Chaucers Use of Satire to Reach Specific Audiences

â€Å"One may say that pilgrimages are just as much about the journey as they are about the destination.† (Higl) Pilgrimages are very important to religions around the world. They are important for people when they are working on a deeper faith, and these pilgrimages are to places of great importance. It is important to note that people do not only learn when they are at their destination, but also on the trip to those destinations. â€Å"The Canterbury Tales†, Chaucer’s unfinished work, was a group of stories about a group on pilgrimage, but the stories did not take place at the destination. These were stories told on the way to Canterbury. They were also very satiric stories. They showed great hypocrisy, and immorality. The stories seemed to have†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Ill have my money, wool, and food . . . from the poorest widow in the shire; Although her kids be starving, Ill be fine.† (PP lines 448-451) He is fine with taking money from a mother with a starving family, even though she would put it to better use. Chaucer’s satire quickly caught the attention he wanted from the church. Chaucer began his works with descriptions of the pilgrims in â€Å"The General Prologue†, and he used satire in these to reach the common man of the time. The common man would not relate to a knight, to a pastor, or to a man of the law, but they would relate to a carpenter, a weaver, or a cook much more easily. Men of the church receive a great amount of satire, but â€Å"the rest . . . are treated with varying degrees of satire.† (Brewer) Some characters received a great amount of praise from Chaucer, making them seem almost unreal. One of these was the outstanding cook. He made great food for the entire troop, and nobody would ever complain, except for the fact that he had a disturbing ulcer on his â€Å"shin†. It was the only impediment to the character. â€Å"It seemed a shame, and caused me some chagri n,/To see he had an ulcer on his shin.† (GP lines 385-386) Common men would relate to the grossness of the character and they would have continued to read because of descriptions like this of other common, anonymous, figures. When writing â€Å"The Wife of Bath’s Prologue†, Chaucer told the story of a