees in their society. Each satire differs in theme and application
to reality because every satirist despises certain characteristics of others, and those characteristics
may not be the same from person to person. Because the satire as a type of literature is a social
commentary or ridicule, it is critical to the analysis to understand the satirist’s motivations in
writing.
Both readers and researchers can analyze the function of satire by considering satire not
as a separate genre but as an idea or mode that is moldable into numerous different genres.
Chaucer uses in the latter method, as the analysis of this paper suggests. If we were to study
satire as a genre, however, there are certain aspects, mentioned above, that are common and
representable throughout all many such works.
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Choice of the Tales
The three aforementioned tales have all been extensively researched, whether on their
own or in relation to one another. “The Knight’s Tale” and “The Miller’s Tale” are researched in
relation to each other, for example, because their storylines are similar, the characters interact
outside of the tales themselves, and many other parallels exist between the two. “The Pardoner’s
Tale,” however, has no obvious link to the other tales. This thesis focuses on the adaptability of
satire to fit many different genres. Satire can function in every genre that Chaucer utilizes, and
these three tales combined encompass the genres of many of his tales. Through these three
examples one can see the plasticity of satire in The Canterbury Tales as the genres and function
of satire are analyzed.
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Chapter 2:
The Knight’s Tale
Existing Scholarship
In order to understand the value that Chaucer places on genre, it is necessary to discuss
his source material and the political and social climate of the time. Chaucer takes the idea for
“The Knight’s Tale” from Teseida delle Nozze d’Emilia by Giovanni Boccaccio, and he alters
not only the content of the poem, but also the length and style. It was common for medieval
writers to borrow ideas from other sources, but Chaucer varies greatly from his original material
“The Knight’s Tale” is significantly shorter in length and focuses primarily on the fight for love.
Many of the military fights in the original poem are glossed over by Chaucer, such as the victory
that Theseus has at Thebes. Chaucer seems to include that only in order to give background
information about why Emily is important to Theseus. Chaucer also uses the romance genre to
deliver a political message in a subtle way. Byung-Yong Son discusses the politics behind
Chaucer’s choice in the romance genre for “The Knight’s Tale” stating, “Therefore, to lessen the
burden and avoid a political controversy, he appropriated and transformed the convention of
romance” (Son). Son goes on to discuss Chaucer’s upbringing, saying that he was “a son of rich
merchant and served as a bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat” (Son). These circumstances caused
Chaucer be reserved in his presentation of political messages. He could not be direct with his
social commentary because of his position in government, so he uses Theseus in “The Knight's
Tale” to give commentary on how he believes a king should act.
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Son argues that “The Knight’s Tale” is not truly a story about romance, as the
relationship among Arcite, Palamon, and Emily is “no interactive relationship” (Son). Instead,
Chaucer uses the genre to portray Theseus “as merciful and powerful king. He shows mercy to
begging ladies and defeats Old Creon. However, he imprisons Palamon and Arcite, and never
intends to set them free” (Son). Even later, Theseus spares the lives of Palamon and Arcite and
proposes the tournament instead. Son claims that Chaucer uses Theseus in order to comment on
how a king should “use his political ability to tide over a difficult situation and value the opinion
of Parliament” (Son). Chaucer’s political commentary is subtle and well-hidden throughout the
poem, but it is present in the depiction of Theseus as a just king who pities and helps others in
need. The use of the romance genre allowed Chaucer to seemingly tell a story that involved a
king and knights while being able to discreetly send a message to anyone reading his poem about
how kings should act toward the people they are ruling. It is also plausible that Chaucer simply
wanted to write a story in which he knew people would be interested. There are many unknown
authors (and therefore, unknown audiences) in medieval literature, but knowing about Chaucer’s
life allows readers to understand his knowledge of written works before him. Writers more often
than not need to adjust their material and content to reflect popular literature of the time. If a
work is too drastic or different, there is an immense possibility that it will not be read by anyone.
Chaucer uses the popularity of the medieval romance genre to his advantage, but he alters some
conventions of the genre to make his story stand out from those before him.
J.R. Hulbert discusses the reasoning behind altering the characters and other aspects of
Bocaccio’s original, and he claims that Chaucer alters these aspects because of audience
expectation. He states in his conclusion that “Chaucer wrote for medieval readers, imbued with
certain special theories” (Hulbert 385). This idea implies that Chaucer made his decisions based
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on what he believed would entertain his audience the most. While Hulbert has claimed that
Chaucer’s changes were indicative of his awareness of audience, I argue that Chaucer did the
opposite. I agree that Chaucer wrote with his audience in mind and that his changes were for his
audience, but I believe the changes have more significance than how entertained Chaucer wanted
his audience to be. Chaucer chose a story that people would have been familiar with and changed
aspects in order to further his use of satire. The following analysis will explain how Chaucer’s
choices to stray from genre and source material convention are directly related to his satirical
arguments with The Knight’s Tale.
Genre Analysis
Since some of the possible reasons for Chaucer’s genre alterations have been established, it is
now valuable to look at where he uses genre conventions in order to further his plot and themes
in “The Knight’s Tale.” One of the most obvious conventions that Chaucer uses is the presence
of a hero. While most medieval romance genres only have one knight as the central figure in the
narrative, Chaucer has two. Palamon and Arcite are very similar characters, and readers do not
feel an allegiance to one character more than the other. Chaucer presents both characters in a
similar way with the only differences being how they are separated from Emily and which of the
characters saw her first in the tower. Palamon and Arcite are both knights who have been
defeated in a war, but their lives were graciously saved by a just and piteous king. Both knights
are locked in a tower for their crime of being on the “wrong” side of the war. However, Arcite is
eventually released from the prison because of a friend’s pleas to Theseus, and he is told to never
return under penalty of death. Arcite is told that if he is found, “In any contree of this Theseus, /
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And he were caught, it was acorded thus, / That with a swerd he sholde lese his heed” (1213-
1215). Palamon also leaves the prison, but he leaves by drugging a guard and escaping the tower.
These similar circumstances create characters that make it difficult for an audience to choose a
side in the fight over Emily. Chaucer’s refusal to favor one character over another can be
analyzed in multiple ways. He may have wanted readers to feel positively at the end of the story
no matter who won, and this is made possible by eliminating the option of rooting for a
character. When we consider how Chaucer creates Emily as a character, however, one could
argue that he created a situation where readers did not prefer either knight because he recognized
that we should not support those who battle over a woman without her input on the matter.
Chaucer makes it much easier to connect with Emily as a character, and his characterization of
her combined with his choice to not separate the two male characters is indicative of his use of
satire. Chaucer makes a commentary on stories who do not give women agency, and he goes
against this idea with his representation of the knights and Emily.
The two characters are also similar in their descriptions of love for Emily. The narrator
describes both knights as being hurt by their love for her by saying, “And with that sighte hir
beautee hurte him so, / That, if that Palamon was wounded sore, / Arcite is hurt as muche as he,
or moore” (1114-1116). It is at this point in the story that Palamon and Arcite are driven by love.
The plot becomes one of romance and striving for love, and Palamon and Arcite fight each other
for the right to Emily. They fight valiantly, as knights do, even starting with a fight to the death
for her. It is only with the intervention of Theseus that they choose to handle the conflict in a
tournament, which is arguably an even more chivalric ideal. It is through this fight that the
supernatural elements of the story are introduced, which is another common convention of the
medieval romance genre.
