The Old French and Chaucerian Fabliaux: A Study of Their Comic Climax

Description: The comic climax, marked by carefully prepared effects of surprise, is the distinctive feature of the fabliaux. Action more than character development or setting characterizes the preparation. As regards genre, the fabliaux have relatively little satire, are not essentially parodies or farces, and often differ from comedy as usually defined. They are most like the joke, which depends on a culminating punch line. In CT Chaucer extends the comic possibilities of the fabliau to the full, and in MerT he overextends them: he mixes in too many literary materials and the comic climax misfires.