"The Pardoner's Tale" (Middle English: The Pardoners Tale) is one of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The story is in the form of an exemplum: the Pardoner first explains the theme he will address, then tells his story and finally draws the conclusion he had already mentioned in his introduction.
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The tale is based on a folk-tale of Oriental origin, although many variations exist. Three drunken and debauched men set out from a bar to find and kill Death, whom they blame for the passing of their friend, and all other people that previously have died, which they were told by the Landlord. An old man they brusquely query tells them that he has asked Death to take him but has failed. He then says they can find Death at the foot of an oak tree. When the men arrive at the tree, they find a large number of gold coins and forget about their quest to kill Death. They decide that they would sleep at the oak tree over night, so they can take the coins in the morning. The three men draw straws to see who among them should fetch wine and food while the other two wait under the tree. The youngest of the three men drew the shortest straw. The two plot to overpower and stab the other one when he returns, while the one who leaves for the town plots to lace the wine with rat poison. When he returns with the food and drink, the other two kill him and drink the poisoned wine, dying slow and painful deaths. All three have found death.
The relationship between tellers 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—yet his preaching is correct and the results 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. The Pardoner's confession is similar in its revelation of details to the prologue by the Wife of Bath, who gives away details about herself in her prologue. Both prologues are 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, which is reflected in the quality of the narrative attributed to him. The critic A. C. Spearing has written that "much of the individual coloring of the actual tale is drawn from its teller." This is true of many of the tales and their tellers, but the Pardoner's motives are woven even more tightly into his tale than most.
The religious climate at the time that Chaucer wrote this piece was pre-Reformation. Therefore, the Sacraments were still largely considered, as explained by St. Augustine, “outward and visible signs of an inward and invisible grace.” The suggestion that outward appearances are reliable indicators of internal character was not considered radical or improper among contemporary audiences. Indeed, the vivid depiction of the Pardoner’s hair, those locks “yellow as wax But smoothe as a strike (hank) of flex (flax),” does little to improve the reader’s opinion of his moral character.[1]
Chaucer develops his description and analysis of the Pardoner throughout the Pardoner’s Tale using suggestive analogies that provide the reader with the perception of a man of extreme sexual and spiritual poverty, willingly admitting that he abuses his authority and sells fake relics. Eugene Vance illustrates one parallel effectively fostered by Chaucer’s sexual innuendoes. He writes: “The kneeling posture to which the Pardoner summons the pilgrims would place their noses right before his deficient crotch.”[1]
In addition, Vance expands upon this comparison, identifying a sexual innuendo implicit in the Pardoner’s many relics. “The pardoner conspires to set himself up as a moveable shrine endowed with relics unsurpassed by those of anyone else in England.” Yet, of course, the relics are all fakes, creating a suggestion of both the Pardoner's impotence and his spiritual ill-worth.[1]
Though the Pardoner preaches against greed, the irony of the character is based in the Pardoner's hypocritical actions. Using his position as an agent of the Roman Catholic Church, he admits extortion of the poor, pocketing of indulgences, and failure to abide by teachings against jealousy, and avarice. He also admits quite openly that he tricks the most guilty sinners into buying his spurious relics and doesn't really care what happens to the souls of those he's swindled.
The Pardoner is also deceptive in how he carries out his job. Instead of selling genuine relics, the bones he carries belong to pigs, not departed saints. The cross he carries appears to be studded with precious stones that are in fact bits of common metal. This irony could be an indication to Chaucer's dislike for religious profit—a pervasive late medieval theme hinging on anti-clericalism. Chaucer's use of subtle literary techniques, such as satire, seem to convey this message.
However, the Pardoner might also be seen as a reinforcement of the Apostolic Authority of the priesthood, which according to the Catholic Church, functions fully even when the one possessing that authority is in a state of mortal sin, which in this case is supported by how the corrupt Pardoner is able to tell a morally intact tale and turn others from his same sin. Thomas Aquinas, an influential theologian of the late medieval period, had a philosophy concerning how God was able to work through evil people and deeds in order to accomplish good ends. Chaucer may have also been referencing a doctrine of St. Augustine of Hippo concerning the Donatist heresy of fourth and fifth century Northern Africa in which Augustine argued that a priest's ability to perform valid sacraments was not invalidated by his own sin. Thus, it is possible that with the Pardoner, Chaucer was criticizing the administrative and economic practices of the Church while simultaneously affirming his support for her religious authority and dogma.
In the General Prologue of the Tales, the Pardoner is introduced with these:
With him there rode a gentle Pardoner
Of Rounceval, his friend and his companion,
That straight was come from the court of Rome.
Full loud he sang "Come hither, love, to me!"
This Summoner bore to him a stiff burden ...
A voice he had as small as hath a goat.
No beard had he, nor never should have;
A smooth it was as it were late shave.
I trowe he were a gelding or a mare.
J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, has stated in an interview that her short story "The Tale of the Three Brothers" from The Tales of Beedle the Bard is loosely based on "The Pardoner's Tale".[2]
| Preceded by The Physician's Prologue and Tale |
The Canterbury Tales | Succeeded by The Shipman's Tale |