Chaucer's Realism

Table of Contents

Literature is the mirror of its age. The supreme literary artist is one who becomes a mouthpiece and provides a real picture of his age with its minute details. Chaucer is the true representative of his age. He portrayed a comprehensive picture of contemporary life. He realistically epitomizes the social, economic and religious conditions of his age. He was a keen observer of men and manners and was endowed with the talent of imaginatively presenting contemporary society on a great scale. He is in a true sense a social chronicler of England. His poetry reflects the 14th century not in fragments but as a complete whole. He for the first time made poetry the medium for the expression of social reality. 

Various aspects of Chaucer's realism are elaborated below

The Old and the New

Chaucer's age was transitional. It was medieval but beneath the medievalist, the desire for change was already at work. He saw the early rays of the Renaissance. Ecclesiastical ideas and the medieval habits of mind were still the controlling elements in Chaucer's period. The Knight in the Prologue reflects the fading chivalry of the middle ages. The old Knight was a brave warrior and was a true symbol of the fast-vanishing old world of knighthood. The Knight is a fine expression of the medieval spirit.

The Squire, the Knight's son, represents the new conception of chivalry. He has the more luxurious and less idealistic temper of the age of the French wars. Like his father, he does not dream of chivalry and war. He takes delight in the pleasures of life: Well, could he sit a horse and ride, Make songs, joust and dance, draw and write. The Clerk of Oxford represents the interest that people had started showing in classical learning. Chaucer was influenced by Boccaccio, Petrarch and Dante, the pioneers of the Renaissance in Italy. He imbibed from them humanism which is clearly reflected in The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer was a pioneer of Renaissance humanism in English literature. He was the Evening Star of the medieval day and the Morning Star of the Renaissance.

Social Condition 

Chaucer for the first time made poetry a powerful medium for the expression of contemporary social conditions and life. He had a wide experience with men of many ranks and conditions, and he had been storing up for years, with his keenly observant, quiet eyes, the materials for a literary presentation of contemporary society upon a great scale. Chaucer exposes the corruption in village life in The Prologue. The village was a self-sufficient economic and social unit. The Reeve was mainly responsible for the organisation of village life. He used to be the elected representative of the villagers. Some of the reeves were corrupt and exploited the people. The Reeve in The Prologue took advantage of all his opportunities for cheating the lord of the mansion. Chaucer was aware of the rise of the new class of gentlemen farmers. 

Franklin who is quite well off represents this new class. 

The Church and Religious Life

Chaucer does not attack like Wycliff or Lollard but he is content to expose the growing corruption, love of luxury and materialism, and laxity of discipline through his ecclesiastical figures. He realistically depicts the growing corruption of the church through his ecclesiastical characters. He draws the vivid portraits of the fat, pleasure-loving Monk, the merry and wanton Friar, and the clever-rogue Pardoner who wanders about selling indulgences and relics, clearly showing that he was alive to the shocking corruption that prevailed in the church of his times. The ecclesiastics are hangers-on and caterpillars of the church. The Friar is intimate with hospitable franklins, inn-keepers and worthy women, and despises beggars and lazars. The Summoner is a repulsive man. Chaucer's Parson is the type of the true shepherd of the church. He is poor in this world's goods, but "rich in holy thought and work". The Parson's brother, a Plowman travels with him. He is a "true swinker and a good man" who helps his poor neighbours without hire and loves them as himself.

Realistic Presentation of the Cross-Sections of Society

Chaucer realistically presented the varied sections of contemporary society. His men and women represent social realism. Chaucer's Merchant represents the new class of traders and merchants. The merchant is conscious of his importance. He delights in pomp and show:

A merchant was there with a forked beard, In mottled, and high on a horse he sat. The low classes also emerged as a power group. They clamoured for better conditions of life. Chaucer's carpenter, dyer, plowman etc. represent the new power these commoners were getting in those days. Each of them seemed important and their wives, too, were conscious of their growing importance in the national life. The growing prosperity of the new-rich class manifested itself in the love for display and extravagance. The Knight, the Squire, the Wife of Bath and many other characters in The Prologue love display of pomp and show. Chaucer's Doctor of Physic represents the medieval medical profession. He has little time to read Bible. He knows about herbal remedies and he is also well-versed with astrology. 

Chaucer laughs at him for his fee-loving propensities

For gold in physick is a cordial, Therefore he loved gold in special. The poor Clerk of Oxford represents the passion for learning. The Prioress, the Nun, and the Wife of Bath represent women of his time. Chaucer's characters represent almost the entire range of English society in the fourteenth century, with the exception of the highest aristocracy and the lowest order.

In short, Chaucer is a perfect representative of his age. He is in a true sense a social chronicler of England. His poetry reflects the 14th century not in fragments but as a complete whole.

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