Verbal Irony In The Canterbury Tales

Irony is broken up into three specific types. The first is situational, in which what is expected to happen isn’t going to happen and simply the opposite of it actually occurs. The second is related to verbal irony which is in regard to the words that are being used to mean something different from what is meant to be said. Lastly, is dramatic irony in which the reader knew something that the main character did not. One of the situations of situational irony is when the pardon is being sold for sins such as greed and dishonesty even though the pardoner himself is actually practicing these types of societal ills. This is situational irony because the church tries to preach that money is the source of all evil. However, they are actually being the embodiment of what evil is and most importantly greed. Verbal irony relates to the three rioters or the three young men who were drunkards.

In the end, they actually ended up killing each other. This is ironic because they had first focused on killing death but in the end decided they were going to kill each other. The main character, the pardoner tells the tale of the primary version of what verbal irony is. He speaks to the pilgrims that greed is the root of all evil. However, his entire existence within his life is based upon the ideas of greed. This is part of the ironic foundation thats illustrated throughout the actual story. From this perspective, the actual characters themselves continue to display a level of irony especially as it relates to how each of the characters are able to interact with the situations that they are in. From this perspective, each of the characters have displayed a level of ironic behavior, understanding, and appreciation of what it means to be part of the position within entire story. Each character has a level of relativity as a relates to that position and then the outlook on the external