Geoffrey Chaucer - The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales

In his work "The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales", Geoffrey Chaucer portrays a keen sense of humor through his creative style of writing. Chaucer's humor throughout the Prologue is quite impressive and greatly influenced by his personality and life experiences. Chaucer achieves the humor in his work through two types of irony: (i) incongruity - meaning active behavior that is different to what is expected; (ii) verbal irony - when one says the exact opposite …

…According to Inglis and Spear, "Each story is appropriate in subject matter, language, and general style". "The Prologue to The Canterbury Tales" is a perfect example of this, through which Geoffrey Chaucer expresses his humor. WORKS CITED Hoy, Michael and M. Stevens. Chaucer's Major Tales. New York: Schocken Books, 1983. Inglis, Rewey Belle, and Josephine Spear. Adventures in English Literature. Chicago: Harcourt, Brace & world inc., 1952. Pollard, Alfred. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales: The Prologue. London: Macmillan Education Limited, 1971.