Humour in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales"

Résumé du document

The English Middle Ages are often thought of as bright times, when, except for a few brief periods of discontent, people were satisfied with life, wore bright clothes, drank beer and sang in cozy pubs. In short, England was merry. It is very easy to paint such a glamorous picture of the times and it is equally easy to draw a different one. In 1348 and 1349, the Black Death killed hundreds. In 1381, the Peasants' Revolt caused major social and political disturbances. The wickedness, stupidity, cruelty, ignorance and filth of the men of the age are as notorious as the colorful religious processions and gay maypole dances that were held. In such a situation, humor and comedy seem bound to play a complex, if not ambiguous, role. The powerful ambivalence of humor during the late Middle Ages, surfaces frequently upon reading Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales into which various kinds of humorous episodes are incorporated. Many tales (especially of the "fabliau" kind) are often associated with laughter and rude, slapstick comedy. But apart from the frequent burlesque episodes and straightforward parodies, we can also find examples of wit, subtle irony and satire. In that sense, certain tales can be read as mixtures of bawdy and moral comedy and consequently, differences of interpretation might occur over time.

Extraits

[...] In such a situation, humour and comedy seem bound to play a complex, if not ambiguous, role. The powerful ambivalence of humour during the late Middle Ages surfaces frequently upon reading Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales into which various kinds of humorous episodes are incorporated. Many tales (especially of the “fabliau” kind) are often associated with laughter and rude, slapstick comedy. But apart from the frequent burlesque episodes and straightforward parodies, we can also find examples of wit or more subtle irony and of satire. [...]

[...] Other tales are more subtle and the humour within them is different. It provokes sly, knowing smiles. Such are the satirical compliments paid by the Pardoner to the Wife of Bath for her arguments. On the whole, all are humorous because of a gap that is created between what is normally expected and what happens but also because of repetitive breaches of social decorum. Some of the mock-heroic tales have been described by Rob Pope as tales that use a “banana skin technique” on account of their antithetic structure. [...]

[...] It is difficult to reach a definitive conclusion about the purpose and role of humour within the Canterbury Tales. We could reject moralistic interpretations of Chaucer's comedy but we could also defend the view that humour serves a higher purpose. We could claim that in the Canterbury Tales, satire is used to condemn vices and immoral behaviour. But it is used along with more or less slight irony. Hence, the enthusiasm to detect immorality within the pilgrims' stories is probably unfounded. [...]

[...] The Knight is described as someone who loves “chivalry, truth, honour, freedom”, all noble ideals and fundamental Christian values, but this is followed by the remark that he has “each time slain his foe”. There seems to be no moral integrity in his person. The depraved Pardoner preaches . no sermon, save for covetousness . / Radix malorum est cupiditas . Many remarks of the same sort are made by or about the pilgrims. Many are called or but appear to be anything but this. [...]

[...] These might be interpreted as ironic by some but elaborate religious rituals did exist and the romance tradition was still alive at the time. Chaucer's contemporaries might not have viewed as ridiculous the different forms of devotion within those tales. In the case of The Knight's Tale, it is the juxtaposition of the Miller's fabliau and the romance that makes us infer things but such a structure might have been used to create an effect of variety and not of parody or irony. Irony in The Canterbury Tales is one of the devices that introduce ambiguity in most contemporary interpretations of the text. [...]