The Pardoner's Prologue and Tale

The PARDONER'S PROLOGUE

The prologue starts out with a confession--because he is with strangers and will not see them again The Pardoner is also an exhibitionist (in words): a clever hypocrite exploits Christian principles in order to rich himself. "The love of money is the root of all evil"--the center of his preach/tale--used most effectively in order to frighten his hearers into a generosity that will fulfill his own rapacity (cupidity)/greed. Exempla (exemplum): stories that illustrate concretely the sermon's point; give example to illustrate Consistency is in the general prologue and in the introduction to the pardoner and the tale.

THE PARDONER'S TALE

• The tale is about the destructiveness of avarice.
• Time: the bubonic plague; Black Death
• Lechery, drunkenness, greed, gluttony (drunk, eating), gambling, perjury--there are also what the pardoner is doing--He is laughing at his own weakness for he is doing the same thing himself.
• The climax of the story moves very fast (only a few lines): The story of the young men who seek Death only to find him in a treasure that had made them forget him is a masterpiece of irony.  
• The pardoner's candid confession has concealed the fact that he is a eunuch, but his secret is revealed in the epilogue by the Host's coarse response when the Pardoner tries to collect money from the pilgrims--His verbal facility by which he maintains his superiority fails him.
• Ironical: 1. The pardoner is very good at speaking, but in the end of the story he is too angry to speak, to refute the Host.  2. After his tale, he tries to trick them yet fails.
• Why does he trick them since he should know they are intelligent?
  1. So highly developed is his sense of irony that it enables him to feel superior to other people.
  2. He has been drinking too much.
  3. It's a habit to get payment.
  4. He over-estimates his cleverness; over-confident and under-estimates the Host.
  5. As exhibitionist, once he starts, he can't stop; He is going to do it again.
• The epilogue: the Host's revenge--point out the pardoner's physical weakness: not a complete man, a eunuch!
• It is interesting to see the interaction among the pilgrims.

Study Questions on Chaucer II
On "Pardoner's Prologue and Tale"

19. What are the three biblical examples that the Pardoner uses to illustrate "The luxur is in Win and dronkenesse" (l.196)?
20. What do you think of the Pardoner's tale?  Is the tale consistent to the story teller's character?