Canterbury Tales Analysis

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In Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, irony is a vital literary component. He used the techniques of satire, irony, metaphor, and personification to skillfully make points in his writing as well as put his points across to the reader. He tends to describe his characters with these literal denotations in hopes that his readers will find deeper significance in them. He creatively uses these elements to broaden the reader’s point of view of the characters. The Canterbury Tales incorporate a range of attitudes towards life and literature, and are by turns satirical, elevated, pious, and comical. They also explore themes of the day such as pervasiveness of courtly love, the importance of companionship, and the corruption of the church. The Friar was a character of contradictory qualities. He was full of moral guilt. He “knew the taverns well in every town” (Line 240), which means that he spends a lot of time drinking, flirting, and socializing in bars. To others, he may seem like a holy man, but to the readers’ dismay, he knew the landlords and bartenders much better than the people he was supposed to be counseling out of the circle of poverty. Unlike other men of his occupation, he didn’t dress poorly. “Upon his head, a Flemish beaver hat and on his feet, daintily buckled boots” (Line 282-283) In the Wife of Bath’s tale, irony is noticeably seen in regards to the knight and his morals. The knight’s penalty for raping a maiden is to discover what women truly desire above all within a year and a day, or he will have to face beheading. Thus, the knight sets out on his quest, finding a haggard old woman with an offer to save his life. He pledges himself to her in return. Irony is displayed here because a female presents the knight with an opportunity to live, while he treats them so poorly. She makes a deal with him stating that she will tell him what any woman of any class
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