Chaucerian Irony

Jacob Shamsian

Chaucerian Irony

Irony is not an uncommon element found in wring, and it is certainly not uncommon in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer. So much has Chaucer used irony in his works, that the term “Chaucerian Irony” was coined. Many people see Chaucerian Irony as resulting from a view of human beings as fundamentally flawed and complex creations that developed from early Humanism. The Pardoner is perhaps the most intricate example of irony; his very character is riddled with the subject. Found in The Canterbury Tales, he is a person who, if someone were to be asked to give a paradigm of an ironic person, 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, and further representing a moral value that can be derived by the answer he gives. Such is can be manifested through various situations that he puts himself through. Perhaps the most significant example of this is shown right before he begins his tale. He begins by saying that the ultimate moral of his tale will be that "Radix malorum est Cupiditas," greed (or gluttony) is the root of all evil. Yet he refuses to begin his tale until he has a bottle of wine and 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 an outright swindler! He even goes so far in his arrogance - another sin - to tell his customers that the "ancient" relics that he is selling them are fake. And yet, he is so sly and cunning that he is able to sell the items in his inventory anyway. Clearly this behavior is most disrespectful to G-d, who he is supposedly doing a service to. He thus renders any religious affiliation of his null and most likely does not believe in any of it. The Pardoner provides various examples of his hypocrisy throughout the telling of his tale. During it, he does not hesitate to pause and insert a bit of commentary that clearly contradicts what he had just said in the previous sentence. It almost seems like his tale is a back-and-forth argument between the morals presented in it and his replies rebutting those morals with either disagreement or sarcasm. For instance, before he begins the tale he is asked to tell a story with a moral, and complies. However, throughout the tale he references himself doing sinful and immoral acts. Among the fact that he is a swindler as mentioned above, he paints himself as a glutton, a gambler, and a liar. In his tale, he supports the virtues of honesty, and modesty (in the sense of

resisting becoming a glutton). He is also strongly anti-gambling, claiming that 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 be not religious at all) to tell everyone not to speak "blasphemy of Christ," or using G-d's/Jesus' name in a way that may be derogatory. However, he frequently uses phrases like "by Christ" as an expression of amazement or for dramatic effect throughout the play. The Pardoner seems to give himself a carte blanche. He does not follow the normal rules of logic, but rather makes up his own rules and has an "I'll do what I feel like even if I contradict myself" attitude. His ironic behavior concerning the morals he states in contrast to how they are actually followed can 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 very occupation is ironic. A Nuns' priest is a priest that is dedicated to performing various religious services for a group of nuns. Rather than live with fellow priests in a monastery, he wishes to apportion his time for these nuns. This is ironic because religious figures such as priests are supposed to be known for staying away from woman and spending all day doing religious services for the general public, not being concentrated solely on a group of women. The Nuns' Priest's story itself is meant to be for amusement. Unlike the most of the tales told so far, the host does not request that this one is to have a moral, but there is one anyway. Like some of the other tales, the Nuns' Priest's tale hints at issues that relate to the teller's own life, though more strongly. The story is an allegory to the priest's own life. This suggests that the priest may have made it up himself rather than taking it from someone else as many of the other people who told tales have done. Even more unlikely, this tale does not come from the bible. This can be considered ironic because priests are known to tell biblical stories, as they always have a moral and can be amusing. The story begins with a scene of a simply-living window. She has a limited amount of money, and lives in a modest, one-room home with her two daughters and a few rooms. This beginning already suggests that the tale may be about modesty. Eight of the woman's animals are chickens; Chanticleer being the only male. Chanticleer has seven sisters or wives, the one named Partlet is his favorite. This may be parallel to the Nuns' Priest himself, as he is a single man among many woman who are "sisters". Perhaps he is suggesting that he regards one of the nuns as his favorite. This, too, is ironic as priests are not

supposed to bond with women in such a way, much less choose favorites among them. As a rooster, Chanticleer is a complex symbol that seems to be a paradox. The rooster is known to "sing" at dawn, and dawn was considered at the time as a symbol of witchcraft. With that insight, it can be said that the rooster is a symbol of devilry and evil. On the other hand, it's ironic that the rooster can be seen as a symbol of the complete opposite. Since the rooster sings at dawn, it announces the coming of light, which is good. This can be also seen as a symbol of Jesus, as Jesus is prophesied to be a character that brings forth light from the darkness, as the messiah is supposed to save the righteous from a world of darkness. One thing for sure about Chanticleer is that he's vain. He's enormously proud of his terrific voice and is very beautiful. Chaucer describes the colors of Chanticleer's plume by comparing it to beautiful flowers. The word "Chanticleer" itself means "sing clearly" in French. This brings up the issue of whether or not the Nuns' Priest considers himself vain, since Chanticleer is supposed to be a parallel to himself. While it is indeed appropriate for the Nuns' priest to be modest in this way, he may also be implying that he is a nuns' priest because he is vain, an odd trait for a priest. The true irony begins one day when Chanticleer wakes up and is attacked by a fox. Chanticleer just waltzes outside in the morning, and a fox attempts to grab him and run away. This is not especially inconceivable; after all, foxes have to eat sometime. What IS inconceivable is that Chanticleer is so vain that he sings in attempt to get rid of the fox, as perhaps it will be so soothed by Chanticleer's voice that it would stop for a moment allowing itself to be captured. When Chanticleer does so, the fox hoists him by the throat and runs off with him. To save himself, Chanticleer begins babbling to the fox being grossly overdramatic. Chanticleer is so vain that he even goes so far as to compare his current predicament to ancient reverend epics. He then tries to pull the fox into conversation, in hope that he can persuade him to release him. The fox does listen to Chanticleer, and is actually convinced into releasing him. The total irony here is that an animal that is thought to be sly and clever, a fox, is suavely tricked by a babbling, vain, annoying animal, a rooster. The irony found in The Nuns' Priest's tale and the irony found in The Pardoner's tale is very different. The Pardoner's tale is ironic out of selfcontradiction and nonsensical behavior. On the other hand, the Nuns' Priest's tale depicts irony out of various situations. What both have in common is that connection their respective tales with their own character often reveals a lot of underlying irony, something Chaucer is renown for.