Chaucer's Humour

A humorist is one who is quick to perceive the funny side of things and who has the
capacity to laugh and to make others laugh at what is absurd or ridiculous and what is incongruous.
Fun , satire, wit, irony, and burlesque are its various forms. There is no malice, grudge or hostility in
the attitude of a humorist. He has a benevolent, tolerant and detached attitude towards life and
people.

Chaucer is one of the greatest humorists in English literature and his humour appears
abundantly in 'The Prologue' which offers plentiful illustrations of Chaucer's sense of Humour. His
characterization of almost all the characters, with the definite exception of the Knight, the Yeoman,
the Parson and the Plowman, is humorous.

At the same time it has to be pointed out Chaucer's humour is mostly ironical and
satirical. Satire has generally a corrective motive whereas irony is one of the main weapons of
satire. Chaucer, as an ironist and satirist is no social reformer but he surely finds amusement in the
absurdities, affectations and some of the minor vices of the people, he deals with. The chief point to
note is that his satire is always mild and gentle and does not take the form of denunciation or abuse.
He does not feel enraged or infuriated by the weaknesses and short comings of human beings
because his attitude towards them is not only tolerant and humoristic but indulgent also. For this
reason, his humour is thoroughly delightful and sympathetic being free from the taint of ill-will,
cynicism and pessimism. Masefield calls him "a great Renaissance gentlemen mocking the middle
ages."

Chaucer's humour is essentially English in character. Lowell gives expression to the

English humour of Chaucer in the following words:

"Chaucer's is essential humour. It is not the wit of the Frenchman.

His humour is born of a strong common sense and a generous
sympathy, and these are the qualities of the greatest English
humorists like Shakespeare and Fielding. He showed the value
of the comic point of view ___ the capacity to expose the
incongruity which always lies half-hidden in men and things or
in their relations with each other."

Chaucer's humour is based on sympathy for humanity. He was essentially the poet of
man intensely interested in man and his affairs. He had a great sympathy and love for others. He
had no disdain for fools and no disgust for rascals. While gently unmasking the wickedness of rogues
he was grateful to them for the pleasure they gave. In his humour envenomed shafts of ridicule or
biting satire characteristic of Voltaire or Swift do not generally exist.

Chaucer's humour has a great variety. It takes many forms. It can be taken in a broad
as well as in a limited sense. In the narrow sense it means a little jolly good natured mirth. In its
broader sense, it stands for boisterous (fun), intellectual humour (wit), mirthful humour (irony) and
bitter humour (satire). So we can say that all these forms of humour show its kaleidoscopic nature.
E. Albert observes:

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 Chaucer's Humour
"In the literature of his time, when so few poets seem to have any
perception of the fun in life, the humour of Chaucer is invigorating
and delightful,"

His humour is kindly and patronizing as in the case of "The Clerk of Oxford", broad and semi-farcical
as in "The wife of Bath", pointedly satirical as in "The Pardoner" and "The Summoner".

Humour with Chaucer is natural and spontaneous. It is his peculiar way of looking at
things as the bent of his mind is essentially humorous. His humour is not the result of deliberate
attempt but it is spontaneous expression of his innerself. Walter Raleigh says:

"His joy is chronic and irrepressible."

Chaucer's use of irony to build up a satirical portrait and make us laugh is clearly seen
in his presentation of the Prioress. The Prioress speaks French fluently, according to the school
Stratford-at -Bow, though not according to the Parisian mode. This is an ironical reference to the
Prioress's aristocratic breeding. Her dress and her fashionable manners are also ironically described.
Her charitable nature too is depicted in such a way as to amuse us.

"She wolde wepe, if that she sawe a mous

Caught in a trappe, if it were deed or bledde."

The ironical implication throughout the portrait of The Prioress is that, inspite of her holy calling, she
is more concerned with worldly things than with the spirit.

The humour in the case of the Clerk of Oxford is kindly and patronizing. The horse of
the Clerk of Oxford was as lean as a rake and his little outer cloak was threadbare. He was a scholar
in shreds and above all he loved to learn and to teach.

"But all be that he was a philosopher

Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre."

Chaucer's humour becomes broad and semi-farcical when he describes the Wife of
Bath. All her life she was a worthy woman; she had five husbands at Church door, besides other
company in her youth. Love and its remedies she knew all about.

"In felawship wel could she laugh and carpe

Of remedies of love she knew per chance,
For she could of that art the old daunce."

