The Pardoner's Tale

"The Pardoner's Tale" is an excellent example of how Geoffrey Chaucer made each of the tales fit the person who is telling it. The Pardoner is probably the greediest person on the trip, and yet he provides an exemplum (a short story that illustrates a particular moral point), a story warning others about the power of greed to destroy their lives.

"The Pardoner's Tale" is full of action and is meant to serve as a warning to those who are not living up to God's teachings and instructions. Ironically, the Pardoner, who is "preaching" this tale, is not himself living up to God's teachings and instructions. The Pardoner is a fraud and a hypocrite, and the reader knows it. Only the "innocent" Chaucer Pilgrim seems to be taken in by the tale.

On the journey, the Pardoner and the Summoner ride together, singing and drinking as they make their way. This pair usually set out together in Chaucer's day as well. The Summoners accused people of sin, and then they threatened them if they did not repent properly. The Pardoners came along selling the pardons, or indulgences, from their sin. They both had permission from the pope to perform their job, so the system was set up for fraudulence and can be seen all over Europe during the Middle Ages.

Important Vocabulary

Words or Phrases to Know:

  • Radix malorum est cupiditas - Latin for 'The love of money is the root of all evil.' (1 Timothy 6:10)
  • Avarice - greed
  • Castigate - to criticize
  • Spry - quick
  • Adversary - one that opposes; enemy
  • Publican - innkeeper; tavern owner
  • Jollity - the state of being jolly; happy
  • Florins - coins
  • Miscreants - evildoers; villains
  • Tarry - to delay or be tardy
  • Fortune - fate
  • Constitutionalism - adherence to; following rules
  • Sauntered - to walk about in an idle or leisurely manner

The Pardoner's Prologue

Before each tale, there is a prologue; after each tale, there is an epilogue.

Read the first stanza to the prologue in "The Pardoner's Tale." Notice the last line; the Pardoner is stating his theme. Also, recognize the rhyme scheme of the heroic couplet that is seen throughout Chaucer's poem.

"My lords," said he, "in churches when I preach (a)
I take great pains to have a haughty speech (a)
And ring it out as roundly as a bell (b);
I know it all by heart, what I've to tell (b).
My theme's always the same and ever was (c):
Radix malorum est Cupiditas(c)."

Personification

In "The Pardoner's Tale," Death is an actual character in the story. Personification (giving inanimate objects human characteristics) is a popular technique in stories with a moral. Personification is a useful tool because it makes the story more dramatic, and it makes it easier for listeners and readers to apply the moral to their own lives.

The Pardoner's Tale

Read "The Pardoner's Tale." Think about the exemplum of the story.

What was the Exemplum?

So what did you find the exemplum to be? If you said greed, you are not alone. The Pardoner often preaches about "Radix malorum est Cupiditas," the love of money is the root of all evil. This is one of the seven deadly sins. The Pardoner also admits that his main purpose is to acquire money, "I preach for nothing but for greed of gain."

The Seven Deadly Sins

Are there more examples of the seven deadly sins in the tale? Do you know what the seven deadly sins are? Take a guess.

The tale's setting is in the town of Flanders. The main characters are three young men who engage in many sins: gambling, drinking, blaspheming.

Irony

The three young men are in search for Death (Death is personified as a character in the story) because the older man, whom they encounter along the way, tells them that Death won't take him, but they can find him lying under the tree.

What is about that statement? Irony is the use of words to express something other than the literal meaning. Verbal--the opposite of what is meant is said (sarcasm) Dramatic--the reader knows something the character does not Situational--the opposite of what is expected to happen occurs.

Four Characteristics of a Middle Age Exemplum

There are four characteristics of a Middle Age exemplum:

Characteristics of a Middle Age Exemplum

 Examples from "The Pardoner's Tale"
Good or Evil Characters

The characters are evil because they steal the gold and kill one another.
Framework Follows Plot

The basic development of plat follows the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement form.
Allegory or Symbol

Death is personified as a character, and he is symbolic that death is predictable and inevitable.
A Moral or Lesson

The moral is about being greedy and corrupt. People should by wary of other’s greed.

 

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