The Pardoner's tale
THE PARDONER
What is a Pardoner
l A member of the church who sells indulgences
l Equipped with relics and papal signatures they grew corrupt and sold pardons for sins committed
l By Chaucer’s time they were arguably the most corrupt part of the church and they were greatly disliked and distrusted
General Prologue
l Had smooth yellow hair that was kept well and hung evenly over his shoulders
l He thought he rode in the latest style and he would only wear a hat but no hood
l Was adorned with a hat that he had sewn a veronica on
l Had a voice “as thin as a goats”
l Always sang “Come hither, love, to me”
l He had no facial hair
l Described as a gelding or mare (eunuch or female horse)
l Carried with him his bag of “relics” including the veil of the virgin Marry, a piece of St. Peter’s sail, etc.
l Praised for his skill in the art of deception “…but with these ‘relics,’ whenever he found a poor country parson, he in one day got himself more money than the parson got in two months. And thus, with false flattery and tricks, he made monkeys of the parson and the people.”
l He is praised by the host for his uncanny ability to read a history or sing an offertory unlike anyone else.
Talkin bout general prologue
l Veronica- “miniature reproduction of St. Veronica's sacred cloth, bearing the imprint of Jesus' features”
l No facial hair because he was a eunuch
l Relics are memorial pieces remaining from a saint, martyr, or important holy person
l His relics include
-a brass cross filled with stones
-a jar full of pigs’ bones.
Introduction
l Follows Franklins
l Host asks Pardoner to tell a merry tale, but the travelers interject and ask the pardoner to tell a moral tale
l Pardoner agrees but says he must have a drink and eat a cake first
Pardoner’s prologue
l Theme: “Radix malorum est Cupidits” (the love of money is the root of all evil, Timothy 6:10 )
l Explains how he preaches; he announces who he is, presents his papal seal, speaks a few words in Latin, shows his relic and describes what they do, then asks the people for money in return use of his relics or to be pardoned of their sins.
l “All my preaching is about avarice and such cursed sins, in order to make them (‘ignorant people’) give freely of their pennies--- namely, to me; for my intention is to win money, not at all to cast out sins.”
l Mentions his own hypocrisy:
“Thus I can preach against the same vice which I practice, and that is avarice. But, though I myself am guilty of that sin, yet I can make other folk turn from avarice, and repent sorely.”
l Claims that he has no intention of working with his hands or living in poverty, and he intends to continue preaching and making enormous profits because he wants to have money, wool, wheat, etc. “Even if it is given by the poorest page, or the poorest widow in a village, although her children die of starvation. No! I will drink liquor of the wine and have a jolly wench in every town
l Then he says he will tell a moral tale that he is accustomed to preaching.
Almost Pardoner’s Tale
l Pardoner starts talking about some young Flemish folk who indulge in gambling, riotous living, brothels, etc.
l Breaks away from his tale and preaches about the sins that the tale’s subjects suffer from. He preaches against;
l Gluttony mentioning Adam and Eve saying gluttony was what cast them out of Eden
l drunkenness mentioning the stories of Lot , Herod, and Attila who died of a bloody nose in his sleep,
l Gambling “the very mother of all lies, and of deceit, and of cursed perjuries, of blasphemy of Christ,” etc. Mentions story of Stillbon and the King of Parthians
l Swearing which is the second commandment, more abominable than homicide.
Pardoner’s tale Finally
l Three young men who are drunk hear a funeral procession outside and learn that Death has killed one of their friends.
l The three men swear to avenge their friends death and head off in search of the slayer when they run into an old man
l The old man says he is waiting for death to take him and that he would gladly swap his age for one of the young men’s age.
l The men ask where Death can be found since the old man had mentioned him and he directs them to a tree which Death is sitting under.
l Under the tree is a bunch of gold and the men decide to take it. They send the youngest one to town in order to get bread and drink.
l While the youngest traveler is heading to town the other two devise a plan to kill their friend when he returns
l In town the young man buys wine and the strongest poison from an apothecary.
l When he returns the two men leap out and kill him, then rejoice by drinking their wine and in turn die from the poison.
Pardoner’s epilogue
l Pardoner brings out his relics which were “given to me by the Pope’s own hand” and asks people to make a donation or take a pardon to protect them on their ride
l He then singles out the host and asks him to come forth first
l The Host refuses and insults the Pardoner by saying “I wish I had your testicles in my hand instead of relics or reliquaries; let them be cut off I’ll help you carry them; they shall be enshrined in a hog’s turd.”
l The Pardoner gets extremely offended and the Knight steps in and makes the host kiss the Pardoner, and this makes everything better.
Inspiration
l Archetype of “false seeming” Faus Semblant
-taken from Jean de Meun section of Romana de La Rose
-in the story a hypocrite tries to justify his actions by revealing his true nature, similar to pardoner’s prologue
First analysis
l Ends tale abruptly
-To leave a strong impact
-shock his audience
-sell his service
After admitting his sins he still attempts to sell pardons because:
-He is an actor that is finishing out his act
-He wants to see if he’s good enough to trick people with his sermon after admitting it’s a fraud
-His intentions are to anger the people or mainly, the Host
Structure
rhyming couplets
Story is a “novelle” = A short prose tale often characterized by moral teaching or satire.
Why would he do this?
1. Because he is a eunuch and is trying to cover up his deformity
2. He embodies the Catholic church; has good morals but corrupt
3. He’s drunk
4. He’s conflicted, doesn’t like his sins but can’t stop committing them so he preaches to redeem himself
Analysis 2
l old man and Death
-Old man
-May be response to three friend’s wish to defeat death
-May represent death
-Shows them the way to their graves
-May represent Old/Eternal Age and wisdom
-longs to die, gives them advise and knows where Death is located
- Death takes different forms
-Person whom they seek to kill
-Gold and Greed
-Death itself, that kills them
More Analysis
l Lots of hypocrites
- Three friends
- Faithful at first then murderous at end
-Pardoner himself
- prologue: I’m greedy and like money
- tale: Don’t be greedy it’s evil and sinful
Hypocrite?
l Pardoner is not a hypocrite because;
l His tale is a parody of the wife of bath’s tale
-They both have similar points including reference to st. paul
-- Not a hypocrite by the fourteenth century definition
- he comes right out and admits his sins almost as a repentance rather than a hypocritical character
Physical Analysis
l The Eunuch debate
-Is he a;
Homosexual
-Text does not clearly define sexual status so he could be a homosexual due to his effeminate description
Eunuch
-Host guesses that due to Pardoner’s effeminate state he is a eunuch
-May use his money and sinful traits to hide his deformity
None of the above
- He says in his prologue he gets a jolly wench in every town
-Argument about how he would make you kiss his pants?
Again Analysis
l Judas
-Three friends
-Greed is what guides them and leads to their downfall
- Judas hung himself on tree of guilt
-Old man
-Even though he hung himself it was written in numerous historic texts that Judas could not enter hell and could not enter heaven
-Tale of wandering Jew and the tale of Judas were considered one in the same during the medieval times, description of old man fits that of the wandering Jew
-Pardoner
-Like Judas not accepted by the other travelers, has anti-social behavior
-Total hypocrite
-extremely greedy like Judas
posted by L Lazarow | 8:14 AM
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