Irony in The Pardoner's Tale

     The Pardoner’s Tale, by Chaucer, is about how greed can destroy a man. The Pardoner is described as a greedy and mischievous man. It is ironic that he chose to tell this story about greed. There is also irony in the story with the three men who set out to kill Death and agree to kill and fight for one another.
     The three rioters in the Pardoner’s tale promise to find Death and kill him. This situation is ironic because the men truly believe that Death is an actual man and that they could possibly kill him. The reader may feel that the three men are acting very idiotic.
     Another ironic part of the tale is that the three men promise to kill and fight for each other. Sadly, the three men allow their greed to push them to kill one another. The reader may believe that the men certainly found death and that it is their own fault for the way things ended.
     The relationship between the story and the Pardoner is ironic because the pardoner is giving a moral lesson about greed when he is a greedy man, himself. He does not practice what he preaches. The reader may be upset to find that a man of the church is so corrupt.
     The Pardoner’s tale has many examples of irony. The three men who set out to slay death and agree to kill and fight for each other show irony through their idiotic actions. The Pardoner ironically tells a story about greed when he is described as a very greedy man. His tale is about how greed can destroy a man and the reader sees that it destroys him, a man of the church.