Comparison of Sir Gawain and Canterbury Tales
...in. He also confesses to selling promises of salvation. Ironically, despite his internal misconceptions, the basis of each sermon states that greed is the root of all evil. Subsequently, it also serves as the theme of the Pardoner’s Tale. Chaucer does not only use satire to directly bring a cloud of shame over these people, but he also uses irony in the self-related content of their stories to allow for them to indirectly bring shame upon themselves. Exempt from exclusion, the most humble and courteous knights of The Canterbury Tales, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail gave new meanings to knighthood and the code of chivalry. As the Knight of The Canterbury Tales worked for a Muslim and as a mercenary, the knights of Monty Python and the Holy Grail were cowards and Sir Gawain of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight struggled with truth. The Knight of the Canterbury Tales is another example of Chaucer’s use of irony. He does not make the Knight a target of comical repulsion, just a simple portrait of contradiction. As a loyal servant to the king and his people, he was deceitful, amoral, and arrogant. He was consumed by his desires rather than those of the people. Sir Gawain was a somewhat dishonest and disloyal knight also. His failure to give back the magic girdle he received to the Green Knight revealed an inner weakness that dismissed his valor. However, his mishap was unintentional and almost uncontrollable, whereas the Knight’s misconduct was undoubtedly self-imposed. The author made this apparent in that Sir Gawain was the one who placed shame upon himself. The knights of Monty Python were not corrupt in the sense of immorality, but they failed to uphold the knightly qualities of bravery and heroism. Satire was used to target these knights as dimwitted cowards who fell short of obtaining the respect and admiration of a chivalrous knight. For each of the knights, chivalry and knighthood had a different signification. Through irony and satire, their misinterpretations of the codes were brought to light. Irony was implemented wonderfully to describe the unusual social interaction between the males and females. Perceived to be gentle, innocent, and honest by nature, the women of these tales were fiery, seductive, sexual predators. The Wife of Bath was not your average woman of her time. She saw herself as an expert on sex and marriage despite her number of husbands. During her prologue, she described the great pleasures of indulging in sexual activity with one’s mate. For her, sex was beyond reproductive. It was a recreational pastime between husband...