Essential #6

What parallels can be drawn between the Pardoner's Prologue and his tale? How is this tale different from the other two that we have studied?

Every vice the Pardoner lists in his tale are vices in which he is guilty of. For example, the Pardoner does not start his tale until he is finished drinking his ale. Soon after beginning his tale he claims that “wine is a lecherous thing and drunkenness, a squalor of contention and distress” (247). In addition, the Pardoner attacks swearing and perjury: “let me speak a word or two of swearing and perjury; the Bible is unsparing. It’s an abominable thing to curse and swear, it says; but perjury is worse” (249). It is obvious the Pardoner is guilty of lying when he tries to sell the relics to the pilgrims after admitting they were fake. He also subtly swears right before the beginning his story, “O for the love of Jesus Christ who died (250).” In his tale, just as the “young man was utterly content to kill them both and never to repent” (255), the Pardoner is content to lie and disregard his lesson. The central theme of the Pardoner’s sermons are all the same; greed is the root of all evil. Before reading the tale it is evident that nothing beneficial comes out of being greedy, and therefore, we can infer that all three men are going to lose their lives due to avarice. Unlike the Knight’s and the Miller’s tale, the Pardoner’s tale has no suspense. Both the Knight and the Miller use vivid imagery to show us a message. Contradictorily, the Pardoner repeatedly states the message. Courtly love is a subject both the Knight and the Miller touch upon in their tales, whereas the only reference to love the Pardoner makes is the love of money. The Knight stresses the importance of positive characteristics, such as honor, friendship, and loyalty. The Pardoner emphasizes the significance of negative characteristics, such as greed, gluttony, and perjury.