Irony in The Prologue

The irony is a method of humorous or sarcastic expression in which the intended meaning of the words used is the direct opposite of their usual sense. It is also the feigning of ignorance in argument. The voice of the satirist speaking out of a mask is subtle irony. Behind the mask, his face may be dark with fury or writhing with contempt, but his voice is calm, sometimes soberly earnest, sometimes lightly amused. The lips of the mask and its features are persuasive, almost real, and perfectly controlled. Some of those who hear the voice, and see the polite lips, from which it issues, are persuaded that it is the utterance of truth and that the speaker believes everything he says. Aristotle said that irony was the opposite of boasting: it was mock modesty, dissimulation, and self-depreciation.

 

The irony is a method of humorous or sarcastic expression in which the intended meaning of the words used is the direct opposite of their usual sense. It is also the feigning of ignorance in argument. The voice of the satirist speaking out of a mask is subtle irony. Behind the mask, his face may be dark with fury or writhing with contempt, but his voice is calm, sometimes soberly earnest, sometimes lightly amused. The lips of the mask and its features are persuasive, almost real, and perfectly controlled. Some of those who hear the voice, and see the polite lips, from which it issues, are persuaded that it is the utterance of truth and that the speaker believes everything he says. Aristotle said that irony was the opposite of boasting: it was mock modesty, dissimulation, and self-depreciation.

 

Geoffrey Chaucer is frequently ironical in many respects. His irony is what metaphor is for later poets. Both irony and metaphor put into the same set of words a double meaning; whereas in metaphor they are linked by comparison, in irony they are linked by contrast. The linkage is important. In each case, the two elements of the double meaning modify each other, though one may be dominant. In the case of irony the superficial 'false' meaning is still part of the total meaning. It modifies the "true" meaning, if only by asserting that even the underlying meaning is not the only competitor for our assent; or by establishing a limited validity even for simple mindedness. The obvious meaning is the contribution innocence makes to experience. More generally the duality of irony contributes a certain kind of uncertainty, and hence a need for toleration, not least for the poet himself, who uses irony to evade responsibility.

 

Chaucer’s irony is always gentle, seldom severe, and never savage. He is to all intents and purposes a comic ironist. His portraits in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales are excellent examples of comic irony. In fact, throughout the Prologue the reader has to be on his guard against Chaucer's seeming enthusiasm towards each of his pilgrims, realising that his irony operates indirectly through praise that is characteristically excessive and generous, whether sincere or not.

 

In the Prologue his remarks about the Knight that 'He was a verray, parfit gentil knight' are straightforwardly respectful, but his generous tribute to the Monk 'A manlyman, to been an abbot able' should leave us wondering whether he means that most abbots were appointed for their worldliness and self indulgence. When he rounds off the description of the Merchant by remarking "For sothe he was a worthy man with alle" Chaucer's irony is obvious, for he has just disclosed the pilgrim's dishonesty and hypocritical manner. Similarly, that 'verray parfit praktisour' the Physician, although described in terms which recall the Knight, observes a code which inverts the standards of truth, honour and liberality which the Knight strives to uphold. Here Chaucer's seeming praise is doubly ironic.

 

The physician is not the genuine, perfect practitioner of a noble ideal but shrewd, miserly and self-regarding. The nun in Madame Eglentine is a charming imposture, imperfectly concealing a woman whose social ambitions lead her into an absurd confusion of purposes mimicking courtly mannerisms that are completely inappropriate to her calling. She is a specimen of fascinating disparity between what she is and what she seems to be, and Chaucer exploits this comic incongruity in a very subtle manner. The Wife of Bath is subjected to irony when Chaucer while praising hercharitable nature points out that she goes out of all charity if some other woman in the parish takes precedence over her in making the offering. The implication is that charity should be evidenced by humility, not by pride, by gentleness, not by anger.

 

Leaving aside such idealisation as the Knight, the Parson and the Plowman, it may be undeniably asserted that Chaucer takes men as he finds them, obtaining that kind of amusement in the ironic yet sympathetic observation of his fellows which yields itself only to the artist's vision. Although he has a loving relish for human behaviour and human weakness, it is wrong, as some critics tend to do, to play down his irony. A high proportion of his pilgrims are rascals, and Chaucer knows that they are. Nor can we ignore his clear attack on corruption in the Church, though here again the attack is done obliquely through the presentation of individual characters. The Monk and the Friar and the Summoner are amusing enough characters as Chaucer describes them, but the behaviour of the latter two, brilliantly presented and magnificently comic though it is, is the behaviour of petty blackguards. The Pardoner, perhaps Chaucer's greatest masterpiece of character drawing, implies a whole world of moral hypocrisy.

 

Lastly, there is an element of Socratic irony in the prologue. He not only uses irony in portrayal of other character but also his own character and says: My wit is short, ye may well understand. Chaucer's point of view is no doubt secular throughout the Prologue, and he is intrigued rather than shocked by the weaknesses of human nature. But irony always has moral implications, and Chaucer in the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales was not an ironist for nothing.

Disclaimer

This website is designed to provide free notes and study materials on English Literature. The prime aim is to help financially weaker students with their ready references. Since a lot of different content writers write and contribute articles for this website, it’s quite tough to check and verify the originality and uniqueness of the content. There may be a few contents which are directly or indirectly copied/ plagiarized from other websites/ books/ journals etc. If such type of issues is noticed please don’t forget to inform us. We will immediately remove the content from our website www.engliterature.com. Our mailing address is admin@engliterature.com