In ‘Satire and Irony as Means of Communication’, Jean Weisgerber argues that satire is not only a device specific to text but a form of communication that is inextricably linked to society. Published in the 1380s, Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Parliament of Fowls is a work of social function, examining issues such as medieval love in Richard II’s court, and feudal class systems. The poem operates as ‘a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn’, as Chaucer directs his satirical attention to the rigidity of fin’amor as well as the elaborate and ostentatious conventions of the nobility (‘Satire’). Through satire’s potential to challenge and destabilise, Chaucer encourages the reader to maintain a pluralistic outlook, demonstrating that love transcends the concept of fin’amor, and that hierarchy is only one model of class relations. This essay will examine how The Parliament of Fowls is predicated on the deployment of delicate and complex satire.
- Aarushi Marde
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