Chaucer’s Developmental Irony

In the prologue of his poem The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer employs

irony to augment his descriptions of the characters of the monk and the friar.

Chaucer utilizes both situational irony and verbal irony. Situational irony entails

situations in which the outcome of actions is contrary to that which is expected. On

the other hand, verbal irony occurs when a remark communicates a meaning

antithetical to its ostensible meaning. In The Canterbury Tales, situational irony

occurs in Chaucer’s description of the church—particularly the monk and the friar.

Monks and friars have reputations of being pious and virtuous, but these two are

quite different, as they are much more assimilated with a corrupt, materialistic

culture. Chaucer describes the monk, stating, “I saw his sleeves were garnished at

the hand / With fine grey fur, the finest in the land, / And on his hood, to fasten it at

his chin / He had a wrought-gold cunningly fashioned pin” (lines 197-200). In this

description, Chaucer exemplifies that the monk’s interests lie more in material

objects than in a pious lifestyle. Additionally, Geoffrey Chaucer makes use of verbal

irony when describing the characters of the monk and the friar. When he purports

them to be positive examples of their professions, he is simply being ironic and

sarcastic, knowing that they are, in many regards, the antithesis of the

quintessential monk and friar. In his description of the friar, Chaucer writes, “He

knew the taverns well in every town / And every innkeeper and barmaid too /

Better than lepers, beggars and that crew, / For in so eminent a man as he/It was

not fitting with the dignity / Of his position, dealing with a scum” (244-249). In this

characterization, Chaucer sarcastically indicates that the friar does not necessarily
fulfill his job description, as he is more invested in the affairs of the wealthy than

those of the poor. Throughout the prologue of The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey

characterizes the monk and the friar, making use of both situational irony and

verbal irony in order to convey the attributes of the two men.

Work Cited

Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Prologue from The Canterbury Tales.” Trans. Nevill Coghill.

The Language of Literature: British Literature. Eds. Arthur N. Applebee, et al.

Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2002. 113-36. Print.