Who was the Pardoner
Pardoner’s are hired by the church to grant
indulgences (forgiveness of sins) in exchange for a
monetary donation made to the church. In Chaucer’s
time it was common for Pardoner’s to be corrupt and
it was thought that they had counterfeit signatures
from the Pope on indulgences that they would sell for
their own profit. The Pardoner in this tale is highly
skilled at deception. He carries relics, and even
claims to have a veil from the Virgin Mary. He is
described to have long greasy yellow hair, and is
beardless. A physical description like this during
Mid Evil times was associated with gender ambiguity
and shiftiness.
Summary of the Prologue
Radix malorum est cupiditas
The love of money is the root of all evil!
The pardoner explains to the pilgrims his usual methods of
preaching. He is very much like an actor in that it is very crucial
for him to come across as sounding important and giving a
good performance. He explains to the pilgrims how he sells
relics and makes a good profit doing so, all while preaching
heavily against greed and gluttony and announcing that the
theme of his tale will be “The love of money is the root of all
evil”
Insights from the prologue
“Good men,” I say, “take heed for here is news. Take but this bone and dip it
in a well; If cow or calf, or sheep, or ox should swell from eating snakes or that
a snake has stung, Take water from that well, and wash his tongue, And it
will then recover.; Furthermore where there is a pox, and of scab, or other
sore, All animals that water at that well are cured at once. Take heed of what I
tell. “If the good man – the owner of the stock- Goes once a week before the
cock crows, Fasting, and takes a drink of water too, Why then according to the
holy Jew, he’ll find his cattle multiply and sell. And it’s a cure for jealousy as
well;” (Chaucer p 269).
“But, let me briefly make my purpose plain; I preach of nothing but
of greed and gain And use the same old text, as bold and as brass
Greed is the root of all evil And thus I preach against this very vice I
make my living out of avarice. And yet however guilty of that sin.
Myself and others I have power to win them from it, I can bring
them repent; But that is not my principal intent. Covetousness is
both the root and stuff Of all I preach. That ought be enough. Well
then I will give examples thick and fast. From bygone times, old
stories from the past. A yokel mind loves stories of old, being the
kind I can repeat and hold. What! Do you think, as long as I can
preach and get their silver for the things I teach, That I will live in
poverty, from choice? That’s not the counsel of my inner voice! No,
Let me preach and beg from kirk to kirk And never do an honest job
of work, No, nor make baskets, like St Paul, to gain a livelihood. I do
not preach in vain. There’s no apostle I would counterfeit; I mean to
have money, wool, and cheese, and wheat, Through it were given
me by the poorest lad, Or by the poorest village widow, though she
had A string of starving, all agape. No, let me drink the the liquor of
the grape, And have a jolly wench in every town!” (Chaucer p 261)
The Characters
The Three Rioters – They are the
three main characters in this tale.
They have traits that include
gluttony, drunkenness, gambling,
and swearing.
"In Flanders once there was a
company of young folk, who
devoted themselves to such follies
as riotous living, gambling,
brothels, and taverns, where, with
harps, lutes, and guitars, they
danced and played at dice day
and night, and also ate and drank
more than they could handle;”
(Chaucer p 262)
The Old Man – The old man is found by
the three rioters and he is completely
covered except for his face. When asked by
one of the men why he is still alive, he
answers that he is doomed to walk the
earth for all eternity.
“Because I never yet have found, though I
walked to India, searching round Village or
city on my pilgrimage, One that would
change his youth to have my age is mine
and must be still Upon me, for such time as
God’s will. Not even Death, alas! Will take
my life;. So like a wretched prisoner at
strife. And on the ground, which is my
mother’s gate,I knock with my staff, early
and late, And say to her, ‘Dear mother, let
me in.Lo, how I wane, flesh, and blood, and
skin, Within himself I walk alone and wait
about the earth which is my Mother’s gate,
Knock knocking with my staff from night
to noon and crying , “Mother” open to me
soon.” (Chaucer p 269)
Summary of the Tale
Three men of low or questionable morals are drinking in an inn when
they learn Death has taken one of their friends. While drunk, they
immediately swear oaths to avenge their former friend and slay
Death. They head off, and not from where they started, they
encounter a poor old man. The old man greets them, and they treat
him rudely. The three men, believing the old man is an accomplice of
Death, demand to know of death’s location. The old man responds
that if they are so eager to find Death they should look in a grove,
under an oak tree. The men go to the tree, and find bushels of gold
coins. They plan to remove the gold at night, and so they send the
youngest to town to fetch bread and wine. After he leaves, the two
remaining men hatch a plot to kill him when he returns, so they can
have a larger portion of the treasure. While in town the youngest
decides to kill the other two, so that he can have the entire fortune to
himself. He buys poison for two of the three purchased wine
bottles. He returns and is killed by the other two, after which they
promptly die because they drank the poisoned wine.
Themes

