The Pardoner’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer is a story that uses irony to teach a moral lesson. The tale is about three rioters who plan to kill Death in order to avoid their own deaths. The irony is that, in trying to escape death, the rioters actually bring about their own demise. In the end, the Pardoner shows that it is better to live a good life and accept death when it comes, rather than try to cheat death and end up losing everything.
The Pardoner’s Tale is a classic example of Chaucer’s use of irony. The story is full of twists and turns that keep the reader guessing what will happen next. The three rioters are sure that they will be able to kill Death, but the irony is that they are the ones who end up dying. The Pardoner’s use of irony highlights the folly of the rioters and teaches a valuable lesson about death and life.
The Pardoner’s tale is rife with irony. Irony abounds within the narrative and between the Pardoner and the story. Despite the Pardoner’s devious intentions to defraud money from other pilgrims, Chaucer concludes his story with a good message. In The Pardoner’s tale, Chaucer severely criticizes the church hierarchy by using irony. As soon as the Pardoner begins his prologue, irony sets in. He informs the other travelers that his sermons teach that avarice is “the root of all evil.”
The Pardoner’s actions, however, do not reflect his words. The Pardoner is extremely greedy and his main motivation for giving sermons is to make money off of other people’s donations. The Pardoners tale also has many examples of verbal irony. The three rioters in the story use verbal irony when they make a pact to kill Death. The rioters say “us mette at this tavern in a yeer” but they are actually going to meet their deaths instead.
There is also situational irony in The Pardoner’s Tale. The old man in the story tells the three rioters that deathcomes for everyone eventually and there is no escaping it. The old man is later killed by the rioters and his words come true. The most significant irony in The Pardoner’s Tale, however, is the ending. The Pardoner claims to have killed Death and taken his possessions.
The other pilgrims are not fooled by the Pardoner’s story and they realize that the Pardoner has duped them. The irony in the ending comes from the fact that the Pardoner is a false prophet. Chaucer uses irony throughout The Pardoner’s Tale to effectively criticize the church system. The irony in The Pardoner’s Tale highlights the hypocrisy of the church.
The Pardoner, on the other hand, uses his own faults and sins to overcome them. Pardoners who accepted money in exchange for forgiveness were supposed to use the money for charity, but he, like many other pardoners in his day, used the cash for his personal satisfaction. He adds that he is a hypocrite himself.
The Pardoner is a hypocrite and uses his position in the church to make money. Chaucer’s irony is evident throughout the story. The Pardoner is a character that is easy to despise, but Chaucer allows the reader to see that he is also human. Although he is greedy and selfish, he also has feelings and regrets. The Pardoner represents everything that was wrong with the Church during Chaucer’s time. The Church was corrupt and full of hypocrites. The Pardoner’s Tale is a story that is still relevant today. The Church is still corrupt and there are still people who take advantage of others.
The Pardoner begins his tale by condemning the typical vices of society, such as thievery and gluttony. The irony of his condemnation is that he himself has been drinking and telling everyone about it. There are several ironical aspects to the stor itself. In his tale, the rioters vow to go out and kill Death.
They promise to fight and die for one another in this endeavor. There are two ironies in their quest. First, according to legend, no one has ever slain Death (except perhaps Llyr ap Gwynion). Second, despite their drunken pledges to die for one another, they end up killing each other.
The pardoner’s tale is full of irony, and Chaucer uses this device to underscore the hypocrisy of the characters and the flaws in their thinking. The pardoner, who preaches against sin, is a hypocritical himself. The rioters in his story are also flawed in their thinking. They believe that they can kill Death, when in reality they only kill each other. The use of irony allows Chaucer to poke fun at the characters and at society as a whole.
The irony highlights the foolishness of those who engage in sinful behavior and it demonstrates the folly of those who pursue death. Geoffrey Chaucer was a master of irony, and he used this device to create memorable characters and to explore the flaws in human reasoning. The Pardoner’s Tale is a perfect example of his skills as a writer.
The Pardoner admits that he is a fraud and that his main purpose is to make money. The first instance of irony in the tale occurs when the Pardoner tells the story of three friends who set out to kill Death. The friends are so focused on killing Death that they do not realize that they are actually going to die themselves. This is an example of situational irony because the outcome is the opposite of what was expected.
The second instance of irony happens when one of the friends finds a treasure. The friend thinks that the treasure will make him rich, but it actually kills him. This is an example of verbal irony because the friend says one thing, but he means the opposite.
The final instance of irony occurs when the Pardoner tries to sell his pardon to the people in the tavern. The people are so disgusted by the Pardoner’s greed that they turn on him and try to kill him. This is an example of dramatic irony because the audience knows what is going to happen, but the Pardoner does not.
Chaucer uses irony effectively to criticize the church system. The church system at the time was corrupt and full of greedy officials like the Pardoner. The Pardoner’s tale is a good example of how Chaucer felt about the state of the church.
