Pardoners Tale Essays - The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoners Tale

Pardoner's Tale The Pardoner's Tale: Deception and Foolishness There are several types of foolishness being described in the Pardoner's Tale itself. He describes gluttony in general, then specifically wine. He talks of gambling, taking bets and the like, and of swearing. The exemplum of his sermon describes three fools who go foolishly seeking death, then find it in a large amount of gold. Deception is another topic addressed by the Pardoner: he comes right out and says that he is a con artist, and that he is out to take people's money. In his tale, deception by the rioters leads to the death of all three. These are good points, but there is another deception the Pardoner plays, and gets caught: his sermon is a direct chastisement of the Host, who is not pleased by this. As a whole, Chaucer effectively uses this character of The Pardoner to point out some of the more foolish and deceptive aspects of other characters in the Tales as well. In the beginning, the Narrator describes The Pardoner in some quite undesirable terms. His is the characterization that comes closest to making a judgement call - in most cases, the judgement is left to the reader. Yet, I trowe he were a gelding or a mare, is hardly non-judgmental (97.693). The Narrator also spends a bit of time describing the different relics and showing the truth of what each relic really is; however, there is a point in his negative description of both the physical and moral aspects of this character. The Pardoner represents the Ugly Truth. The Knight is grand, the Wife is pretty, but the Pardoner is downright ugly. He is also the only pilgrim to acknowledge his shortcomings - he knows he is a con artist and liar, and in his tale's prologue freely admits this in both words and actions. The Pardoner then proceeds with the tale itself, which is a deception as well. In the sermon, he describes gluttony in detail, and defines it as not just overeating, but the intense pleasure of doing so. He also denounces wine, with graphic examples of drunkenness. He discusses the negative merits of swearing and cursing. Then, he closes the sermon itself with a condemnation of gambling. There are several things going on here. The first, most obvious hypocrisy is that before telling this tale, the Pardoner insisted on stopping at an inn for food and beer. He is also partaking in a bet - he who tells the best story wins. However, there is another level. This sermon is retaliation to the Host, who just before asking the Pardoner to speak has been cursing and talking about using beer as medicine to mend his broken heart. It can be suspected that the Host is drunk, as well. However, when addressing the Pardoner, the Host intentionally insults him: 'Thou bel ami, thou Pardoner,' he saide, / 'Tel us som mirthe or japes right anon (165.30-31). The Pardoner, being of rather quick wit, replies: 'It shal be doon,' quod he, 'by Saint Ronion?' (165.33). The reference to St. Ronion is a possible play on runnion, which is possibly defined as a sexual joke (165, footnote 8). Thus, the Host has rather offended the Pardoner, who calls a stop at an inn to think upon som honeste thing whil that I drinke (165.40). This exchange is picked up once again after The Pardoner's Tale is done. Several things from the Tale upset the Host. He is the owner of a tavern, encouraging food and drink. He himself likes to partake of these things. He also swears quite readily, and from the General Prologue, we know the Host was the one to propose the storytelling game in the first place. So, at the end of the Pardoner's Tale, when the Pardoner suggests ?that our Hoste shal biginne, / For he is most envoluped in sinne (178.653-654), it is in direct response to the insult at the beginning of the Pardoner's turn to tell a Tale. This nearly starts a physical fight - the intervention of the Knight prevents this infighting from progressing further. The Pardoner's sermon, while perhaps aimed at the Host, also describes much of the rest of the pilgrimage. After all, Pardoners Tale Essays - The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoners Tale Pardoner's Tale Love and betrayal are two major themes that appeared often in the works selected for this semesters reading. A theme that is seen in both the story of Joseph and Chaucer's The Pardoner's Tale is betrayal with a blend of greed and selfishness. The story of Joseph involved a boy named Joseph and his brothers. Joseph appeared to be his father's favorite and always treated him the best. Joseph's brothers seemed to be angry and mad at the fact that he was getting all the attention and so they plotted a scheme to get rid of Joseph by killing him. Rather than killing Joseph, they sought profit in him. The brothers acted selfishly and so they betray him by selling him to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver. The Pardoner's Tale is a good example of a story containing these elements. In this story, readers see a group of rioters at a local tavern inn drinking and having a good time. As they look behind them they see a coffin being carried away. The rioters soon find out that it the person in the coffin was a very good friend of theirs. As sad and angry as they are, they set off to find out who has killed their companion. An old man directs the three rioters to a tree down the road and tells them that Death killed their friend. The rioters set out to find Death and kill him in revenge. When they reach the tree, they spot a treasure. They decide to wait until dark to take the findings. While they all wait, one rioter decided to go to town to get them all food. This rioter comes up with an idea that he should kill the other two men and take the treasure for himself. The other two rioters think likewise. They devise a plan to kill the other friend and split the treasure in two parts instead of three. As it is seen in the story of Joseph, his brothers betray him. Because they are jealous of Joseph, their own flesh and blood, they acted selfish and greedy. They wanted to kill him, but selling him for money would benefit them more. The rioters acted similarly. They are all friends who set out on a mission. Once money is brought into the picture, everyone has different feelings. They all plot to kill one another and betray each other because they want a bigger share of the profit. In this case, everyone ends up dead. The one sent to town decides to put poison in the drinks and the rioters left by the tree plot to stab him. When they finally do stab him, they think they are home free. They continue to feast and when they drink they too end up dead. In this case no one was successful. Everyone ends up with nothing. Their greed led them to their death. Unlike the rioters, the betrayal of Joseph by his brothers benefited him in the long run. He ends up interpreting dreams for the Pharaoh of Egypt. The Pardoner's Tale is a good work to incorporate into the syllabus because it teaches a valuable lesson about the relationship of friends and what limits friends go to in order to betray each other. Greed and jealousy are key elements that make someone betray another person. An example of what people are usually greedy about is money. Money is a materialistic item in which everyone wants. When given the right opportunity, one will do anything for it even if it means betraying friends or especially family members. A question that this story raises is How far will people go in order to make themselves happy? In this case the rioters went a far as they possibly could. They plotted to kill each other for something that was not even rightfully theirs. If they had not found the treasure, they would of still been alive. The Pardoner's Tale can easily be connected to the course assignments because although there is betrayal, there is an element of love in it also. Although it is not easily seen, love is shown. The rioters showed love and compassion when they found out that their friend had died. At once they got together to find the person that had killed him. If they did not love or care about this person they would not have even bothered to ask who had gotten killed. This story contradicts the story of Joseph somewhat because although