What ideas of marriage of his time does Chaucer satirize through the use of his characters in The Canterbury Tales?

  In The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, Chaucer uses his characters to convey a point and satirize a subject. In most of his tales, he spends time trying to satirize different aspects of marriage and the role women have in a marriage, especially in "The Miller's Tale", "The Wife of Bath's Prologue" and "Wife of Bath's Tale", and "The Merchant's Tale". Chaucer satirizes ideas of marriage through the use of his characters by mocking the idealistic view of marriage, an older man's desire to marry a younger woman, and the role of women in a marriage.

Chaucer, through the use of his characters and narrator, mocks the idealistic view of marriage in order to prove that marriage is not full of bliss. In "The Merchants Tale", he satirizes marriage as a blissful communion through the use of the character January. Chaucer mocks the idea that “bachelors are beset by grief and woe… [,but] a married man achieves a state of bliss that’s orderly and fortunate” (358). Chaucer is trying to prove that a bachelor’s life is full of bliss until he marries. January thought that marriage would be full of bliss and happiness, which is why he decided to marry. He also felt that “to take a wife is a most glorious thing.” (357) Chaucer uses January to help show that taking a wife and marrying is not an enjoyable way of life. January also had the false perception that his wife would not interfere with his decisions. January felt that with wives, “ never once[does she] say ‘no’ when he says ‘yes.’"(359) Chaucer portrays January in this way in order to prove that wives do not always agree with their husband. Chaucer felt it necessary to satirize the idealistic view of marriage in order to show that marriage is not full of rapture and ecstasy.

  Chaucer satirizes the desire a man has to be married to a younger woman, with the intention of proving that marrying young, attractive women has its drawbacks. The old lady in "The Wife of Bath’s Tale" is accused by her husband, the knight, of being old and ugly. She thinks it is better that she’s “old and fouler than a fen [because the knight will] need not fear to be a cuckold” (291). A young and beautiful woman is more likely to cuckold her husband because of her age and beauty which other men desire. January, who was looking for a bride had strict requirements. “The woman must on no account be old, certainly under twenty…[and her] flesh should be young though fish should be mature.” (361) Chaucer shows the desire of an older man for a young woman and mocks the desire, as he thinks that younger woman cause problems. Chaucer does the same thing with the carpenter in "The Miller’s Tale" to prove that young women should not be desired. The “carpenter had married a new wife…of eighteen years…[and] jealous he was and kept her in a cage.” (89) Geoffrey Chaucer tries to make the point that if a man marries a young and attractive woman, he will live a life full of jealousy trying to keep her away from other men. Geoffrey satirizes the desire for men to marry young women, to try and prove that younger woman cause problems to the husband.

Geoffrey Chaucer satirizes the roles that women have in a marriage, in order to show how little respect women receive from their husbands and to demonstrate that women deserve equality. January, soon after marrying May, "begged her then to strip her garments off for he would have some pleasure of her...and she obeyed." (376) May did not have a choice because men during Chaucer's era controlled their wives. He is making the point that women should have a say in what they do through the use of January and May. He also uses the example of the Wife of Bath to show a woman in a man's position in marriage to mock how women are treated. The Wife of Bath was a dominant wife and "made ...[her husbands] work at night" and give up their money to her. (264) Chaucer uses the Wife of Bath, not to try and prove that women should be the dominant ones in marriage, but to mock how men treat women in order to show that women deserve equality. The carpenter in "The Miller's Tale" had a beautiful, young wife of whom he loved. "She was a daisy... for any noblewoman to take to bed." (90) Here, Chaucer uses the carpenter and his wife to mock the role of women as being only to give pleasure to the man. Chaucer ridicules the role woman have to their husband in order to show that woman should have equal roles as their husband.

  Geoffrey Chaucer satirizes ideas and parts of marriage during his era through the use of his characters by mocking the idealistic view of marriage, the desire for an older man to marry a younger woman, and the role of women in a marriage. Satirizing, the method Chaucer uses to prove his points, is an effective way for one to mock a certain idea in order to show what one's opinions are.