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The supernatural forces in “The Knight’s Tale” are the Roman gods and goddesses that
are present in the story. There are four gods that are influential in the outcome of the story and
each of them takes allegiance with a character in the narrative: Mars, the god of war, is
associated with Arcite; Venus, the goddess of love, is associated with Palamon; Diana, the
goddess of chastity, is associated with Emily; and Saturn, god of the harvest, who controls all of
the fates of the characters. Mars, Diana, and Venus are described in great detail as Theseus
builds the temple in their honor. Their presence in the story is more valuable to Chaucer than
simply having supernatural beings be a part of his narrative. One of Chaucer’s main themes in
“The Knight’s Tale” is how fate is prevalent in the lives of the characters (and also in the lives of
those who are reading his poem). Saturn, in particular, provides an uneasy feeling about fate’s
control over the lives of humans. Saturn discusses his control over the death of humans in a long
catalogue of horror, stating, “My cours, that hath so wyde for to turne, / Hath moore power than
woot any man . . . My lookyng is the fader of pestilence” (2454-2469). Saturn is able to control
the outcome of the battle, even if Mars is going to intervene. The battle between the two knights
has now become a battle among the gods who have the true control over their lives. Their control
is exhibited whenever all of the prayers of the characters come true: Arcite wins the battle,
Palamon marries Emily, and Emily is given the husband that cares for her most (as deemed by
Venus, the goddess of love). Chaucer's choice of using Roman gods to exhibit control over the
characters’ lives is a logical one that emphasizes his view that fate is inevitable and
uncontrollable. The idea of fate versus free will is another common theme in medieval literature,
and Chaucer capitalizes on this by using other conventions of medieval literature.
While it is important to recognize where Chaucer remained true to the medieval romance
genre, the real importance of “The Knight’s Tale” lies in his changing of the genre. Chaucer uses
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multiple subtleties in order to stay true to what his audience expects from a medieval romance
story, and he ultimately provides a resolution to the story as well. However, his alterations
provide more depth for the characters and plot line than following the genre would have.
One of the most drastic changes that Chaucer makes is the exclusion of an adventure.
Most often, when there is a knight in a medieval narrative, he must go on an adventure. His goal
is to complete his quest, whatever that quest may entail. Chaucer eliminates the quest and
adventure entirely and focuses solely on the relationship among the three characters and their
relationship to fate. Walter Wadiak focuses on Chaucer’s exclusion of adventure in his article
titled, “Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale and the Politics of Distinction.” Wadiak claims that Chaucer’s
deletion of an adventure in a tale about to knights is a direct response to his want to change the
predictability of his text. Chaucer is critiquing the commonality of all knight’s tales: a woman is
captured, one knight risks his life and presents chivalric values in order to save her, he saves her,
and then they live together happily. Chaucer includes none of this in “The Knight’s Tale.” In
contrast, the knights are the ones who are captured rather than the womanly love interest. Emily
is actually content with her situation with Theseus and even prays to remain unmarried during
her time in the temple: “I / Desire to ben a mayden al my lyf, / Ne nevere wol I be no love ne
wyf” (2304-2306). There are also two knights rather than one, and neither is extremely chivalric.
While they are both willing to die for Emily, they must be convinced to participate in the
tournament. Both fight fairly, but readers do not see them as true heroes of the story. Another
contrast is that the winner of the battle does not win the love of the woman. Instead, it is the loser
who wins the love, and the winner dies. Wadiak addresses this predictability when he says, “ I
argue instead that Chaucer subverts romance adventure as it is conventionally understood not
because adventure is too “masculine” but because it names for him what is predictable and
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debased about the mass of English romances” (Wadiak 164). Chaucer wants to set his poem
apart from others, and he does this by straying fairly far from the predictable plot line of the
medieval romance genre. This is only one instance in which Chaucer recognizes a genre
convention and then completely alters it in order to make his story memorable. The lack of
adventure is more subtle than completely changing an element of the story, but it is enough that
Chaucer’s work stands out while remaining relevant to his audience.
Another prominent change in Chaucer’s “The Knight’s Tale” is the sense of female
agency that he gives Emily. Again, Chaucer seemingly follows the expected characterization of a
woman in medieval literature: she is the object of knightly affection, and she is not allowed to
make decisions about her own life. Theseus, after taking Emily along with his wife from Thebes,
believes that he can control what happens to Emily. He discusses giving her to Palamon and
Arcite as if he is discussing giving away a piece of land. Theseus says, “That wheither of yow
bothe that hath myght, / This is to seyn, that wheither he or thow / May with his hundred, as I
spak of now, / Sleen his contrarie, or out of lystes dryve, / Thanne shal I yeve Emelya to wyve”
(1856-1860). Palamon and Arcite both treat Emily as though she has no choice in loving them.
Neither of the men thinks to solve the problem of their argument by asking Emily who she would
want to marry. Instead, they take it upon themselves to argue over her based on who saw her
first. Even at the end of the poem, it is difficult to see how Emily has any control over her life,
since she asked to remain unmarried and gets married to Palamon anyway. However, once one
delves deeper into Emily's character and Chaucer’s representation of her, it becomes clearer that
Chaucer wanted to give Emily a sense of choice and control over her own life, even more so than
the two knights in the story.
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Even though Palamon, Arcite, and Emily all pray to Roman deities in the temple, Emily
is the only one who is actually spoken to by a god. This sign alone is important to the idea that
Emily has control over her life. The two knights receive signs from their respective deities, but
Emily is worth a conversation to the goddess Diana. While Diana denied her request to remain
unmarried, it is the conversation and the promise of love that remains important throughout the
rest of the poem. Diana says to her, “Doghter, stynt thyn hevynesse. / Among the goddes hye it is
affermed, / And by eterne word writen and confermed, / Thou shalt ben wedded unto oon of tho /
That han for thee so muchel care and wo” (2348-2352). Diana’s denial of Emily’s request to
remain unmarried is not an act of oppression because she is a woman and has no choice in the
matter. Instead, Diana tells her that fate has decided that she cannot choose because it has already
been written, not because she is a woman. This idea plays into Chaucer's theme of fate being
inevitable to both the characters in the poem and the people reading the poem. Chaucer uses
Diana’s conversation with Emily to demonstrate that fate has determined what is going to happen
to her, even if the men in her life believe that they control what happens to her.
Emily is the only one whose future is determined by fate rather than godly intervention.
Mars answers Arcite’s prayer and gives him victory, and Venus answers Palamon’s prayer by
asking Saturn to help her, which ultimately gives Emily to Palamon through Arcite’s death.
Emily’s prayer is answered because the goddess of love knew Palamon loved her the most,
which was the second part of her prayer to Diana. Emily recognizes that she cannot control fate
and is one of the only characters who can see outside of her personal wants for her life. Chaucer
gives Emily a sense of agency and control over her life because she can see the forces beyond
her control that influence her life, and she accepts these forces. Before she leaves the temple, she
voices her confusion about Diana’s message aloud, but she also states her trust in Diana to
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protect her. Emily says, “What amounteth this, allas? / I putte me in thy proteccioun, / Dyane,
and in thy disposicioun” (2362-23634). Angela Weisl states that Chaucer pushes, “boundaries
(the glass ceiling that defines roles, positions, and possibilities), testing the genre's limits ... to
show both its confines and its potential" (Weisl 3). He pushes these genre boundaries through his
representation of Emily in “The Knight’s Tale.” Most women in medieval romance genre are
only the object of a man’s attention, and they rarely have speaking parts, let alone control over
their lives. Chaucer uses Emily to present a different ideal of women in medieval literature, but
he does it in a subtle way that will not make his readers question whether his work is relevant to
the current time period.
