The Canterbury Tales

1
The Canterbury Tales

• The Pardoners Tale

2
The Pardoners Prologue

• Characterization
• He and a gentle Pardoner rode together, A bird
  from Charing Cross of the same feather,Just back
  from visiting the Court of Rome.He loudly sang
  Come hither, love, come home! (689-692)
• Sells relics to forgive sins
• Fraud

3
The Pardoners Prologue

• Very close with the Summoner
• Disgusting character
• birds of a feather flock together

4
The Pardoners Prologue

• Characterization
• But let me briefly make my purpose plainI
  preach for nothing but for greed of gainAnd use
  the same old text, as bold as brass, Radix
  malorum est cupiditas (1-4)
• The root of evil is desire
• Admits he preaches for personal profit
• Greedy, immoral, proud of his behavior
• Sins avarice, sloth, gluttony

5
The Pardoners Prologue

• I mean to have money, wool and cheese and wheat
• Though it were given to me by the poorest lad
• Or poorest village widow, though she had
• A string of starving children, all agape
• (26-29)

6
The Pardoners Tale

• Rioters Characterization
• Of youngsters haunting vice and ribaldry,
• Riot and gambling, stews and public-houses
• Dancing and dicing day and night, and bold
• To eat and drink far more than they can hold
• Doing thereby the devil sacrifice
• Within that devils temple of cursed vice
• (42-48)

7
Death

• Characterization
• There came a privy thief, they call him Death,
• Who kills us all round here, and in a breath
• He speared him through the heart, he never
  stirred.
• And then Death went on his way without a word.
• (67-69)
• Personification of death

8
Death

• If you should meet him you had best be wary
  Be on your guard with such an adversary,
• Be primed to meet him everywhere you go
  (73-75)
• Implies a moral lesson

9
The Rioters

• Characterization
• The three of us together now,Hold up your
  hands, like me, and well be brothers In this
  affair, and defend the others, And we will kill
  this traitor Death, I say (88-91)
• Ironic they vow to stay together
• Drunk and egotistical
• Want to seek out death

10
The Old Man

• Characterization
• The three of us together now,Hold up your
  hands, like me, and well be brothers In this
  affair, and defend the others, And we will kill
  this traitor Death, I say (88-91)
• Disrespectful tone

11
The Old Man

• Characterization
• Symbolic?
• Gives rioters directions
• Irony
• So, like a wretched prisoner at strife
• Within himself, I walk alone and wait
• About the earth, which is my mothers
  gate,
• Alas! When will these bones be laid
  to rest? (120-127)
• old man seeks release through death
• rioters seek death to challenge it
• old man tells rioters where to find death, but
  hasnt found it himself

12
The Gold Coins

• At once the three young rioters began
• To run, and reached the tree, and there they
  found A pile of golden florins on the
  ground, New-coined, eight bushels of them as
  they thought. No longer was it Death those
  fellows sought, For they were all so thrilled
  to see the sight, The florins were so beautiful
  and bright,
• That down they sat beside the precious
  pile. (162- 169)

13
The Gold Coins

• No longer concerned with Death
• Symbol of the gold
• Gold leads to Greed
• Greed leads to Death
• Therefore, Gold equals Death

14
Plot Summary

• One rioter (A) returns to town to buy wine and
  bread while the other two (B C) stay to guard
  the gold
• B C conspire to kill A
• A decides to poison B C
• All three end up dying
• Greed caused them to die

15
Irony

• The Pardoner tells this tale
• He is driven by greed
• He is very similar to the three rioters
• Hypocrite
• Satire
• Chaucer satirizing the clerics deceiving the
  faithful