The 14th Century: from Chaucer's Perspective

The 14th Century: From Chaucer’s Perspective Often times, spoofs or satires of certain events or eras, however funny they may be, might be the most accurate depictions of that specific event. It is a way to over exaggerate details to make the reader very aware of them. In that same way, it also becomes memorable and not easy to forget whatever event or era the satire or spoof is presented. This is held true for The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer paints an accurate picture of what it was to live in the fourteenth century through his story, by showing the different levels of society, by showing people’s feelings towards certain topics, and a clear view of the corruption of the Church during that time. The fourteenth century was still very much a socially structured society where classes didn’t often mix. Society was still ruled by the Church who held most of the power. Followed by the nobles, who were in the military held some power in that like the Church they didn’t pay taxes and were still esteemed greatly. Finally those who worked (i.e. merchants, carpenters, farmers) were at the bottom of all classes. These people did pay taxes and were under the rule of the classes above them. The Canterbury Tales starts with a general prologue where the characters are “ presented to us within a carefully organized structure that reflects the hierarchal order of [the 14th century] contemporary society.” (Morgan, 411) In this way Chaucer gives us a picture of how society functioned and the roles that each character played. Introducing the Knight first followed by the Squire making it to the very end to the Pardoner. However, in the actual time period, the reunion of people from all classes would have not happened. They would’ve been apart from each other and would not travel together. Chaucer groups them together so information can be drawn from them in a simple manner. He used stereotypes and titles of each kind of person to give a further explanation of that particular person. As Chaucer makes his way to the end of the social levels, a reader gets a clear picture of who was who and how each person played a different role at that time. Society, in the fourteenth century, was influenced by the church which meant a great deal to the people because at all levels of society, belief in a god or gods was not a matter of choice; it was a matter of fact. It was also during the time after the Black Plague where people were looking for a source of salvation and a place of hope. Most people turned to the Church and followed it blindly without asking questions. For the most part, during this time the Church was full of corruption where indulgences were being sold, and were exploited to gain wealth, and had no religious or saving power. (Shaffern, 50) Advantage was being taken of the poor and were being used during their times of need. This is clearly shown by Chaucer, since five out of the seven people related to the church (clergymen and nuns) were shown to be anything but good. The Pardoner being one of them is a character that sold indulgences and false relics, whose only goal in life was to steal from people and get money. Chaucer demonstrated that a character such as the Pardoner wasn’t uncommon and to show that no remorse was shown by people like him. Chaucer by letting the Pardoner preach 1 Timothy 6:10 which says, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” This was to emphasize the hypocrisy found in the Church at that time and gives a clear warning through his writing that the Church was not helping and in a way was greedy and didn’t apply to itself what it preached. Women in the fourteenth century still did not have a lot of power or authority. They could only become nuns, or get married. There were no other options. But after a woman was married and widowed that’s as much as she could ever be. Marrying after the death of a husband, in those times was unheard of. The title of “widow” would always stay and a woman could not move past that. This only applied to women, for men were in need of a woman to take care of them. The Wife of Bath gives the reader an insight to this. Chaucer uses the Wife of Bath to present a character who shows the role and view of women of that time by defying the status quo of the time. Chaucer then uses this character to argue against this view, since the Wife of Bath rants in her prologue about how she shouldn’t be judged for being married more than once, and uses biblical examples to prove her point. Chaucer uses this character to give us a detailed point of view of the fact that women were still less than men. In brief, The Canterbury Tales are a clear depiction of what life was in the fourteenth century through fictional characters that stereotyped a specific societal class. All of the characters represent a person in that period of time and provide insight to what each of them did and didn’t do. Even though there is a satirical aspect to the stories and characters, with the exaggeration of some details, the reader can see a better of picture of the fourteenth century; details that would otherwise be ignored in normal prose are brought to the attention of the reader giving exaggerated accounts of it. Through humor and satire, a better view of a specific event or era is given. In addition making it harder to forget, the satire, however funny it is, might give a better understanding of an event than a historical account of the same event or era.

Works Cited
David, Alfred, and James Simpson. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt and M. H. Abrams. 8th ed. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. Print. The Middle Ages.
Iannuzzo, C. T. "Social Classes." Le Poulet Gauche. Web. 22 July 2011. <http://www.lepg.org/classes.htm>.
Morgan, Gerald. "RHETORICAL PERSPECTIVES IN THE GENERAL PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY TALES." English Studies 62.5 (1981): 411. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2011.
Shaffern, Robert W. "The Pardoner 's Promises: Preachingand Policing Indulgencesinthe Fourteenth-Century English Church." Historian 68.1 (2006): 49-65. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2011.

Cited: David, Alfred, and James Simpson. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt and M. H. Abrams. 8th ed. Vol. A. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. Print. The Middle Ages. Iannuzzo, C. T. "Social Classes." Le Poulet Gauche. Web. 22 July 2011. &lt;http://www.lepg.org/classes.htm&gt;. Morgan, Gerald. "RHETORICAL PERSPECTIVES IN THE GENERAL PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY TALES." English Studies 62.5 (1981): 411. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2011. Shaffern, Robert W. "The Pardoner 's Promises: Preachingand Policing Indulgencesinthe Fourteenth-Century English Church." Historian 68.1 (2006): 49-65. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 21 July 2011.