The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale
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- "The Pardoner's Tale" redirects here. For the Law & Order episode, see The Pardoner's Tale (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode).
The Pardoner's Tale is one of The Canterbury Tales. In the Introduction, the host invites the Pardoner to tell the next tale. The Pardoner's Prologue is a sermon against greed, gluttony and gambling, linking into the main tale. After the tale, the Pardoner invites the other pilgrims to pay him for pardons and sell them relics.
[edit] Summary
The tale is based on a folk-tale of Oriental origin, although many variations exist. Three rioters set out to find and kill Death, whom they fault for the death of their friend, and all other people that previously died. An old man directs them towards a tree, underneath which they find gold coins; they forget about their quest to kill Death, and send one among them to fetch wine and food while the other two wait under the tree. They secretly plot to kill the other one when he returns, while the one who leaves for the town poisons some of the wine with rat poison. When he returns with the food and drink, the other two kill him and drink the poisoned wine - also dying in result. The tale is supposed to illustrate the Latin phrase Radix malorum est cupiditas - "Greed for wealth (Avarice) is the root of all evil", which the Pardoner himself quotes as the theme of the story.
The relationship between teller and tale is particularly significant in the Pardoner's Tale. The Pardoner is an enigmatic character, portrayed as grotesque in the General Prologue and apparently aware of his own sin—it is not clear why he tells the pilgrims about his own sin in the prologue prior to his tale—and yet his preaching is correct and the result of his methods, despite their corruption, are good. Mention by him of a "draughte of corny [strong] ale" may suggest that he is being so open because he is drunk but this is not certain. This confession is similar to the details the Wife of Bath gives away about herself in her prologue. Like that prologue the Pardoner's is heavily influenced by the Romance of the Rose particularly the Fals Semblaunt episode.
The Pardoner is also described as a good speaker in his portrait in the General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. The quality of the narrative reflects this. The critic A. C. Spearing has written that "much of the individual colouring of the actual tale ... is drawn from its teller." This is true of many of the tales and their tellers but the Pardoner and his motives are woven even more tightly into his tale than most.
Many features of the narrative contribute to the mystery and interest of the tale, such as the description, the central irony that the revellers set out to find Death and die, and the fact that the names of all characters except for Death are not specified. These attributes make the tale seem 'dreamlike', possibly demonstrating the drunken state of the protagonists, the three revellers. The old man in particular is an ambiguous character, who could represent good, evil, God's mercy or the Pardoner himself. Despite the simplicity of the plot, the tale is told with great intensity and pace.
[edit] Themes
Though the Pardoner preaches heavily against greed, the ultimate irony of the character that Chaucer creates is based in the Pardoner's hypocritical actions. As an agent of the Roman Catholic Church, he admits extortion of the poor for money, pocketing of indulgences, and failure to abide by teachings against jealousy and greed.
The Pardoner is also deceptive in how he carries out his job. Instead of selling genuine relics, the bones he carries along belong to pigs, not departed saints. The cross he carries appears to be studded with precious stones, but those are just bits of metal.
This irony underlies Chaucer's seeming dislike for religious profit. Because it was written on the eve of the Reformation and Renaissance, it is generally believed that while it was still dangerous to denounce Church practices, Chaucer was able to use literary techniques to make his message more subtle.
The Pardoner exemplifies the deceit of the Medieval Church.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: The Physician's Tale |
The Canterbury Tales | Succeeded by: The Shipman's Tale |