One of the most striking differences between Chaucer’s work and the conventional
medieval romance genre is the ending that Chaucer provides. Resolution is a major part of the
genre, and Chaucer does give a resolution of some sort in the poem. However, he also combines
the resolution and “happy” ending with one of tragedy. Not only is there death at the end of the
poem, but it is the death of Emily’s deserved winner. Arcite and Palamon battled, and Arcite
won the tournament. However, due to godly intervention, Arcite dies and can no longer marry
Emily. Although his death is in Chaucer’s source material, Chaucer does not have Emily marry
Arcite before he dies. Instead, readers get a proclamation from Arcite that Palamon deserves to
marry Emily because, “So worthy to ben loved as Palamon, / That serveth yow, and wol doon al
his lyf. / And if that evere ye shul been a wyf, / Foryet nat Palamon, the gentil man” (2794-
2797). Chaucer’s ending is not one of total resolution, and it leaves readers with an uneasy
feeling before the ultimate resolution. Egeus, the father of Theseus, goes on to discuss the world
being a “thurghfare ful of wo, / And we been pilgrymes, passynge to and fro; / Deeth is an ende
of every worldly soore” (2847-2849). This imagery is dark and unsettling for readers, but it
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enforces Chaucer’s theme of fate being uncontrollable. People are simply passing through life,
and they have little to no control over what fate has determined for them. Shortly after this,
Chaucer ends his tale with “For now is Palamon in alle wele, / Lyvyng in blisse, in richesse, and
in heele; / And Emelye hym loveth so tendrely, / And he hir serveth so gentilly, / That nevere
was ther no word hem bitwene / Of jalousie, or any other teene” (3101-3106). Chaucer’s
resolution exists because Palamon and Emily are stated to live happily together and leaves
readers feeling satisfied at the end of his tale, but he varied greatly from the conventional
resolutions of the medieval genre. This underlying sense of unsettling knowledge about the
future remains throughout the end of his poem, but it is combated by Chaucer’s addition of a
“happily ever after” statement.
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Chapter 3:
The Miller’s Tale
Existing Scholarship
Most of the existing scholarship on “The Miller’s Tale” focuses on relationships between
the characters or the genre of the fabliau. In his journal article titled “The English Fabliau
Tradition and Chaucer’s ‘Miller’s Tale,’” Robert E. Lewis outlines the aspects of the French
fabliau and then relates these aspects to the history of the English fabliau. Lewis makes the
argument that while the commonly accepted genre of French fabliau existed at Chaucer’s time,
the English fabliau existed as well. He argues that Dame Sirith is not only an example of an
English fabliau but also a likely precedent for “The Miller’s Tale.” He cites word commonalities
between the two stories, and he makes his claims based on the idea that “The Miller’s Tale” is
more similar (in terms of the genre conventions of the English fabliau, as he calls it) to Dame
Sirith than the French tradition of fabliau. He says:
There must have been an English fabliau tradition before Chaucer and if Dame Sirith is
representative of that tradition–and I like to think it is because it has a spirit and a
dramatic technique that are quite different from the French–then Chaucer had a precedent
and a model in the tradition for the diction and the parody that he puts into “The Miller’s
Tale.” (Lewis 255)
Lewis focuses, as many other scholars do, on the conventions of Chaucer’s fabliau that differ
from the French tradition. His reasoning that there was another model for Chaucer to follow is
supported by his research, yet he does not discuss the similarities between the French tradition
and the English fabliau. While there are differences, there are also numerous similarities that
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lend themselves to a French tradition altered into Chaucer’s preferred writing language.
Additionally, Lewis does not seem to discuss the specific elements of the fabliau that are altered,
and I believe that there is significance in each omission or addition that Chaucer makes to genre
convention. In thischapter, I will discuss how Chaucer’s choices in characterization and genre
convention were purposeful, and that his purpose is to critique the society surrounding the
Miller. Chaucer uses the conventions of the French fabliau yet writes in English because it
furthers his satirical basis.
Genre Analysis
Chaucer’s “The Miller’s Tale” is a perfect example of the genre of fabliau. As outlined in
the “Genres” chapter of this thesis, the fabliau implies a certain level of satire. This section will
first examine how “The Miller’s Tale” fits into the genre of fabliau, and the significance of this
story in relation to “The Knight’s Tale” for a satirical purpose. Then, I will discuss the societal
implications of the tale and what this choice of satire reveals about Chaucer’s values and society
at the time.
One of the most obvious characteristics of the fabliau is the format of the tale. It is
written entirely in verse with rhymes. Most fabliaux in English literature at the time were written
in prose, so Chaucer reverts to the original format of the French fabliau in order to write his tale.
Chaucer’s choice to return to an older form of the fabliau tells his audience from the beginning
that he is not interested in following a strictly contemporary genre convention. Chaucer did not
choose the fabliau because it was currently a popular genre of literature in English, as he may
have done with “The Knight’s Tale.” Instead, he chose a form that had been altered drastically
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from its original and chose that original format to follow. Not only does this establish Chaucer as
a well-rounded and knowledgeable writer, but it also keeps his audience interested in his work.
Even if the story itself is not extremely appealing to a specific audience, the presence of genre
alteration and difference from other works at that time creates a place for readers to be interested.
The second aspect of the fabliau that readers see in the tale itself is the presence of a working-
class character who interacts regularly with someone in the class above him. The Miller begins
his tale with “Whilom ther was dwellyng at Oxenford / A riche gnof, that gestes heeld to bord /
And of his craft he was a carpenter. / With hym ther was dwellyng a poure scoler, / Hadde lerned
art, but al his fantasye / Was turned for to lerne astrologye” (3187-3192). The young scholar,
later named as Nicholas, is a poor student who wants to learn astronomy. We learn as the tale
goes on that Nicholas lives with the rich carpenter whose name is John. John’s wife, Alisoun, is
young and beautiful, and Nicholas is captivated by her. From the first lines of the poem, readers
know that there will be issues of class distinction throughout the poem. These class distinctions
are important in a fabliau because fabliaux often critique the behaviors of the upper class,
especially if these punishments are in favor of the working-class. At the top of the economic
hierarchy in this household is John, the rich carpenter. He is placed economically higher than
Nicholas and the fourth character, Absalon. We learn from the second page of the tale, however,
that while John is higher in monetary distinction, his morals are not superior to others. The
Miller says, “Men sholde wedden after hire estaat, / for youthe and elde is often at debaat”
(3229-3230). This statement occurs early in the tale, and it causes the reader to question not only
age differences (youth and old age) but also the societal structures that were enforced in the
Middle Ages. Instead of assuming that the rich carpenter deserves sympathy and understanding
for his choices, the Miller expresses contempt for him. Because readers question the integrity of
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John, we question the existence of the social structure, specifically in relation to morality, as a
whole. This distinction between social structures remains important throughout the entirety of
the tale, and it is the basis of the punishments that occur for the characters at the end of the tale.
