Question

Read the excerpt from The Canterbury Tales.I can sting with my tongue; and when I preachI sting so hard, the fellow can’t escapeSlander and defamation, if so beHe’s wronged my fellow-pardoners, or me,Even if I don’t give his actual name,Yet everybody knows that he’s the oneFrom hints, and other circumstantialities—That’s how I deal with people who annoy us;That’s how I spit out venom, under guiseOf piety, and seem sincerely pious.How does the excerpt satirize the clergy?

Answer 1

The answer is C- By revealing the clergy's vindictive abuse of power

Step-by-step explanation:

Correct on Edge 2021

Answer 2

C. By revealing the clergy's vindictive abuse of power.

Step-by-step explanation:

Satirizing is a literary technique that writers use to express opinions or let their characters speak in such a way that ridicules others. This allows the criticizing or at times humorously critiquing any moral value, or vices.

The given excerpt is from 'The Pardoner's Prologue' of Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales". These lines from the prologue present the vindictive language the clergy used in his teaching at the pulpit. He admits "I can sting with my tongue; and when I preach I sting so hard", using language that is "slander and defamation". He continues "I spit out venom, under guise Of piety, and seem sincerely pious". All these languages show the clergy's vindictive abuse of power which he thinks is ordained to him as a preacher or leader of the church.

Thus, the correct answer is the third option.