Jacob ShamsianChaucerian IronyIrony is not an uncommon element found in wring, and it is certainlynot uncommon in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer. So much has Chaucer usedirony in his works, that the term “Chaucerian Irony” was coined. Many peoplesee Chaucerian Irony as resulting from a view of human beings asfundamentally flawed and complex creations that developed from earlyHumanism. The Pardoner is perhaps the most intricate example of irony; his verycharacter is riddled with the subject. Found in The Canterbury Tales, he is aperson who, if someone were to be asked to give a paradigm of an ironicperson, would be the first to be thought of. He can be characterized as an"honest liar," a phrase both ironic and oxymoronic. To fit into this category,he succeeds in being scrupulously honest when asked a direct question, andfurther representing a moral value that can be derived by the answer hegives. Such is can be manifested through various situations that he putshimself through. Perhaps the most significant example of this is shown rightbefore he begins his tale. He begins by saying that the ultimate moral of histale will be that "Radix malorum est Cupiditas,"

greed (or gluttony) is theroot of all evil

. Yet he refuses to begin his tale until he has a bottle of wineand some food in his hands; transparent about the fact that he's gluttonous.His religious affiliation encompasses spectrum of being hypocritical,ironic, a paradox. As a Pardoner, his job is directly related to religious belief and the purity of oneself before G-d. Aside from his religious occupation of being a Pardoner, he is also a merchant! He is both a religious figure and anoutright swindler! He even goes so far in his arrogance - another sin - to tellhis customers that the "ancient" relics that he is selling them are fake. Andyet, he is so sly and cunning that he is able to sell the items in his inventoryanyway. Clearly this behavior is most disrespectful to G-d, who he issupposedly doing a service to. He thus renders any religious affiliation of hisnull and most likely does not believe in any of it. The Pardoner provides various examples of his hypocrisy throughoutthe telling of his tale. During it, he does not hesitate to pause and insert a bitof commentary that clearly contradicts what he had just said in the previoussentence. It almost seems like his tale is a back-and-forth argument betweenthe morals presented in it and his replies rebutting those morals with eitherdisagreement or sarcasm.For instance, before he begins the tale he is asked to tell a story with amoral, and complies. However, throughout the tale he references himself doing sinful and immoral acts. Among the fact that he is a swindler asmentioned above, he paints himself as a glutton, a gambler, and a liar. In histale, he supports the virtues of honesty, and modesty (in the sense of

resisting becoming a glutton). He is also strongly anti-gambling, claimingthat it is a root of evil.A significant act of hypocrisy is also his allegations against swearing.He says that it is his duty as a religious figure (though he has proven to benot religious at all) to tell everyone not to speak "blasphemy of Christ," orusing G-d's/Jesus' name in a way that may be derogatory. However, hefrequently uses phrases like "by Christ" as an expression of amazement orfor dramatic effect throughout the play. The Pardoner seems to give himself a carte blanche. He does not followthe normal rules of logic, but rather makes up his own rules and has an "I'lldo what I feel like even if I contradict myself" attitude. His ironic behaviorconcerning the morals he states in contrast to how they are actually followedcan be described as lurid.Irony in the Canterbury Tales does not only lie with the Pardoner.Another notable character riddled with irony is the Nuns' Priest; his veryoccupation is ironic. A Nuns' priest is a priest that is dedicated to performingvarious religious services for a group of nuns. Rather than live with fellowpriests in a monastery, he wishes to apportion his time for these nuns. This isironic because religious figures such as priests are supposed to be known forstaying away from woman and spending all day doing religious services forthe general public, not being concentrated solely on a group of women. The Nuns' Priest's story itself is meant to be for amusement. Unlike themost of the tales told so far, the host does not request that this one is tohave a moral, but there is one anyway. Like some of the other tales, theNuns' Priest's tale hints at issues that relate to the teller's own life, thoughmore strongly. The story is an allegory to the priest's own life. This suggeststhat the priest may have made it up himself rather than taking it fromsomeone else as many of the other people who told tales have done. Evenmore unlikely, this tale does not come from the bible. This can be consideredironic because priests are known to tell biblical stories, as they always have amoral and can be amusing. The story begins with a scene of a simply-living window. She has alimited amount of money, and lives in a modest, one-room home with hertwo daughters and a few rooms. This beginning already suggests that thetale may be about modesty.Eight of the woman's animals are chickens; Chanticleer being the onlymale. Chanticleer has seven sisters or wives, the one named Partlet is hisfavorite. This may be parallel to the Nuns' Priest himself, as he is a singleman among many woman who are "sisters". Perhaps he is suggesting that heregards one of the nuns as his favorite. This, too, is ironic as priests are not