Another aspect of the fabliau that Chaucer follows is the exaggerated nature of his
characters. While fabliaux have relatable, working-class characters, they remain exaggerated and
potentially unattainable in nature. Absolon, for example, represents the extremes of a man who
pines after a woman whom he cannot have. Absolon goes to sing to Alisoun every day, despite
her warnings that she is not interested in him. The Miller says, “This passeth forth: what wol ye
bet than weel? / Fro day to day this joly Absolon / So woweth hire, that hym is wo bigon. / He
waketh al the nyght and al the day” (3370-3373). The persistence of Absolon represents an
exaggerated version of a love-struck man because no average man would stay somewhere day
and night to beg for love from a married woman. John is also exaggerated, even though his
requests are seemingly not absurd. To a contemporary audience, an old man marrying an
eighteen-year-old has implications, but her youth is not John’s main focus. Instead, he is focused
on keeping her from sexual endeavors outside of their marriage. This request is normal in a
marriage, but it is the way in which John acts that creates the exaggerated aspects of his
character. In the same passage that cast doubt on John’s morality, the Miller says that “Jalous he
was, and heeld hir narwe in cage” (3224). John goes to the extent of making his wife feel trapped
in a cage which is much more drastic than a man who simply wants his wife to remain faithful.
These exaggerated characters help to enhance the satirical elements of the story as they embody
a basic character turned obsessive, just as satire takes a basic human vice and crafts a societal
commentary out of it.
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The tale is also obviously comical and obscene with the scene that involves the kissing of
Alisoun’s “naked ers” and the branding of Nicholas. These scenes are also extremely dramatized
and cause the reader to understand that there is a level of exaggeration in the characters. Chaucer
makes the characters relatable enough to the working class, but they can truly appreciate the
story when they are separated from it. If the situations and the characters were too realistic in a
fabliau, then the working class may not enjoy it as much. They may feel as though they cannot
read a raunchy, crude story based on people that actually exist. A fabliau is supposed to entertain
and make people laugh, and the suffering and punishment that the characters face in a fabliau
would complicate the entertainment by inducing sympathy from the audience. Chaucer chooses
to adhere to the genre convention here because if he did not, he may lose a reader’s interest in his
story which would affect the reading of the rest of his tales.
The obscenities in the story drastically differ from the positivity and upper-class language
of “The Knight’s Tale.” If we compare the descriptions of Emily versus the description of
Alisoun, we see the stark contrast. As previously mentioned in the chapter on “The Knight’s
Tale,” Chaucer’s description of Emily is elegant and heightened, making her seem other-worldly.
We understand that Emily is a true lady by medieval standards and thus, worthy of the battle that
ensues between the two men. The description we receive of Alisoun, however, gives us no sign
of worthiness to the two men. Nearly every seemingly positive comment that the Miller notes
about Alisoun is compromised by an insult. For example, the first line of description we receive
about Alisoun is “Fair was this yonge wyf, and therwithal / As any wezele hir body gent and
smal” (3233-3234). While the adjectives small and graceful seem positive in relation to the
description of a woman, Chaucer then adds an animal the encapsulates her smallness and
graceful nature: a weasel. Weasel’s are often considered sneaky and sly which completely
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contradicts the adjectives that were previously assigned to Alisoun. The entire passage continues
in this manner of giving seemingly positive descriptions of Alisoun, only for Chaucer to insert a
small piece that changes the entire meaning of the description. Readers know from the very
beginning description of Alisoun that she is a very different woman from Emily, who was
described in the same situation with two men pining after her. Chaucer’s direct contrast of Emily
and Alisoun shows his awareness of not only the basis of a fabliau but also of his stories within
the context of one another.
Chaucer also characterizes Alisoun by giving her a voice and agency. Similarly, to how
Emily had the ultimate influence on the outcome of the tournament, Alisoun seems to have the
final say in her life as well. Chaucer gives Alisoun a number of speaking lines, and these lines
are indicative of Alisoun’s control over her situation. Although Alisoun does not speak as much
as her male counterparts, the meaning behind Alisoun’s words is more important than the
number of speaking parts she is given. Sophie Marnett wrote an article that compares the voices
of men and women in different fabliaux, and she discusses not only the frequency of men
compared to women but also the length of speaking done at each time: “Une approche globale du
corpus montre que les fabliaux ont tendance à présenter les homme comme parlant et pensant
plus souvent que les femmes” (Marnett 115). This tendency for men to speak (and think) more
often than women is contradicted, however, by the amount of time that male and female
characters spend speaking: “En effet, le nombre de fabliaux où les paroles et les pensées des
hommes sont plus longues que celles des femmes équivaut à celui où c’est le contraire” (Marnett
115). This study helps us to understand the trends for the fabliaux in reference to female
speaking parts, and we see that Alisoun speaks less than the men in the story. Her speaking parts,
however, are integral to her character. For example, when she submits to Nicholas’s advances,
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the Miller says, “That she hir love him graunted atte laste” (3290). Alisoun grants her ‘love’ to
Nicholas rather than submitting to him. While her thoughts and words are fewer than the male
characters, they are of great importance for her agency.
Another potential way of viewing the contrast between Emily and Alisoun is through the
social dynamics presented to the audience. One of the key aspects of a fabliau is the focus on the
working class, specifically those who are affected by a higher power. While John does not
represent the upper class in the medieval social strata, we know that he holds a higher position
than Nicholas as Nicholas boards with him during his time as a student. Even though John does
not hold a higher social position than Nicholas when compared to those actually in the upper
class, there is a distinct separation between John and Nicholas. There is even more of a
separation when we compare this tale to “The Knight’s Tale.” Palamon and Arcite are
technically of a higher class than every character in this story, so their lower class and obscenity
is even more noticeable. By placing “The Miller’s Tale” directly after “The Knight’s Tale,”
Chaucer makes his audience aware of class distinctions not only within “The Miller’s Tale” but
also within the tale in relation to the other tales. This separation is necessary to the foundation of
a fabliau, and he follows the same idea in relation to Emily and Alisoun. Readers may
sympathize with Emily who is the object of attention for two different men but seemingly has no
control over her situation. Emily does not get to choose, but Alisoun does. Alisoun takes action
against Absolon and her husband by participating in their punishments. Chaucer gives Alisoun
the agency that Emily did not have. The class distinctions, even though they are a classic part of
the fabliau, create a satirical commentary on the role of women in Chaucer’s society. He seems
to suggest that women in the lower class have more power than those in the upper class. Chaucer
directly critiques the role of women in upper classes by placing Alisoun and Emily in the same
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position and giving Alisoun more control over her life. Chaucer’s critiques of the roles that
women play in society directly relate to the satirical elements that are usually a component in
fabliaux. Chaucer breaks this genre convention, though, by critiquing a facet of society that
remained uncritiqued by nearly everyone in Chaucer’s lifetime.
