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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.
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.
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.
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.
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 self-
contradiction 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.