Geoffrey Chaucer: As a Humorist

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Geoffrey Chaucer: As a Humorist
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Q:1 Discuss Chaucer's as a
Humorist?
.
Q:2 Explain and illustrate
the remark the Chaucer's
whole point of view is that
of a Humorist?
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*Chaucer's a born humourist, is rightly
considered to be the first great many-
sided humourist of Europe. His humour
does not simply raise a slight smile
which may reieve us from our gloomy
mood. He is infact a great master o f
many- sided humour. All his writings
abounds in its variegated shapes. It is
in this context that Masefield calls
Chaucer "a great Renaissance gently
mocking the Middle Ages".
.
*We know that humour can be used in a
broad as well as a limited sense.In a
narrow sense, it means a gentle mirth.
In the broaden sense, it stands for
boisterous humour, intellectual
humour, gentle or mirthful humour,
and bitter humour. Chaucer's works
reflects all these different types of
humour.
E. Albert rightly says: "In the
literature of this time, when so few
poets seem to have any perception of
the fun in life, the humour of Chaucer
is invigorating and delightful.
.
*Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales is the best example of
his many- sided humour.The humour
of Chaucer is feebly illustrated by
specimens, for it springs up from the
depths of his nature and pervades his
whole work.
.
* Chaucer reveals the fresh and
spontaneous humour of common man.
He is never bitter and unsympathetic.
Sometimes he ridicules the absurdities
of his age. The Frair in the Summoner's
Tale, who is a social parasite, is
ridiculed. Chaucer's satirical tone is
noted here and there when it depicts
some characters in the prolongue and
in the Tales. He has employed pure
irony against two culprits, the
Pardoner and the Summoner. Chaucer's
aim is primarily to entertain us by his
art of narration. For that he never
tends to be a satirist, a moralist or a
preacher because he does not wish to
instruct and preach. He observes his
age sympathetically, humourously and
liberally. Chaucer is a precursor of an
essentially spontaneous English
humour. Shakespeare and Fielding
followed his foot steps and enriched
the comic literature of the world. His
humour is the outcome of a generous
sympathy and broad-mindedness.
Humour is indeed the soul of all
comedy as we find it in Chaucer.
.
*Chaucer may be regarded as the first
great English humourist. No English
literary work before him reveals
humour in the modern sense, Chaucer's
humour highlights that quality of
action, speech or writing which excites
aesthetic amusement. As a humourist,
Chaucer is a great humourist, because
he loves mankind inspite of its foibles.
Chaucer is a first writer to reveal a
genuine sense of humour- humour as
we recognize it today.
*Except in his handling of a Monk and
the Friar, there is no sting in "The
Prologue" in Chaucer's ever -
sympathetic humour.In his handling of
the Wife of Bath, he reminds us of
Shakespeare's treatment of Sir Toby in
Twelfth Night and of Falstaff in Henry
IV. He makes us appreciate a character
even when laughing at it. When
Chaucer exposes the corruption of the
Church he does so with a good
humoured laugh. Moreover, Chaucer
makes fun more of the individual than
of the institution. He envokes in us
that psychological state which makes
us laugh without any malice.
.
*Moreover, he has not pledged himself
to look only at the mud on the road,
rather he likes also to glance at the
flowers that grow around the mud.
Thus his humour is essentially modern
as it is steaped in the spirit of the
Renaissance.
.
*Chaucer, was essencially the poet of
man, intensely interested in man and
his affairs. He had good humoured
tolerance for humanity. He had no
disdain for fools and no disgust for
rascals. While gently unmasking the
roguery of rogues, he was grateful to
them for the pleasure they gave. He
love to dwell on their funny traits,
looked at their pranks and tricks with
amused delight. His gentle
temperament which made him observe
with amused delight and half shut eyes
the frailties of mankind made him a
great humourist. His playful
imagination could raise bubbles of fun
out of unexpected places. It brightens
whatever it touches.
Chaucer's work reflects the
Kaliedoscopic humour that has great
variety: patronizing as in the case of
the Clerk of Oxford, semi farcical as in
the case of the Wife of Bath, sharply
satirical as on the case of the Pardoner
and the Summoner. Humour with
Chaucer is natural and spontaneous.
Chaucer's humour is all- pervading and
all- pervasive. For example, there are
tragedies as well as comedies in The
Canterbury Tales: but the thread of
honest laughter runs through them all,
serious and gay alike.
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*The height of tolerance comes when a
writer makes fun of himself also. That
is exactly what Chaucer does. Chaucer
takes delight in raising a gentle smile
at himself. For example, he has given a
humourous description of himself in
The Prologue to The Tales of Sir
Thopas, in The House of Fame, and in
The Prologue to The Legend of Good
Women. Chaucer cracks many jests at
his own self. In The Prologue, he refers
to himself as a simple unlettered man:
" My wit is short, as you may well
understand".
Chaucer's humour sometimes takes
resort to suggestion and paradox. The
suggestiveness of his humour becomes
all the more striking and effective
when it becomes paradoxical. He says
something, but suggests just the
opposite. He not only means more than
what he says: sometimes he means just
the opposite of what he says. Thus
Chaucer accepts paradox in life and
mirrors it in his paradoxical manner.
Chaucer's skill in narration is mingled
with his surpassing gift of many- sided
humour.
.
*Chaucer was gifted with the
power of ridiculing the follies and
hypocracies of his day but never like
Swift. True humour enables us to love
while we 'laugh with' other, and do not
' laugh at' others. Most of Chaucer's
humour is perfectly innocent fun.
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Conclusion:
Chaucer is a great humorist of his age.
He is a great master of many- sided
humour. We can say that Chaucer is a
first writer to reveal a genuine sense of
humour, humour as we recognize it
today.
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