Another convention of the fabliau that Chaucer uses to create elements of satire in “The
Miller’s Tale” is the behaviors that are punished in the tale. Often, social standards for morality
are set by the upper class. In the middle ages, the upper classes, in conventional terms is not
always in economic reality, are the clergy and the nobility. The fabliau often critiques those
standards by punishing regularly established societal rules but also actions that go against these
standards. The only person in the tale who remains unpunished by others is Alisoun, and she is
not reproached by the other townspeople for not being punished. Alisoun not only cheated on her
husband, which is considered a major sin in the eyes of the Church, but she also lied and
embarrassed Absolon by having him kiss her behind rather than her lips. In the eyes of the
Church, Alisoun committed one of the worst sins out of all of the characters in the story, yet she
remains unpunished. Chaucer uses Alisoun as the prime example of the fabliau that mocks the
rules of the upper class, and he also uses the other characters to demonstrate this idea.
Absolon is punished for continuously pining after Alisoun by both Alisoun and Nicholas.
It is specifically mentioned in the tale that flatulence makes Absolon squeamish, so the
punishment that he receives from Nicholas becomes even worse. Readers are aware of the
weight of this punishment because the mention of squeamishness seems awkward to include in
the description of Absolon as a character. We receive nearly thirty lines of description of
Absolon, only for that stanza to end with “But sooth to seyn, he was somdeel squaymous / of
fartyng” (3337). Chaucer wanted to ensure that readers were aware that the punishments Absolon
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received for attempting to steal a married woman was the worst punishment he could receive,
and he does this by including a surprising line that readers will remember. Absolon’s behavior
fits the societal standards set by the upper class, so Chaucer follows convention by punishing
him.
Nicholas is punished in return by Absolon when Absolon brands him with a hot fire
poker. The punishment that Nicholas receives also aligns with the societal standards of
Chaucer’s time, as he committed the same crime that Absolon did. The main difference between
Absolon and Nicholas is that Alisoun loved Nicholas back, while she had no interest in Absolon.
This distinction may be the reason that Nicholas was only punished once while Absolon and
John were punished in two different ways. While Nicholas’s punishment was a terrible one that
will leave him with a scar for the rest of his life, it is not a personalized terrible punishment like
the one Absolon received or one of public humiliation like the one that John receives. Chaucer’s
choice to punish Nicholas for pursuing and encouraging adultery in a lesser way than John and
Absolon may demonstrate the previously mentioned idea that he believes working class women
can make decisions that will affect their lives. Even though Alisoun seems completely stripped
of her choices as a person when John marries her, she ends up with the most control by the end
of the tale, and John becomes the one who suffers the most.
Chaucer directly mocks the rules of the economically upper class through John’s
character. While his actions are not as clear cut as Alisoun’s, John has some behaviors that are
reprehensible and others that seem completely reasonable. For example, he married a wife much
younger than he, and this age gap is one of the sins that he is punished for. If John had chosen a
more appropriate wife that was his age, he most likely would not have lost her to a young man.
As previously discussed, it is implied at the beginning that John made a poor choice in choosing
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such a young bride because she would want someone who was her own age rather than an old
and jealous man who used his wealth to marry her. We can infer that Alisoun married John
because of his promise of money and security because of Absolon’s remark that “For som fok
wol ben wonnen for richesse / And somme for strokes, and somme for gentilesse” (180). The
other behavior that John is punished for is his intense jealousy and focus on wanting for his wife
to remain loyal to him. These behaviors that John displays, while drastic and exaggerated, are
more reasonable than both Nicholas and Absolon. Whether the way he married Alisoun is moral
or not, it is reasonable that John would want his wife to remain loyal to him. Wanting a wife to
not be adulterous is not a major sin to any social class, yet John is punished the harshest. By the
end of the tale, he has been punished both personally and publicly. He injured himself when he
fell from the roof, and he was also publicly shamed by the townspeople who believed Nicholas
over him. John must face public scorn in his town as being a senile, old man who has also lost
his wife. In Chaucer’s time, a person’s town was often their life, and they rarely traveled,
especially if they were in the lower class, unless they were in occupations such as servants to the
rich. The punishment of social scorn that John receives is arguably the worst punishment that the
characters face, yet he committed no sins in the eyes of the Church. The level of punishment that
the characters face is directly related to Chaucer’s critiques of the morality of the upper classes
or those who have gained power because of their wealth.
Chaucer uses the fabliau that is based around satire as a way to critique multiple facets of
his own society, specifically the societal morals and social standing of women in wealthy or
upper class situations. While the critique of the upper class is a usual aspect of the fabliau,
Chaucer’s addition of the critique of a woman’s social standing makes this fabliau different from
others. Chaucer is able to take a form of societal commentary that usually includes satire and add
32
another level of analysis and critique that is uncommon, and this difference causes Chaucer’s
fabliau to stand out among the rest of the fabliaux that were written at the time.
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Chapter 4:
The Pardoner’s Tale
Existing Scholarship
Most of the scholarship done on “The Pardoner’s Tale” focuses on the contradictions of
the Pardoner’s character and the story that he tells. There has also been extensive research on the
reactions of the rest of the party to the Pardoner, as he is one of the only characters with an
epilogue to his tale. Edmund Reiss discusses the shortcomings of others in their characterization
of the Pardoner in his article “The Final Irony of the Pardoner’s Tale.” The faults that Reiss finds
in other scholarship is the characterization of the Pardoner as a man who deserves pity or
sympathy from readers. Several authors have discussed the ways in which the Pardoner should
be viewed sympathetically as a man who has faults yet tries to help those he preaches to. Reiss
believes that the Pardoner is fully aware of his decisions and remains an ambiguous character
that we neither truly sympathize with nor condemn outright.
Reiss supports his argument with direct quotes from the Pardoner, but he spends much of
his time using previous scholarship to direct his argument. The final irony, as he refers to it, is
that “Nothing has been achieved through the tale, no one understands, and all we are left with is
the irony that the Pardoner is the only unpardoned man of those who went on the road to
Canterbury” (266). While I agree with Reiss that the Pardoner has great control over language
and knows that he is corrupt (and continues to be corrupt, even after he has told his nearly
perfect exemplum), I believe that Reiss does not deeply analyze the importance of the Pardoner
being aware of his impacted morality. Whether or not the Pardoner is aware and active in his
corrupted state remains extremely important to how readers understand not only the character of
34
the Pardoner but also the significance of his relationship to the tale that he tells. In this chapter, I
will argue that Chaucer’s depiction of the Pardoner as a man who is aware and proud of his
corruption is integral to his tale being perceived as satire. While the tale itself is nearly perfect,
the Pardoner’s deceitful actions enforce Chaucer’s satirical approach to critiquing the Church.
Genre Analysis
While the other chapters of this essay have focused primarily on the tales that the
Canterbury pilgrims told to the other travelers, this chapter will focus more on the pilgrim’s
prologue. The Pardoner’s prologue is much longer than the rest of the characters’ prologues, so it
is important to focus on this aspect of his tale. In order to discuss the importance of “The
Pardoner’s Tale,” we must first understand the role of a pardoner in medieval society. The
Pardoner was considered a member of the clergy, but he did not have much authority within the
Church. A pardoner was supposed to work underneath a bishop, and his job was to collect money
for the cause of his church and return the money he collected to the bishop. Technically, he was
not supposed to preach or hear confessions from people. A pardoner also sold indulgences which
signified a forgiveness of sins with the promise that the person would confess their sins as soon
as possible. The Pardoner was not authorized to actually forgive anyone of their sins nor was he
permitted to keep the money for his own personal benefit. The role of the pardoner, if enacted
properly, had nothing immoral associated with it in the eyes of the Church. However, the idea
that pardoners were immoral was a common one during the middle ages, and many pardoners
took advantage of a system that allowed them to collect money on behalf of the Church
(Jusserand).
