Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Tale of Sir Thopas": Elements of Parody and Satire

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Didactics - English - Literature, Works, grade: 1,3, University of Tubingen (English Department), course: Underground Literature in Medieval England, language: English, abstract: In this work, I examine "The Tale of Sir Thopas" by Geoffrey Chaucer regarding its verious elements of parody. The tale mocks the typical medieval romance, therefore it is first necessary to estabish what the term "romance" means in this context. Then, the various parodied aspects of content will be examined, including Sir Thopas himself, his not-so-heroic battles, and love. However, formal aspects as well have been heavily parodied in Sir Thopas and will be in focus, namely rhyming, descriptions, the minstrel's introduction as well as the general structure of the tale, including its end.