The Monk too is portrayed ironically. He is fond of hunting, he keeps a large number
of fine horses in his stable; when he rides, the jingling of the bells on the bridle of his horse is heard
at a distance; he finds the rules of monastic discipline to be old, therefore, he does not wish to drive
himself mad by studying too much. The worldliness of the Monk is clearly exposed and the whole
portrait is rounded off with a reference to his partiality for a roasted fat swan, even as The Prioress's
portrait was rounded off with an ironical reference to the inscription "Amor Vincit Omnia" on her
broach.

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 Chaucer's Humour
Irony is employed in the portrait of the Friar too, for example the lines like "Unto his
ordse he was a noble post", and "There nas no man nowher so vertuous" are clearly ironical. And
again when Chaucer describes the Friar as telling the sinners that they have merely to give money to
men like him in order to obtain divine forgiveness. Ironical humour occurs in the portrait of The
Merchant when Chaucer tells us that the Merchant was so dignified in his dealings and his
bargaining that no one could judge that he was in debt.

"Nowher so bisy a man as he ther nas,

And yet he semed bisier than he was."

The famous couplet about the Lawyer amuses us by telling how the Lawyer
pretends to be busier than he actually is. His fraudulent transactions are not made by Chaucer an
object of any vehement criticism; these are simply hinted at in order to amuse us by pointing out the
incongruity between his vast legal ability and his essential dishonesty and cunning. But Chaucer does
not castigate the Lawyer. Chaucer's spirit of toleration and indulgence is clearly seen here.

The portrait of the Franklin is again, satirical who is ironically described as Epicure's
own son , and The Saint Julian of his country. Although while dealing with the Doctor of Medicine
Chaucer gives him much praise for his medical knowledge, yet there is also an element of satire in
his portrait. The understanding between this Doctor and the chemist is ironically conveyed to us in
the following lines:

"Ful redy he his apothecaries

To send him drogges and his lituaries,
For ech of hem made oother for to wynne;
Hir friendship nas nat newe to bigynne."

We are also told ironically that the Doctor had kept what he earned during the plague, and that he
especially loved gold which is cordial in medicine.

The Miller's dishonesty is ironically conveyed by the line:

"And yet he hadde a thombe of gold pardee."

Apart from this one satirical fling, this portrait is an example of pure fun: The Miller is large of
muscles and also of bones; he has on the tip of his nose a wart with s tuft of hair on it; his mouth is
as big as a large furnace. This physical description is quite amusing, but the most amusing line in this
description is the one which tells us that he could heave any door off its hinges by running at it with
his head. The Reeve knew subtle ways of pleasing his employer: for instance, he gave or lent to his
employer, the employer's own goods and received not only the employer's thanks but also a coat and
a hood as a reward for his service. There is much good-humoured fun in this portrait, without the
least touch of malice or even irritation on Chaucer's past. Inspite of the satirical purpose, no
reformist zeal is to be found here. It is for pure fun.

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 Chaucer's Humour
The two portraits of The Summoner and The Pardoner are masterpieces of
satire. In both these portraits, the irony is quite harsh. Chaucer's spirit of toleration here is strained
to the utmost, because the faults of these two men are not of minor nature, both men being
complete rogues. The very face of the Summoner is frightening to the children. The Summoner's
love of garlic , onions and strong drink are indicative of his coarse tastes. He thinks little of the
Archdeacon's curse because he tells us that the Summoner was a "gentle" rascal and a "kind" one,
and that a better companion could not be found. The satire in this portrait is pungent, but even here
Chaucer is inclined to forgive his victim. The practice of selling religious relics was a notorious abuse
of the time, like the sale of "indulgences" or "pardons". This Pardoner is guilty of both these
malpractices. Chaucer goes on to make fun of him by saying that the Pardoner was a "noble
ecclesiast", and that to win silver he sang merrily and loud in Church. Nor does Chaucer spare him
as regards his physical features. The Pardoner thought that he rode in the latest style with hair loose
and without wearing a hood; he had a voice as tiny as a goat's; and he neither had a beard nor was
likely to have one, his face being as smooth as if he had just shaved.

In conclusion we can say that in Chaucer's characterization humour lends a

distinctive quality to his character-sketches. His humour is genial, sympathetic, humanistic and
many-sided. In this sense Chaucer may even be looked upon as the originator of comic fiction in
English literature.

(Humour, Satire, Irony.)

Edited by M. Akmal. 2002

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