Themes in The Pardoner's Tale
- Created by: Saoirse
- Created on: 28-05-14 16:50
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- Themes in The Pardoner's Tale
- Deception
- Pardoner never says whether the tale is true or not
- Pardoner's life is based on deceiving people to part with their money
- He is a habitual fraudster and enjoys the profits of these deceptions
- Rioters deceive themselves into thinking they can kill death
- Deceived by the old man into going where the gold awaits them
- Bring about their own deaths by deceiving eachother
- Pardoner's sexual identity - could be a woman/enuch/homosexual
- Squeaky voice " a voys he hadde as small as hadde a goat"
- Absence of a beard "no berd hadde he"
- Corruption
- Physical corruption and decay
- Image of decay and corruption as a result of sin
- "so drinketh of the white and rede...his privee" - drinking makes your throat a toilet
- "fulfilled of dong and of corrupcioun!"
- "so drinketh of the white and rede...his privee" - drinking makes your throat a toilet
- Decay when the peasants are scammed out of money
- "povrest widwe/al sholde hir children sterve for famine"
- Plague ravaged villeged described as where death has his "habitacioun"
- Many relics are physically unpleasant and the result of death (bones) which reflects moral and spiritual corruption of the pardoner
- 'ycrammed ful of cloutes and of bones"
- Image of decay and corruption as a result of sin
- Pardoner's inner corruption
- Denunciates sins such as gluttony, greed and drinking yet is guilty of the exact same sins
- Drinks a "draughte of moiste and corny ale" before telling the tale
- Greed leads him to take advantage of the congregation and takes money to feed gluttonous want of food and drink
- Even more corrupt because of the holy role his is supposed to play
- Denunciates sins such as gluttony, greed and drinking yet is guilty of the exact same sins
- Physical corruption and decay
- Gluttony and drunkeness
- Looked down on in those days to be greedy because resources were limited
- Being gluttonous was insulting and directly contributed to starvation
- "corrupt was al this world for glotonye"
- Looked down on in those days to be greedy because resources were limited
- Religion
- The Pardoner's corrupt lifestyle is even more horrifying because of his religious position
- He abuses religious beliefs and practices
- Misuses biblical knowledge and allusions
- "Radix malorum est cupioitas" is quoted wrongly
- The Pardoner's corrupt lifestyle is even more horrifying because of his religious position
- Avarice and the abuse of power
- Avarice = extreme greed for wealth or material gain
- Pardoner spends his whole life committed to avarice so very sinful
- Chaucer exhibits very low moral view of the church
- Death
- Death personified was very literal and real and would invoke fear
- "ther cam a privee theef clepth Deeth"
- Death was very common in those times with disease, childbirth and famine being everyday causes so it is logical that death would be an underlying gothic theme
- Death personified was very literal and real and would invoke fear
- Deception
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