The Wife of Bath’s Tale

Irony is a form of speech in which the real meaning is concealed or contradicted by the words used. There are three tales that are fantastic demonstrations of irony. “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, “The Pardoner’s Tale”, and “The Nun Priest’s Tale” are the three. While each one is different, each uses irony to teach its characters a lesson.Irony is a form of speech in which the real meaning is concealed or contradicted by the words used. There are three tales that are fantastic demonstrations of irony. “The Wife of Bath’s Tale”, “The Pardoner’s Tale”, and “The Nun Priest’s Tale” are the three. While each one is different, each uses irony to teach its characters a lesson.

“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” does not have as much irony in it as the other two tales do. The most major ironical difference is that of the nature of the knight’s crime. He begins so violently as he rapes the young maid. However, he soon begins to show his meek side. Secondly, as the knight feels relief and assurance about a truth he states he will soon experience, irony is also brought into play. Upon finding the money, they decide to stay with it until it is dark and they can move it. The draw straws to see who will be sent out for food and wine; the youngest one is the lucky recipient of such a deed. When the youngest one goes out, the two others begin to plot against him. They want to kill him so that they will get his share of money. Likewise, the youngest one is planning to poison the wine of the two others when he returns. When he comes back to the place that they are staying, he is in fact attacked and stabbed, left for the dead. Then, in the most dramatic way possible, the killers sit down to congratulate themselves with wine. Soon, they too are dead because the youngest rake poisoned the wine.

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