35
The Pardoner in The Canterbury Tales breaks all of the aforementioned rules for a
pardoner at the time. In fact, one could argue that the Pardoner is one of the most sinful
characters in The Canterbury Tales. If we look at the characterization of the Pardoner through his
speeches in his prologue, we can see many of the sins associated with the seven deadly sins.
While not officially in the Bible, the seven deadly sins were an important aspect of the middle
ages. People believed in them as though they were a part of the Bible, and they were even
enforced by the Pope. The sins originally were eight instead of seven when they were first
created by Evagrius of Pontus, but they were cut down to seven when Pope Gregory I declared
them to be rules to live by (Newhauser). The sins were reduced to include the seven that nearly
everyone is familiar with today: lust, greed, sloth, pride, envy, wrath, and gluttony. The
Pardoner possesses nearly every one of these sins, and he presents them openly in his prologue.
It is rare for a character to admit their vices to their own audience, as their characterizations are
usually shown through their actions or the stories they choose to tell. The Pardoner, however,
openly admits to all of the sins that he has committed, and readers become aware that the
Pardoner is not only greedy but also embodies nearly every one of the sins they have been told to
avoid.
The first sin that readers see in the Pardoner is pride. The Pardoner tells his audience
about how he performs his sermons, which he knows he is not supposed to perform as part of his
job. His description of how he delivers sermons shows readers that he is extremely proud of his
ability to tell false tales for money as he describes the exaggerative measures that he takes to
make himself more interesting and believable. For example, he says, “And in Latyn I speke a
words fewe, / To saffron with my predicacioun” (344-345). The Pardoner believes himself to be
clever in how he enhances his presentation of a sermon in order to convince people to donate
36
more money to him. These actions are those of an extremely prideful man, and the Pardoner fits
the first of the seven sins.
The next sin that the Pardoner exhibits, and ultimately, the strongest, is greed. The
Pardoner is an extremely greedy man who uses his position in the Church to pray on peoples’
fear of going to hell in order to gain more money for his personal lifestyle. The Pardoner admits
that he only uses the money for himself and that he does not care about the ultimate salvation or
damnation of anyone that he preaches to. He says, “For myn entente is nat but for to wynne, /
And nothyng for correccioun of sinne” (403-404). The Pardoner’s greatest sin is that of greed,
and he goes on to tell his tale of how greed is the root of all evil. This is the most satirical aspect
of the pardoner, as he has no problem admitting that his personal vice is greed, yet telling others
to avoid greed as it destroys everything. The Pardoner mentions being greedy at multiple points
in his prologue, so readers are very aware of the extent of this vice.
We see the next three sins that the Pardoner exhibits in a matter of ten lines of his
prologue. The first of these is sloth, as he says, “I wol nat do no labour with myne handes, / ne
make baskettes” (444-445). The Pardoner says that he takes advantage of his job because he does
not want to do manual labor for money. This claim shows that the Pardoner has the ability to
work, but he chooses to live a sinful life rather than one where he earns his money. The Pardoner
shows that he is slothful because he chooses a life of stealing from innocent people rather than
simply working. The next sin he discusses is gluttony when he says, “I wol have moneie, wolle,
chese, and whete . . . I wol drynke licour of the vyne” (448-452). The Pardoner not only states
that he wants a lot of food and alcohol, but he also claims that he would rather have all of those
things over a starving widow and her children who were dying from hunger. In this example, the
Pardoner demonstrates his gluttony and also his selfishness in regard to others. The final sin that
37
the Pardoner demonstrates is lust when he says, “And have a joly wenche in every toun” (453).
The Pardoner openly admits to sleeping with multiple women outside of marriage, so often that
he has a woman in every town that he visits. This behavior is extremely sinful for a regular
member of the Church and even more so for a member of the clergy. The Pardoner, however, has
no qualms about sharing these horrible sins with everyone who is about to listen to him preach,
and he is prideful enough to think that his confession will not affect how they view his tale.
The Pardoner’s actual tale is a near perfect exemplum. The Pardoner uses many common
ideas throughout his tale that we see in medieval exempla. His tale is focused on three men who
are close enough to each other to seem like brothers, and the number three is a common
occurrence in Christian ideology. These three men are overcome by greed, and each man suffers
for his greed by dying at the end of the tale. The Pardoner also has the presence of an old man in
the story who leads them toward their ultimate deaths which is a common trait in exempla. The
old man often represents trickery or a higher power, like Death. The men are also in search of
Death, so the Pardoner uses the character of the old man (whom the men mock and bully) to
represent the Death that they are searching for. The only problem with the exemplum is that the
Pardoner claims that greed is the root of all evil, or “Radix malorum est Cupiditas,” yet greed is
not what led the young men to the tree where they found the gold (490). Rather, it is revenge.
The men never would have ridiculed the old man or even found the gold had they not been
searching for Death in order to avenge their other friend. It seems, then, that greed is not the root
of all evil: it is revenge. This small flaw in the tale can be representative of how the Pardoner is
not truly preaching for other people. If he had been truly preaching this tale as often as he claims
for the right reasons, he would have found the flaw in his tale. Instead, the Pardoner is focused
on the theatrics of telling the tale and not whether it is completely accurate or not. The rest of the
38
tale, however, follows the exemplum perfectly. Each character is punished for his sin of greed,
and the Pardoner uses their deaths as a warning for others who may be greedy. He then claims
that he is able to absolve sins like those of the men in his tale if only people will donate to the
Church. Chaucer chooses to stick to genre conventions of the exemplum because if the Pardoner
told a ridiculous tale that was not near perfect, it would break the idea that the Pardoner is able to
convince others to donate with his sermons. The near perfect tale that the Pardoner tells creates a
satirical commentary on the Church as a whole because even a man as imperfect as the Pardoner
can create and spin a tale that will be believable to those who listen to him.
While Chaucer characterizes the Pardoner in the prologue, he also characterizes the
Church and the clergy as a whole. When the Pardoner speaks of his relics, he states that they are
fake and have no real value to him or to the person who buys them. This is a commentary on the
Church and their false promises of forgiveness in the eyes of God. The Pardoner even discusses
that he is not the only member of the Church who tricks people out of their money in the name of
the Church. At the beginning of his prologue, he says, “And after that thanne telle I forth my
tales, / Bulles of popes and of cardynals, / Of patriarkes, and bishopes I shewe” (341-343). The
Pardoner claims that his tales stem from those that he has been taught by other members of the
clergy. While the tales themselves are not problematic and actually represent the supposed
morality of the Church, it is implied that the performative aspects of the sermons are also taught
by the Church. Shortly after this declaration, the Pardoner begins to discuss how he adds Latin
and does other things that enhance the experience of listening to his sermons. Placing this
admission of exaggeration directly after a statement about how the Pardoner was influenced by
others in the church implies to Chaucer’s audience that he learned from the Church how to
effectively fool people into donating money to false purposes.
