What point do you think Chaucer was trying to make with the use of “vulgarity” throughout his work?”
It’s not so much a “point” as simple entertainment. Literature should not be some separate, specialized activity, books put up on a shelf so that you may nod knowingly that you’ve read them. Chaucer used vulgarity for the same reason Shakespeare did: because it’s funny. Fart jokes always get laughs, and Shakespeare used them, too: A man may break a word with you, sir, and words are but wind, Ay, and break it in your face, so he break it not behind. That’s from Comedy of Errors, and “break wind” meant the same thing to Shakespeare that it means today. Literature gets to be great literature because it speaks to us for a long time after the author said it. It offers a deep insight into the human condition, and that doesn’t have to occur as the result of a conscious effort to produce Deep Insight Into The Human Condition. In Chaucer’s case, he was writing to be enjoyed, and it’s great literature precisely because it’s funny for the same reasons: dick and fart jokes. Always good for a laugh
