For Friday: Chaucer, "The Pardoner's Tale"

 

Questions for “The Pardoner’s Tale”

Answer TWO of the following:

Q1: Why does the Pardoner’s Tale also begin with a lengthy Prologue, especially considering it doesn’t have a lot to obviously do with the Tale that follows (unlike the Wife of Bath). Does it change or contradict how we read or understand the Tale itself? Could we even argue that the Prologue and the Tale are written by two different people?

Q2: The Pardoner says the theme of all his sermons is “money is the root of all evil.” Why does he specialize in this theme, and what does his theme suggest about the profession of ‘pardoning’ in general?

Q3: The Pardoner’s Tale is a classic medieval allegory: three ‘brothers’ arming themselves to find and murder Death. Why don’t they recognize him when they find him? What makes it so easy for Death to win, according to the Pardoner (or Chaucer)?

Q4: Why does the Pardoner try to sell his relics and pardons to the entire group after his sermon? Don’t they already know that both are worthless after hearing his Prologue? Why does Chaucer include this humorous sales pitch?