Chaucers Irony - The Canterbury Tales Essay -- English Literature

Chaucers Irony - The Canterbury TalesChaucers IronyIrony is a vitally important part of The Canterbury Tales, andChaucers ingenious use of this literary device does a lot to providethis book with the classic status it enjoys even today. Chaucer hasmastered the techniques required to skilfully put his points acrossand subtle irony and satire is in particular effective in making apoint. The Canterbury Tales are well-known as an attack on the Churchand its rle in fourteenth atomic number 6 society. With the equivocalnessintroduced by the nave and ignorant Chaucer the pilgrim, the writeris able to make ironic attacks on characters and what they representfrom a whole new angle. The differences in position of Chaucer thepilgrim and Chaucer the writer are much more than nuances - the twopersonas are very often diametrically opposed so as to cause effectualirony.In the Friars portrait, he is delineated and depicted by riddles ofcontradictory qualities. Chaucer expertly uses ironic naivet tohighlight the Friars lack of moral guilt. When the reader is toldthat the Friar, knew the taverns wel in every toun (l. 240), we can deem it to mean that he spends very much time drinking, flirting andsocialising in pubs. The Friar is superseded to be a holy man, but we go to that he knew the landlords and barmaids much better than thepeople he has meant to be consoling, praying for and helping out ofthe vicious circle of poverty. Chaucer the pilgrim explains howimpressive the Friars generous charity is and has respect for the wayhe marries off young girls with suitable husbands and pays for theceremony. However, he neglects to mention that the only reason theFriar does this is because he has illegi... ...Of course, Chaucerthe pilgrim simply sees this as being elegant and sophisticated.Throughout The ordinary Prologue we see how Chaucer the pilgrim hasbeen swayed and convinced by what the other pilgrims tell him. So muchso that he reports qualities that are often the opposite of the truepersonalities of the characters he is describing. This ambiguityreveals a very clever sort of irony on behalf of the writer - whileChaucer the pilgrim is easily drawn in by their deliberatemisrepresentations, it is up to the readers to see how wrong he is anddraw their own, more accurate, conclusions. It shows many of thepilgrims to be very different people than those symbolised by theideal qualities they want others to see. This astute technique is peculiarly effective in pointing out the hypocrisy and corruption inthe Christian Church during Chaucers time.