Chaucer’s Humour
Humour is an essential
ingredient (حصہ /
جزو) of Chaucer’s poetry and the backbone of The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. All
the characters in The Prologue have been humorously described. Humour, in fact,
makes Chaucer’s characterization distinct. A humorist is one who is quick to
perceive the funny side of the things and who has the capacity to laugh and
makes other laugh at what is absurd or ridiculous or incongruous.
Chaucer is called the first
humorist of English literature. No English literary work before him reveals
humour in the modern sense and Chaucer is a greater humorist than
Boccaccio. Chaucer’s humour is
consistent all pervasive and intense as we find in Shakespeare’s plays. He
paints all the characters in a humorous way. The Knight is as gentle as a maid;
the Squire is too sentimental in his love to sleep at night, the Friar has
relations with the barmaids instead of the poor, the Parson is too innocent and
Clerk is too studious. Chaucer even does not spare himself and says:
“My wit is short, ye may well
understonde”
His humour has refined and
sophisticated touches and it does not offend anybody. For example, when he
tells us that Prioress is so amiable and pleasant in her manners that she takes
paints to imitate the manners of the court we cannot know whether he is
praising her or laughing at her affection:
And
full pleasant and amiable of port;
And
peyned hire to counterfete cheere
Of
court, and been es’attich of manere,
But his humour is of the
finest type. It is pleasant and sympathetic because he is a man of pleasant
temperament. He knows that every human being has one type of defect or other.
He pinpoints the defect in a light manner with a view to cure them, not for
degrading the victim. His attitude is positive. So, when he says that the Friar
lisps a little out of affection and when he plays on a harp, his eyes twinkles
in his head like sparkling stars on the frosty night, we do not hate him or his
fondness, rather we just laugh at him at this weakness.
Chaucer’s humour is also combined
with pity (ھمدردی). It makes us thoughtful of the weakness of his victim ( (شکار and we start pitying (ترس کھانا) him. For
example, when he tells us that the Monk is more interested in riding, hunting
and other worldly pursuit (دنیاوی مشاغل) than in religious activities
we pity him and wish him better. It means that his humour carries a sound
message.
Chaucer’s humour is, of
course, satirical but it is sugar coated. His purpose is to awake the people
against realities of life. His age is of romantic idealism and people are blind
to the realities of life. His satire is not harsh but gentle and mild.
Secondly, he is not a zealous reformer (بہتری لانے کے لۓ پاگل). He satirizes only those characters that cannot be reformed at
any cost, e.g., the Summoner and the Pardoner who are extremely corrupt. Here
he openly passes remarks about their dishonesty and corruption.
Most of the time Chaucer’s
humour takes the form of irony (طنز/ مزاِق اڑانا)
because it relieves the bitterness (
کڑوا پن)of satire. For example, the
use of the word “worthy” for the most unworthy characters brings a tickling
irony except for the “worthy” Knight. Chaucer employs(استعمال کرنا) different sorts of irony. He has made an ample
use of irony by contrast in “The Prologue”. For example, after talking about
the bravery, skill, experience and grandeur (شاہانا وقار) of the Knight, he tells us that in his behavior he is as
gentle as a maid and cannot harm anyone.
“And of his port as meeke as a mayde”
He also employs irony by
exaggeration (بڑھا
چڑھا کر بیان کرنا) when he says
the Prioress has all the manners of eating because she knows how to carry a
morsel (لقمہ) and
how to keep. She does not let any morsel fall from her mouth and she does not dip
her fingers deep in the sauce. This is all exaggeration because these things do
not account for manners and everyone knows them well.
He creates irony by
situation too. For example, he describes those qualities of the Monk, which are
not worth of his religious rank i.e. he is a good rider and brave man.
A
monk there was, a fair for the maistrie,
An
outridere, that lovede venerie,
A
manly man, to been an abbot able.
In this way, he creates an
ironical situation, which makes us think since he is a Monk, he should not do
this. His actions are set in contrast with his situation as a Monk.
Chaucer’s humour is wide in
range. It covers all kind of humour from downright jokes to good-natured
strokes when he paints the physical appearance of characters. For example, he
describes Reeve:
Ful
longe were his legges and ful lene,
Y-lyk
a staf, ther was no calf y-sene
Then he says that the Doctor
of Physic is the greatest physician because he has the knowledge of astronomy (ستارا شناسی کا علم ).
In the description of the
Shipman, he creates humour by oddness when he says that he is a good fellow
because he steals wine and has no prick of conscience (ضمیر
کی چبھن).
In conclusion, we can say
that critics may be divided in opinion as to Chaucer’s right to be called the
father of the English poetry, but there can be no question that he is the first
great English humorist.
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