Estates satire is a medieval literary genre that critiques social structures by depicting the ideals and failings of different social classes or "estates" (clergy, nobility, peasantry). These satires often contrast the idealized roles with the actual behavior of individuals within each class, highlighting societal discord and corruption.
Estates satire is a medieval satirical literary tradition that examines the characteristics, duties, and failures of different social classes or "estates." These works typically praised the ideal forms of the clergy, nobility, and peasantry while also critiquing their contemporary shortcomings and deviations from their divinely assigned roles. Prominent examples include selections from "The Canterbury Tales" and "Piers Plowman."
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| Back | A medieval satirical tradition exponding the characteristics duties and failung of different social estates or classes Piers Plowman Prologe to canterbury tales Estate satire is a genre of writing from 14th Century, Medieval literary works. The three Medieval estates were the Clergy (those who prayed), the Nobility (those who fought) and lastly the Peasantry (those who labored). These estates were the major social classes of the time and were typically gender specific to men, although the clergy also included nuns. Nevertheless, women were considered as a separate class in themselves, the best-known example being Geoffrey Chaucer's Wife of Bath. Estates satire praised the glories and purity of each class in its ideal form, but was also used as a window to show how society had gotten out of hand. The Norton Anthology of English Literature describes the duty of estates satire: "They set forth the functions and duties of each estate and castigate the failure of the estates in the present world to live up to their divinely assigned social roles". The First Estate, the Church, consisted of those who ran the Catholic church and part of the country. They were the recipients of the tithe or the 10% tax given to the Church. |
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