Chaucers Irony - The Canterbury Tales Essays - 1275 Words

Chaucers Irony - The Canterbury Tales Chaucers Irony Irony is a vitally important part of The Canterbury Tales, and Chaucers ingenious use of this literary device does a lot to provide this book with the classic status it enjoys even today. Chaucer has mastered the techniques required to skilfully put his points across and subtle irony and satire is particularly effective in making a point. The Canterbury Tales are well-known as an attack on the Church and its rà ´le in fourteenth century society. With the ambiguity introduced by the naà ¯ve and ignorant Chaucer the pilgrim, the writer is able to make ironic attacks on characters and what they represent from a whole new angle. The differences in opinion of Chaucer the†¦show more content†¦215, 7), we can be fairly certain that these women were far from worthy - in fact, they were more than likely to be practising prostitutes. The word worthy is used again in line 243 to describe the Friar. For any reader of The Canterbury Tales, the veil concealing the irony of the use of this word throughout the book is very thin indeed. Similarly, the Friar is called virtuous (l. 251) when he is clearly not. Chaucer hits the nail on the head by following that with he was the beste beggere in his hous (l. 252) - this insinuates that instead of helping beggars with munificence, the Friar is accustomed to getting money out of people by unscrupulous methods. By saying plesaunt was his absolution (l. 223) he implies that the Friar would disregard sins and readily absolve people for very little penance, should they be willing to make a substantial donation. Chaucer the pilgrim praises the Friar for not wearing threadbare robes and, instead, says he dresses elegantly; dighted lyk a maister or a pope (l. 263). However, while Chaucer perceives this as a positive trait to be proud of, one wonders whether it is not something that says a lot more about the kind of person the Friar is - he is not marked by meekness at all, and dresses with ostentatious extravagance whilst comparing himself to the Pope. Chaucer cunningly uses this technique throughout The General Prologue: making theShow MoreRelatedGeoffrey Chaucers Experiences In the Canterbury Tales Essay1130 Words   |  5 PagesIn the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer describes the journeys and life lessons of thirty fictitious pilgrims. Scholars explain that only one of the thirty pilgrims was indeed Chaucer, but other characters in the Canterbury Tales represent the struggles of Chaucer as well. Although the pilgrims’ tales were pretend, they were based on actual events that Chaucer experienced throughout his lifetime. He represents his own insecurities and flaws throughout the array of the characters’ tales. Situ ationRead More Chaucers Canterbury Tales - Comparing The Pardoners Tale and The Nuns Priests Tale805 Words   |  4 PagesIrony in The Pardoners Tale and The Nuns Priests Tale    Irony is the general name given to literary techniques that involve surprising, interesting,or amusing contradictions. 1   Two stories that serve as excellent demonstrations of irony are The Pardoners Tale and The Nuns Priests Tale, both from Chaucers The Canterbury Tales. Although these two stories are very different, they both use irony to teach a lesson.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Of the stories, The PardonersRead MoreEssay on Geoffrey Chaucer778 Words   |  4 Pagesdiplomat. Geoffrey Chaucer was born in the early hours of 1340s to John Chaucer, a vintner and assistant to the kings butler. As a boy, he was a leaf to the Countess of Ulster. (Lombardi) Chaucer was the most famous for writing his unfinished Canterbury tales. (Geoffrey Chaucer) He was born in London, only problem is, the exact date and place are unknown. From his writings Chaucer emerges as poet of love, both worldly and heavenly. No information exists about his early education, although withoutRead MoreThe Canterbury Tales : An Analysis Of Medieval Life By Geoffrey Chaucer939 Words   |  4 PagesCanterbury Tales: An Analysis of Medieval Life by Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales is strongly considered one of the greatest works in medieval literature. An admirer of Chaucer, and the author of Chaucer and the Fifteenth Century, H.S. Bennett describes Chaucer’s unique style as, â€Å"No detail was too small for him to observe, and from it he could frequently draw, or suggest, conclusions which would have escaped many.† While The Canterbury Tales was originally intended to be an epic poemRead MoreGeoffrey Chaucer View and Change on Judgement968 Words   |  4 Pagessocial aspects during the 1300s which included the church, gender differences, and hypocrisy. He wrote about these problems in a set of tales widely known as The Canterbury Tales. The first is The General Prologue which describes a pilgrimage to Canterbury that many people endure, but on this specific journey, twenty-nine different people travel together to Canterbury. He uses two types of satire to relinquish these opinions, juvenile and horacian. A general d efinition of satire is saying one thingRead MoreUse Of Satire In Canterbury Tales1301 Words   |  6 PagesChaucer’s Satyric Attack (An analysis of Chaucer’s use of satire to reach his intended audience in his Canterbury Tales) Satire is defined as â€Å"the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize peoples stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues† (Oxford). Another term that people would be more familiar with to describe this would be sarcasm. Language can be utilized in a nasty way, especially when wanting to demoralizeRead More The Pardoner from Chaucers Canterbury Tales Essay665 Words   |  3 PagesThe Pardoner from Chaucers Canterbury Tales In Chaucers Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner tells a story in the form of a sermon, an exemplum, to be exact. He intends to teach the congregation that love of money is the root of all evil and that consequences of sin is death. The symbolic function of The Old Man is debatable; is he, for instance Deaths messenger, Death himself, or a satanic figure who tempts, much in the fashion of the Devil as serpent in the Adam and Ever story. TheRead MoreThe Complex Character of the Merchant in The Canterbury Tales1388 Words   |  6 Pagesorder to surprise and convey a specific purpose later on. Chaucer demonstrates this idea in The Canterbury Tales, specifically with the Merchant character. In the General Prologue, Chaucer portrays the Merchant as a respectable character; however, he hints aspects of the Merchants personality that question this respectable image. The Merchant’s entire personality is later revealed in his Prologue and Tale, as it is made evident of his cynical and pessimistic outlook, making him less respectful. InRead MoreGeoffrey Chaucers The Canterbury Tales1030 Words   |  5 PagesGeoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is a collection of several tales that are all told by different characters and all convey different messages. The story presented in the general prologue is that a group of pilgrims is traveling to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket, and during their journey they take turns telling tales and talking about themselves. Chaucer uses the pilgrims to express his beliefs, about religion, marriage, social class, and many other topics. One of the pilgrims is the MancipleRead MoreTones, Moods, and Irony in the Canterbury Tales833 Words   |  4 Pagessetting, theme, and tone. Irony, however, is a tone in which the real meaning is contradicted by the words that were used. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a suitable novel for showing various examples of tone, mood, and irony through the many different characters, their personalities, and their narrations. As far as literary tone goes, it is basically the same as the tone used when verbally speaking. Chaucer balanced the serious and deathly tales with the tales set for comedy. In the