Dramatic Irony In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

Dramatic irony, in literature, is used to show the obliviousness of one or more characters to what is going on around them. It is for the reader, or audience, to gain more knowledge on the character that the character himself is unaware of. In Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, more specifically “The General Prologue,” the narrator uses this dramatic irony to introduce the pilgrims who embark on the journey to the Canterbury Cathedral. In particular, the monk and the friar are introduced by the narrator with great prestige. They are described with honor and holiness. But later on, the reader is shown who the monk and friar truly are. During the 14th century, monks were considered some of the holiest men in a given town. They took vows of poverty, did not engage in hunting, and were known for their work and service given to the world. Monks were known to be selfless and motivators of Christ. In “The General Prologue,” the narrator brings a monk into

Even though this was a Church law at the time, this friar took it to the extreme. When the townsmen donated more, the friar punished less, “For if he yaf, he dorste make avaunt, he wiste that a man was repentaunt” (227-228). The friar gave the monetarily generous people an easier penance as a reward, which caused the other townspeople to donate as well. Lastly, his friar-like acquaintances were lacking. As many picture a friar, or any holy man, with the poor or ill-stricken, this friar chose the high-life. He only acquainted himself with the donating-hungry of his town, “For unto swich a worthy man as he acorded nat, as by his facultee, to have with sike lazars aqueyntaunce. It is nat honest, it may nat avaunce, for to deelen with no swich poraille, but al with riche and sellers of vitaille” (243-249). What seemed, to the narrator and to the friar himself, to be a good act, portrayed the friar as a materialistic and corrupt