39
The Pardoner even interjects with specific Biblical references in order to make himself
seem more believable. While describing the abilities that his relics have, he says, “Fastynge,
drynken of this welle a draughte, / As thilke holy Jewe oure eldres taughte, / His beestes and his
stoor shal multiplie” (363-365). The Pardoner’s interjections of specific biblical references as
well as his knowledge of Latin shows the audience that not only are the clergy deceitful, but it is
also nearly impossible to not be deceived. The clergy who deceive others often spend time and
energy learning specific parts of the Bible to use, even memorizing titles in Latin for their
sermons. They become more and more convincing as they perform their sermons, and because of
their convincing arguments and specifically cited examples, they seem like they know the Bible
extensively. It would be easy to ignore a Pardoner who tells a sermon with no biblical references
and who cannot answer specific questions about the religion or Church itself, so the deceitful
clergy take the time to learn their parts as though they were actors. The learning of the Bible to
convince others that the Pardoner is valid creates an even worse moral dilemma than simply
attempting to deceive people. The Pardoner, and other deceitful clergy, put significant effort into
their deceitful ways. In theory, it would cost them the same amount of energy to actually do
work that would reward them monetarily, yet they choose to put their efforts into deceit. Chaucer
is heavily critical of this practice, and we can see that others in the society are also critical of this
when the Pardoner finishes his tale.
After the Pardoner finishes, he attempts to convince the members of the pilgrimage
community to give him money for his relics and to get their names on his list of those who will
be absolved of their sins. The Pardoner had just told the entire group in his prologue that he
tricked others with his tales, but he believes himself to be convincing enough in his tale-telling
that they will still donate to him knowing that he is a fraud. Readers do not see how most of the
40
party would have reacted to the Pardoner still asking for money because the Host interjects
before anyone else can respond to him. The Host calls the Pardoner numerous insults and even
states that he would rather castrate the Pardoner than buy one of his false relics. This angers the
Pardoner enough that he cannot speak. The Pardoner’s inability to speak after the Host insults
him shows how shocked the Pardoner must be as his profession is based on convincing people to
donate to him. It may also indicate how rarely people refuse to donate to the Pardoner, especially
when we consider the confidence that the Pardoner possesses when he asks for money at the end
of his tale. The Host is not the only character that we see react in the epilogue of the Pardoner’s
tale. The Knight also interjects after the Host insults the Pardoner in order to bring peace back to
the company. The Knight tells the two to reason with each other in order to continue the journey
with happiness, but he also tells the Pardoner to “drawe thee neer” (966). The Knight attempts to
resolve this conflict between the Pardoner and the Host by having the Pardoner remain a part of
the pilgrimage group. Despite the Pardoner’s deceitful actions and immoral character, the Knight
encourages the Host to forgive him, and the argument ends peacefully as they ride forward. The
reactions of the Knight and the Host show readers that while many people were deceived by
selfish pardoners, it was not acceptable for it to happen. However, their resistance represents the
actions that were taken in medieval life against corrupt clergy: dislike and mistrust in general,
rather than negative action toward the corrupt ones from the Church.
People were upset with the idea of corrupt clergy, but little was usually done to remove
the corrupt from the high class in society. Chaucer uses the Pardoner as an example of the severe
faults of those who lead the Church, yet no one stops these people from representing the Church.
Chaucer is able to comment on the negative aspects of the Church through his tales, and although
no one stops the Pardoner from being corrupt or continuing to deceive people, the existence of
41
the tale itself is a resistance. Without the lengthy prologue and addition of an epilogue, “The
Pardoner’s Tale” would not have been a satirical tale. Chaucer included both of those aspects,
however, to create a satirical commentary on the values of the Church. Chaucer did not break the
genre convention within the story itself, but he surrounded the tale with other elements that
changed the meaning of the tale completely. If we read the tale on its own without the
surrounding content, we may believe the Pardoner just as those who listened to his tales and
donated did. Chaucer’s addition of the background information to the Pardoner’s character
allowed doubt to surround the tale, and satire became a vehicle for Chaucer’s commentary on the
roles of those in the Church.
42
Chapter 5: Societal Critiques through “The Knight’s Tale,” “The Miller’s Tale,” and “The
Pardoner’s Tale”
Chaucer’s choice to use satire as a mode to critique his society is evident in the three
aforementioned tales and their respective genres. Chaucer alters these genres to fit his satirical
viewpoint, and he maintains this satirical approach throughout each genre. His choice to utilize
satire in many of his tales is directly related to his wish, but possible inability because of social
status, to comment directly on his society. In this chapter, we will look at the specific aspects of
society that Chaucer wanted to critique, and how his tales demonstrate these critiques through his
use of satire.
Chaucer was one of the only medieval writers who we are aware of that created
numerous female characters with agency. Often, women were only objects for men to marry or
own, and Chaucer’s recognition of the larger range of roles of women is present in many of his
tales. Both “The Knight’s Tale” and “The Miller’s Tale” discuss roles of ownership that were
common standards in medieval society. Women were subordinate to men in every social class,
whether they were excluded from participating or simply considered a piece of property. The
view that women were lesser than men was prevalent in all facets of medieval society, and
Chaucer not only recognizes this idea but also combats it through his tales.
Emily in “The Knight’s Tale” has no control over being married to either Palamon or
Arcite, and she is visibly upset about her lack of control over her own life. Marriage is a form of
ownership, especially in the medieval time period, and Chaucer combats the idea of owning
women through giving Emily agency when she speaks to Diana and asks for her help. While
Emily cannot avoid getting married because of the societal standards set for her, she is able to
pray for the man who loves her most to marry her. Chaucer uses the character of Emily to create
43
a commentary about the societal standards that prevent women from being able to avoid
marriage. Chaucer’s use of satire in “The Knight’s Tale” allows him to comment on not only
these standards that Emily has to meet, but also allows her to potentially change her fate within
the standards. Chaucer knows that it is difficult to actually change societal standards set for
women, but he challenges them through Emily in order to bring awareness to the issues. Emily’s
gender actually gives her more power over the battle than the skill of either of the knights, even
if she remains trapped in a society associated with the oppression of women.
Chaucer also uses the character of Alisoun to create a commentary on the idea of a
woman’s place in society. Alisoun represents the lower-class standards for women, but they are
similar to that of the nobility class. Rather than simply being married as Emily is, Alisoun is
influenced by John’s money to marry him. Because of the monetary influences associated with
the marriage of Alisoun and John, Alisoun becomes more of an object for John to control.
Chaucer critiques this utter control of Alisoun by John because he is much older and because of
the monetary influence on Alisoun. By the end of “The Miller’s Tale,” Alisoun is the only
character who has sinned and not been punished. She also punished Absolon without any
consequences, and she ends the story with the man that she truly loves. The complete lack of
punishment for Alisoun shows that Chaucer values her as a character, and he again breaks the
societal standard set for women. Alisoun has the power over John by the end of the tale, and this
power goes against everything that the society permits for a woman. Chaucer’s description of
Alisoun shows his dislike for a society that undermines women, and his disagreement with the
treatment of women in medieval society allows him to use satire as an outlet for this
disagreement. If Chaucer did not disagree with the treatment of women, then he never would
have used satire to create a commentary on the role of women in his society.
44
Another critique that Chaucer had of medieval society was genre convention in general.
