Satire is a purposeful and censorious manner of speaking or writing which examines vices and follies and makes them appear ridiculous and contemptible.
Dr. Johnson defines satire as ” A poem in which wickedness or folly is censured”. In John Dryden’s opinion, “True end of satire is an amendment of vices”. D. Defoe says, “The end of satire is reformation”.
Swift, one of the great satirists, beautifully defines satire. He says, “Satire is a sort of glass wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face, but not their own”. According to Maynard Mack, “Satire belongs to the category of praise and blame”.
A satirist is a kind of self-appointed guardian of standards, truth, ideals, and values, who takes upon himself to correct, censure and ridicule the follies and vices of society.
Chaucer is not a bitter satirist like Ben Johnson and Pope. Ben Johnson used the weapon of satire in his comedies to “strip the follies of the time” with a “whip of steel”. Pope was proud of his power of satire as he stated firmly:
“Yes I am proud, I must be proud to see Men not afraid of God, afraid of me”
Satire is found in the world of Chaucer, but it is always gentle, seldom severe, and never savage. This gentle satire may be called “Humor”. The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘Humor’ as that quality of action, speech, and writing which excites amusement. Anything which makes us laugh is humor. The best kind of humor is one that makes us laugh for a short while and think for a much longer period. It arises out of our failure to understand the incompatibility of one situation or object with the other. A humorist is a great humanist because he loves mankind despite its foibles and weaknesses.
Humor can be used in a broad as well as a limited sense. In the narrow sense, it means gentle mirth. In the broad sense, it stands for boisterous humor (fun), intellectual humor (wit), gentle humor, and bitter humor (satire).
Chaucer is not a rabid castigator. Satire is bitter humor that does not penetrate the sympathetic and genial outlook of Chaucer. He is a friend of humanity, as Legouis remarks, “Of all writers of genius, Chaucer is the one with whom it is easiest to have a sense of comradeship”.
Not satire, but the irony is the forte of Chaucer. The irony is a manner of speaking or writing in which one thing is said but another is meant. Irony and humor are so pervasive and pervading in “The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales” and Chaucer’s work that without continual watchfulness and vigilance one is in the danger of missing its elusive flame.
Shakespeare observes that brevity is the soul of wit. Of course, brevity is the soul of Chaucer’s humor. He spares not even himself as a simple unlettered man;
“My wit is short, ye may well understand”
“The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales” is replete with Chaucerian irony.
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