Answer TWO of the following:
Q1: Why do you think the tale begins with such a lengthy Prologue? Why doesn’t he simply get on with his Tale (especially since the Prologue somewhat undercuts the Tale’s effectiveness)? Is he simply too discursive, like the Knight, or is there another reason behind this?
Q1: Why do you think the tale begins with such a lengthy Prologue? Why doesn’t he simply get on with his Tale (especially since the Prologue somewhat undercuts the Tale’s effectiveness)? Is he simply too discursive, like the Knight, or is there another reason behind this?
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?
Answer to Q1) I believe the Pardoner is somewhat making fun of his profession, or what people believe about his profession, such as when saying, “I only preach for money.” We know he is corrupt, but I believe, just like with other tales we’ve read, there is always some mimetic, underlying truth we are trying to uncover. I also think with any narrator, there is some unreliability we have to take into account. This tale is from his point of view. As the reader, we have to decide if we are going to take what he says at face value, or if he is trying to go over our heads. They also ask for a comical tale, but not raunchy. When we read this tale, it seems as if he’s making fun of himself. Even though it undercuts what point he’s making in his tale, I think it’s just him trying to be funny by poking fun at him through what others say, although I believe him to be unreliable.
ReplyDeleteAnswer to Q4) The Pardoner is a wise guy. To me, I don’t view him as taking much of anything serious. I still see him as almost mocking his profession. He is using it as an example, but at the same time, it seems as if he’s the guy who wouldn’t take his job seriously. It seems as if he’s tricking the pilgrims, or takes delight in the fact that he scams people. Either way, it’s as if Chaucer adds this in so the reader can see the point the Pardoner is making with a point about a point. In other words, the Prologue serves as an example for the lesson in the Tale. Then he goes and uses another example, if you will, to once again make a point that “money is the root of all evil.”
Great responses...I think y ou're right, he's making fun of all clergy and their hypocrisy, but he also thinks he's clever enough to get away with it without anyone noticing. Like he wants to throw the Friar and the Summoner under the bus, but walk away himself without blemish. He's a sly and sneaky crook but ultimately not qutie as clever as he thinks.
DeleteQ2.)
ReplyDeleteI believe that the pardoner specializes in this field because he knows a lot about it. I think that he's struggled with knowing that it's the root of all evil, and that only bad things can come from it, but he also enjoys living a life of greed. He feels smarter than the average man because he would "never" fall for something as obvious as this common folk are. I think that he thinks his profession is a sham: a well-paying sham nonetheless.
Q4.)
I think that the pardoner reverts back to his peddling ways because I think that he has disclosed too much about himself, and in shame, he tries to sell people things to hide and almost try to relegitimize his profession. I think that he has been doing this for so long, that he doesn't know anything else, and when his moral platform has been shaken, he clings to the thing that he knows best, greed and deceit.
Great responses--love the line "a well-paying sham." This is true of so many careers in life! The Pardoner is a crook who has found a way to make crime pay, and he takes a morbid delight in castigating his own sins to an audience--kind of like a bizarre performance artist. I think he reminds me of Andy Kaufman (from the 70's), who used to do things to make the audience hate him. But in this case, he knows they don't dare hate him--he can send them to hell!
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