With reference to the text, what elements of the pardoner's tale make it an appropriate tale for him to tell?

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English                                                                                           Vicky Maberley UVI        

WITH REFERENCE TO THE TEXT, WHAT ELEMENTS OF THE PARDONER’S TALE MAKE IT AN APPROPRIATE TALE FOR HIM TO TELL?

There are many connections between the Pardoner’s tale and his own character. He too is guilty of many of the sins committed in the story. One wonders whether the Pardoner might actually behave in the same way as the men in the tale. These connections are what make the tale appropriate for the Pardoner to tell it to the Pilgrims.

The first obvious connection between the Pardoner and his tale, that makes it appropriate for him to tell, is “avarice” or the greed of money. The Pardoner preaches against “avarice”, whilst openly admitting to the rest of the Pilgrims that he himself is guilty of this sin, “That I wol live in poverte wilfully. Nay, nay, I thoughte it nevere trewely!” In fact, his whole life is based around avarice, as being a Pardoner is more than a job to him, it is a way of life. It seems that he has spent a long time perfecting his preaching techniques of rhetoric to enable him to take as much money from people as possible. He demonstrates his greed for money (and possessions) several times, “I wol have moneie, wolle, chese, and whete,/…of the povereste widwe in a village/ Al sholde hir children sterve for famine.” This is extremely cruel, but we have to wonder how many of the Pardoner’s comments are bravado rather than actual truth. We also wonder if these comments might be used to impress his ‘good friend’ the Summoner! The tale itself is based around “avarice” and the moral of the story is that greed for money, along with blasphemy and other sins, leads to death. Each man individually shows “avarice”. The young man in the town first shows his greed when he says, “if so were that I mighte/ Have al this tresor to myself allone”. He then goes on to buy poison and contaminates the two bottles of wine meant for the other rioters. This is “avarice” working in its strongest form; driving a man to murder. The other rioters show the same form of “avarice” when they plot to kill the youngest rioter. This also leads one to wonder if the rioter who suggested killing the youngest man would then move on to kill the other man so that he would end up with all of the gold to himself. The listener thinks that it is probable that his “avarice” would drive him to this, just as the Pardoner would go to lengths to quench his thirst for money.

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The theme of death is another link between the Pardoner and his tale. This theme can be seen in the forms of both physical and spiritual death. The tale begins with death and ends with it. Death, along with “avarice”, is the central theme of the story. Death is also referred to literally, as a person, and then reverts to being metaphorical. It could be said that the Pardoner is death personified, as death is linked with “avarice” in the tale and his whole life is based on this. The Pardoner’s whole life leads toward death because he ...

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