Deception The Pardoner’s whole life is based on deception. It’s
what he does for a living. “For my exclusive purpose is
to win And not at all to castigate sin.”
The Rioters because two of the rioters plan to stab
the third in the side, and the third one plans to poison
the other two. “And thus began a parley with the other:
‘You know that you can trust me like a brother; Now let me
tell you where your profit lies; You know our friend has
gone to get supplies And Here’s a lot of gold that is to be
Divided equally amongst us three. Nevertheless, if I could
shape things thus So that we shared it out – the two of us-”
The Deception by the old man of the rioters into going
to the oak tree.
Themes

Corruption
"My
providing you
or else silver
The Pardoner is

Gluttony
The corruption of the church. Pardoner’s
are men of the church and as such should
be caring for the souls of the church’s
followers, however Chaucer’s pardoner
is only interested in forgiveness of sin as a
way to maintain his creature comforts
holy pardon can save you all,
offer nobles or sterling coins,
brooches, spoons, or rings.”
spiritually corrupt.
The sin of overindulgence. The rioters are
the most obvious choice for this. They
overindulge in their entire lifestyle,
drinking, gambling, women.
Themes

Greed
Two of the rioters plan to stab the third in the
side, and the third one plans to poison the other
two. The motivation behind this is simply greed.
This is very important because it proves the
Pardoner point "The love of money is the root of all
evil".
Moral

The moral of the Pardoner’s tale (from the Pardoner’s POV)
is obvious because he states it. Radix malorum est cupiditas

What Chaucer might have hoped we got out of it:
Be cautious of Church figures they are not as revered as
you might believe.
Judge people by their actions and not their words.
These ideas are supported in the prologue when Chaucer gives
us a description of the Pardoner in the Pardoner’s own words,
where he admits of his own corruption.
Allusions

Gluttony

Adam/Eve the Pardoner claims they
were thrown out of paradise for their
gluttony, but it was actually their
temptation that caused their exile.

Sin of drunkenness

Looth/Herodes drunkenness caused
him to sleep with his own daughters.

Attila the Pardoner tells about Attila
who dies in his sleep because of a
bloody nose caused by his
drunkenness “Look how Attila, the
great conqueror, died in his sleep,
shamefully and dishonorably
bleeding from his nose in
drunkenness; a captain should live
soberly.”
Allusions

Swearing or Blasphemy

Death is more honorable
then gambling

The pardoner quotes Matthew 5:34 “But
I say unto you swear not at all, neither
by heaven, for it is God’s throne. The
Pardoner even says swearing is worse
then murder.

The pardoner uses the story of Stillborn
the ambassador to express how frowned
upon gambling is and that death is a
better option then gambling. “Stillbon,
who was a wise ambassador, was sent in
great pomp to Corinth from Sparta, to make
an alliance between them. When he arrived,
it happened by chance that he found all the
greatest men of the land gambling. For this
reason, as soon as possible he stole home
again to his country, and said, ‘I don’t want
to lose my good name there; nor will I take
upon myself such a great dishonor as to ally
with you gamblers. Send other wise
ambassadors; for I swear I would rather die
than ally with you gamblers. For you who
are so famous for your honors shall not be
allied with gamblers by my will, or by my
treaty.’ Thus said this wise philosopher.”
Metaphors

The Snake

The Pardoner compares
himself to a snake, and
specifically his words. “And
spit my venom forth, while I
profess” Conjures negativity
and evil, Satan, sin

A Tomb/The Evils of
Drunkenness

The Pardoner preaches,” For
drunkenness is truly the tomb of
man’s wit and discretion”
Implies drunkenness will
cause death, or that death is a
punishment for drunkenness
Metaphors

The Devils Agent

The pardoner uses this to describe
anyone who is engaging in
anything remotely sinful “And then
would come the dancing girls, graceful
and dainty, and young girls selling
fruit, singers with harps, bawds, girls
with cakes - all truly the devil's
agents"

Jesus Christ as a physician
to our souls

The Pardoner uses Jesus to give his
sermon legitimacy, so naïve people
will give him their money. "And
Jesus Christ, who is physician of our
souls, grant that you will receive his
pardon; Tells people the pardon is
from Jesus and not him.
”
Metaphors

The Crooked Way

The old man uses this
language to describe the
path the rioters should
follow to find death. A
crooked way is a metaphor
for the path a sinner would
take.
Evaluation

The Pardoner is sleazy, like a used car sales man. He can’t be
trusted, despite the fact that he is an esteemed member of
the church.

He is very good at preaching and convincing people to give
him their money.

I think Chaucer characterized him as such to criticize the
Catholic Church and it’s corruption. The format of The
Canterbury Tales were a way for him to bring light to social
issues without repercussion.
Secondary Sources

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales “The Pardoner’s
Tale.” The Penguin Group. New York: 1951.

Friend A. THE DANGEROUS THEME OF THE
PARDONER. Modern Language Quarterly [serial online].
December 1957;18(4):305. Available from: Academic Search
Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed February 24, 2015.

http://lepardonerstale.weebly.com