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Chaucer's Use Of Satire In The Prologue To The Canterbury Tales

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The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, explores the personalities of an eccentric group of characters who are making a religious pilgrimage to Saint Becket’s resting place. Although Chaucer’s sharp observances and literary techniques are essential to the literature, it is the central theme of humor bordering on satire that is most crucial to pay attention to. Chaucer develops this theme by The Nun, Monk, and Guildsmen are three pilgrims who develop the major theme through their outward appearance. When mocking the Nun, Chaucer observes the quality of clothing. “Her cloak, I noticed, had a graceful charm./She wore a coral trinket on her arm./A set of beads, the guadies tricked in green” (161-163). His ridicule does not end there, however. Chaucer

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