Pardoner's Tale

Chaucer's CANTERBURY TALES (General Prologue) One of Chaucer's great character descriptions is of the Pardoner: a.) What image suggests his lack of manliness and his effeminacy? Why do you think Chaucer would portray the Pardoner this way? The Pardoner makes his living in an unmanly way, through wit and guile rather than true trade. The pardoner is described as a gelding or a mare, like an animal that cannot reproduce. b.) A goat is usually considered a lecherous animal.

What image associates the Pardoner with a goat? Why does Chaucer depict him thusly? The Pardoner's goat-like beard, eyes, and hair suggest a man who is still driven by desire, but by a perverted rather than a healthy form of sexual desire -- in the Pardoner's case he is driven by a desire for money and physical satisfactions of good and drink as a replacement for sexuality.

c.) What images does Chaucer use to describe the Pardoner's eyes? Yellow, pus-encircled, and animalistic all create images that suggest sickness, depravity, and perversion. d.) What images describe his hair and what do you think is the impression Chaucer wants you to glean from this description? Wispy and whiskery, again stressing the castrated animal or goat, and implying a lack of healthy levels of normal human 'humors' or desire. Also, it suggests the man's drunkenness and love of rich food.

e.) How do these images, taken all together, make you feel about the Pardoner? These images combination of revulsion at his hypocrisy, and disgust that people come to the man for spiritual guidance when he can provide them with none -- when he himself is sick and corrupt with a love of rich food and wine. 2.) Chaucer satirizes the Church of his time in the Prologue. Show how this is true in the Pardoner's description.

The Pardoner is a man who exculpates people for their sins -- however he is a mercenary, venial creature himself, who does so not for moral reasons, but for material gain. He openly uses false relics to provoke awe, piety, and draw money from the pockets of his followers. 3.) In describing the pilgrims, Chaucer reveals things about his own personality, biases, and values.

What do you see revealed in the Pardoner? Although he was not a religious man in a doctrinal or dogmatic sense, Chaucer valued morality when it was consistent, tolerant, and not enforced in a mean or hypocritical basis for personal enrichment -- unlike the way the Pardoner uses religion for personal profit, and simply to make people feel bad about themselves.

Questions re: "Prologue to The Pardoner's Tale" 1.) Why do you think the Pardoner is so honest about his vices? He is honest about his vices because they are so obvious -- and because he wishes to drink, eat, and make merry with his fellow pilgrims, rather than conceal these delights. 2.) What does the Pardoner's use of Biblical and historical allusions add to his character? He can quote scripture -- like the devil is said to be able to quote scripture to serve his own devices.

He is evidently not a stupid man, and his honesty is somewhat endearing. Even if he is not someone would seek spiritual guidance from, he seems like someone with whom it would be fun to have a drink with. At least, he knows and acknowledges how corrupt he is.

Questions re: "The Pardoner's Tale" 1.) According to the Pardoner's Tale, why are the three rioters looking for Death? They are looking for Death, to kill him for killing so many others, after seeing a man being taken to his grave while they are intoxicated. 2.) What does the old man tell the three rioters? How do they treat him? He tells them he is looking for death, but death will not come to him until he can find someone to exchange their youth for his old age.

The three rioters treat him disrespectfully until the man tells them while he cannot find death, they can find death beneath a nearby oak tree. 3.) What plan do the rioters form together? Explain how this plan proves fatal to all three men. At first the rioters say they will divide the gold they find beneath the tree evenly.

They draw lots the rioter with the shortest straw goes into town for provisions, while the other two keep the gold safe until they can all sneak away, and thus not be presumed robbers. The two remaining decide to kill him to have more gold, the third poisons the wine he brings so he can have all the gold. When he returns, the two rioters stab the man with the wine, and then drink the poisoned wine and die.

4.) How do the little tavern knave and the publican use personification to describe Death? Explain how the rioters' response to the personification is ironic. As the knave and the publican personify death as a human being, the rioters believe they can kill death, as if death were a human being or form. 5.) What do you think the poor old man symbolizes? The old man is death -- he cannot die, but he provides the means of death for all three rioters by giving them a chance at wealth.

6.) How many layers of irony can you identify in this story? (Did the rioters, for one thing, really find Death under the tree?) The irony of the money-loving pardoner telling a tale about money-loving rioters who love gold too much, to the point that it kills them -- and the irony within the tale, not only that the murderous desires of both groups of rioters turn against one another but that, by attempting to find death, they end up killing themselves.

7.) Describe the contrast between the ethics of the Pardoner as described in the Prologue and the moral of the sermon he preaches. How would you account for the psychology of the Pardoner: Is he truly evil? Is he just drunk? Or is he so used to cheating that he does.