Chaucer played with the idea of genre throughout his tales by slightly altering nearly every genre
he decided to encapsulate. The previous analyses showed how Chaucer altered rules of genre in
three of his tales, but he continued to do so in his other works as well. Chaucer was very aware
of the popular literary techniques and stories of his time, and he specifically chose the popular
genres to alter. For example, the medieval romance is arguably the most popular genre of story in
all of medieval literature, so Chaucer chose for the Knight to begin his tales. The choice to have
a medieval romance begin the tales sets up the rest of the genre-breaking that Chaucer enacts
through his tales. Chaucer’s breaking of genre convention is a direct commentary to audience
expectations for literature at the time, and his use of satire throughout every genre makes this
point even further. Chaucer’s tales remain among the most studied medieval literature because of
his choice to directly comment on the expectations that audiences had at the time and then break
those expectations. The popularity of literature that often told the same story in the same way
allowed Chaucer’s tales to stand out in relation to them. Their popularity also created an easy
satirical commentary for Chaucer to incorporate into his tales, and Chaucer is able to critique
multiple facets of his society through the addition if satire into both genres that originally utilized
satire and genres that did not.
Chaucer also critiqued the social class distinctions that defined medieval society. Social
class was an extremely important part of daily life for people at this time, and it was difficult or
nearly impossible to climb the social strata as they were designated by birth. The king and clergy
reigned over everyone, the nobility protected and served the Church, and the peasants often led
miserable lives that supported the two classes above them. Chaucer was born into an affluent
family, and we can see his critique of the societal classes in The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer does
45
not begin his tales with a member of the highest class, as no member of royalty or the high
nobility is included in the pilgrimage. Rather, he begins with the Knight who has high, but not
the highest, social status. The Knight is the first pilgrim the narrator introduces in the General
Prologue and that the Knight also begins the tales because of his high social class, even though
there are members of the clergy present. To disrupt the social order that was suggested so far, the
Miller tells his tale second as a direct mockery to “The Knight’s Tale.” The Miller’s insistence
on telling his tale second and the Host allowing it to happen is indicative of Chaucer’s contempt
for social order dictating everything.
Chaucer demonstrates his disagreement with social order not only through the ordering of
his tales but also through the messages within them. As previously mentioned in “The Miller’s
Tale” chapter, Chaucer uses Alisoun who is a member of the peasantry class to show that women
in the lower classes actually have more freedom and agency than those in the upper class of
nobility. The strict social classes in Chaucer’s time combined with the prevalent inability to
change one’s social class created another situation where Chaucer could use satire to comment
on his society. Although Chaucer belonged to the upper class, he recognized the struggles of the
class below him and the ultimate power of the class above him. His position in society allowed
him to draw attention to the absurdity of strict social classes.
The top of the social class included the aspect of Chaucer’s society that he critiqued the
most: the Church. Chaucer disagreed with and disliked many aspects of the Church, and this was
problematic for him because in Christian Europe, the Church was the institutional center of
medieval society. The Catholic Church set or reinforced all of the social standards and rules that
Chaucer previously critiqued, so he focused many of his writings on critiquing the Church in
general. It is important to draw a distinction between the critique of religion and the Church as an
46
institution because Chaucer did not critique religion in general. Rather, he was concerned about
those in the Church who did not truly practice the religion in the way they claimed everyone else
should. We can see this in many of Chaucer’s tales in The Canterbury Tales, and “The
Pardoner’s Tale” is only one example where Chaucer criticizes those in the Church that do not
follow their preaching. Chaucer believed that those in the clergy should be held accountable for
their actions, and he uses the Pardoner to demonstrate the hypocrisy within the Church. Although
the Church included some members who were poor and lived very simple lives of services to
other, many members of the clergy were members of the highest class of medieval society, and
they often lived well above their means. In comparison to the peasants who often starved, some
representatives of the clergy lived lavishly. Chaucer uses the Pardoner to show this lifestyle that
came from scamming others rather than working.
The presence of the Church as the ultimate power in many aspects of medieval society
creates an opportunity for Chaucer to critique the institution through satire. Chaucer draws
attention to the negative aspects of the Church and how these negatives affect the people who
must abide by the rules of the Church. Chaucer not only breaks down the societal rules set forth
by Church but also breaks down the idea of an immoral clergy. Chaucer’s critiques of society
stem almost directly from the societal standards set by the Church, and his use of satire is a direct
message to those in the Church that are corrupt, who enforce those rules, and those who follow
the rules without being aware of the hypocrisy present in their society.
Medieval society as a whole created the perfect scenario for satire to be relevant. Chaucer
found numerous aspects of society to critique, and the criticisms frequently stemmed back to the
institution of the Church. Chaucer’s position in noble households (he grew up in a royal
household and held various posts serving royal and noble individuals) allowed him to create
47
these commentaries because he could see both ends of the social structure while existing in
between them. Chaucer’s use of satire through numerous genres and perspectives stemmed
directly from the society that he lived in. Without these influences, Chaucer may never have
created The Canterbury Tales. The Canterbury Tales creates commentaries about all aspects of
Chaucer’s society, and his critical commentaries not only helped members of his society see the
flaws that he saw, but they also assist scholars today to understand several critiques of medieval
society that we do not see in other works. Chaucer’s mode of satire through genre creates an
environment of entertainment and teaching where we are able to appreciate the literary value of
his stories along with understanding society at the time.
48
Works Cited
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ACADEMIC VITA
Loren Baseler
Education: Bachelor of Arts in English, May 2020
Bachelor of Arts in French and Francophone Studies, May 2020
Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania
Awards and Achievements:
• Student Marshal for the French and Francophone Department – Spring 2020
• Dean’s List - Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019,
Fall 2019
• Integrated Study Abroad in Montpellier, France - Spring 2019
• The Excellence in English Faculty Award - Spring 2018
• The Sichi Scholarship for Academic Excellence in English - Spring 2018
• PSUGA Honors Award - Spring 2017, Spring 2018
• Editor-in-Chief of ABSENCE, Literary and Visual Art Magazine - Fall 2016, Spring
2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018
• Schreyer Honors College/Paterno Fellows Program - Entrance Fall 2017
Work Experience:
• American Shakespeare Center Liaison Intern (September 2019 - December 2019)
o Connected the physical advertising strategies with the digital through the use of
QR codes
o Developed original content for the social media platforms Facebook, Instagram,
and Twitter to engage with users on all platforms
o Designed and maintained a website that provided audiences with longer content
along with connecting all of the performance’s social media
o Increased performance attendance by over 100% from 2017 to 2019
o Researched and wrote the handbook for future interns to utilize throughout the
advertising process
• Pennsylvania State University - Teaching Assistant for ENGL 15
(August 2019 - December 2019)
o Operated technology for the professor
o Corrected student responses to prompts
o Assisted with small group discussions
• Assistant to the Press Coordinator of ABSENCE, A Penn State Campus Literary and
Visual Arts Magazine (Fall 2016 - Spring 2018)
o Led the publication team for the magazine
Ran staff meetings; organized Excel spreadsheet of submissions; contacted
and worked directly with authors and artists; ordered Table of Contents
with each accepted work; delegated work groups and supervised head
decisions; reviewed each submitted work in detail
o Planned Open Mic Nights for students to share creativity on the campus
o Contacted staff and other members of the campus community to be involved in
the Celebration of the Arts Ceremony
o Found supporting research for Press Coordinator
• Pennsylvania State University Libraries - Desk Assistant (Fall 2016 - Spring 2018)
o Managed help desk by answering student questions, checking out/returning
library items, and answering phone calls
o Shelved and organized library items within the Library of Congress System
o Processed mail for library staff