Irony in the Shipman's Tale: By Nick Matkiwsky

In Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury tales, one story stands out as the most ironic story of the bunch. The Shipman's Tale is a perfect blend of situational and dramatic irony and it drives the plot of the story. In the tale, a rich merchant lives in a giant mansion which is always filled with party guests. He had a beautiful wife and she loved to accessorize herself with luxurious clothing. The wife felt neglected because her husband began to refuse her wants and kept his money to himself. In order to get what she desired, the wife decided to ask one of the merchant's best friends for a loan. The situational irony comes into play when the best friend of the merchant, a monk, loans the money from the merchant and gives it to the wife. The merchant treated the monk like his brother, yet he went behind his back in order to try to charm his wife. This scenario is also displays dramatic irony because the audience is aware of the situation and knows that the monk is going to give the money to the wife without the merchant knowing. With dramatic irony the reader is intended to know more information than the characters in the story. In this case we the readers know that the monk went against his friends wishes in order to woo the merchant's wife and give her what she desires. Chaucer's use of irony strengthens his stories and make them more entertaining to read. Using irony also can emphasize any points the author wants to express, like in the Shipman's Tale when the story demonstrates how the wife felt neglected and how the merchant refused to acknowledge her.