Examples Of Greed In The Pardoner's Tale

In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer’s character, The Pardoner, is a church official who altered the peoples mind by cheating the people into believing any nonsense. “Then I show forth my long glass cases, crammed full of clothes and bones: all the people believe that they are holly relics” (The Pardoner’s Tale, 1). The Pardoner’s avarice and ability to deliver

Chaucer wrote the book: The Canterbury Tales, in which a group of men going on a journey all tell a tale. Within each tale is a moral lesson as well as each tale consists of a corrupt action committed within the church and is conveyed by those kind of characters within the story. One of the tales that Chaucer tells in his book is called: The pardoner 's tale. Within this tale the pardoner (who is telling the tale) is a preacher who often gives sermons but admits that he does is solely for money and not to condemn people of their sins. (Greed) He tells a tale of men sitting around drinking when they hear a death by a servant who says this person was killed by a mysterious death. So the men, being drunk, decide to avenge this man, and so they go to seek him out. Meeting an old man he directs them to an old oak tree in a grove where he says he just left death. On they go, and when they come to the grove they see eight thousand bushels of coins in which greed overtakes and they decide to take the money. The younger one goes into town from bread and wine, but while doing so gets poison for the two others so he can own their share or the money. While the other two men by the money plot to kill the younger when to get his share, he the younger one returns. The two men

“Radix malorum est cupiditas” translated from Latin into “Greed is the root of all evil.” (Chaucer 125) Throughout the Pardoner’s Tale, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, this is the story of three men that treat people lower than them and they end up finding a whole pile of gold, but they end up killing each other to get the gold to themselves. The entirety of the three men end up dead and not even one gets the gold. There are many topics involving greed, this essay will involve what it is about, the dangers, and the benefits of controlling the desire to gain.

This is ironic as the pardoner tries to get the group to give him money after telling them how it was all a scam, “My holy pardon saves you from all this:/ If you will offer nobles, sterlings, rings,/ Soome brooches, spoons or other silver things,”(906-908). While he knows that they know his faulsities he deliberately ignores this in order to try and proceed with his con. Another layer of irony in this is that he promises pureness while he himself is not pure, “If you will give. You’ll be as clean and pure/ As when first born.--And, sirs, that’s how I preach.”(914-915).

The presence of greed utilized by Chaucer in the Pardoner’s tale presents satire as his character is meant to be honorable, yet, behind the scenes is actually the most unethical one. The first example the audience is shown of this fraud is as the pardoner explains his motives, when he states, “Of avarice and of swich cursednesse/ Is al my prechyng, for to make hem free/ To yeven hir pens; and namely, unto me!/ For myn entente is nat but for to wynne,/ And no thyng for correccioun of synne” (114 – 118). The Pardoner is extremely upfront regarding his greedy motives as seen in the quote “For myn entente is nat but for to wynne,” (117). The sole reason he is in this game is no other reason than to make money. The revelation of this goal results in an ironic situation as his job consists of preaching against greed, while the only reason of his employment is driven by his own greed. “To yeven hir pens; and namely, unto me” is also written as “With offered pence, the which pence come to me” (116). Through this line, the audience can see that the character of the Pardoner, himself, does not see his situation as particularly ironic, instead, to him, is what he has to do in order to support his lifestyle. As one moves through the prologue, one is continuously shown abundant examples of this mistruth, for example as the Pardoner says, “For I wol preche and begge in sondry landes,/ I wol nat do no labour with myne handes,/ Ne make baskettes, and lyve therby,/ By cause I wol nat beggen

Albert Baugh, an online critic, stated that “The Pardoner’s Tale is a reminder that death is inevitable. Death is personified as a thief who pierces the heart of his victims.” This quote portrays how death is impossible to escape and how everything is set to be in life. Anyhow, the old man travels around the city waiting for Death to take him. The man is not very patient and will do anything to be taken by God. He begs God to take him and blames his ugliness and paleness as to why God wont take him. The three men hear him talk about Death, and begin to ask where they could find him. The old man then gives the three men advice on how to find Death. The old mans advice was that they will find Death under the oak tree. “If you're so anxious to find Death, turn up this crooked path; for in that grove I left him, by my faith, under a tree and there he’ll stay.” (Chaucer 283). The advice is not very practical, yet the three men still listen to him. The author lets the audience know that the three men who are on this journey are not very bright, as seen with their

These characters have selfish purposes for going on the pilgrimage, and they do not follow the duties of their religious positions. Because they are wealthy and, in most cases, learned, these four pilgrims believe that they can take advantage of laymen. They use their language skills to manipulate others and to usurp monetary possessions. They show no reverence for their religious orders, and they mislead their brethren for the sake of ill-gotten gain. Thus, Chaucer utilizes the Prioress, the Monk, the Friar, and the Pardoner to show how the wealthy and learned clergy is corrupted by the avarice of its members. Above all, Chaucer shows how people in high positions are not always what they appear to be to the public. Knowing this, the reader can better understand the quality of life during the Medieval Age, when men and women from all levels of society came together for pilgrimages. Thus, Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is a classic because it focuses on all the aspects of society from rich to poor and good to

At the very beginning of the Pardoner’s tale, through one of his sermons, we are told his, “theme is alwey oon, and ever was—/“Radix malorum est Cupiditas” (“Pardoner’s” Tale 5-6). This statement provides an aura of satire, as the Pardoner solely speaks against the practice of greed, as on the side he ironically practices exactly what he preaches against. Continuing on, the Pardoner, himself, clearly states the greedy motives his drive depends upon as he informs us that for his, “intent is only pence to win,/ And not at all for punishment of sin” (“Pardoner’s Prologue” 117-118). The Pardoner states his “only” intent is to win “pence” or profit. He does not take the measure to simply admit to additionally wanting money, rather, exploits his sole desire for wealth and fortune. This creates a situation of verbal irony, as his job consists of his preaching against greed driven by his own greed. Finally, Chaucer exemplifies the true greedy persona the Church withholds through the voice of the Pardoner stating he, “will preach and beg in sundry lands;/ I will not work and labour with my hands” (“Pardoner’s Prologue” 157-158). In case the audience was not already in light of the mask the church hides behind, the pardoner proves once his true greediness. He states that he will not “work and labour” with his hands as the apostles did, who wove baskets

The first deadly sin implemented into the story is pride. Three rioters become aware of their friend being taken by death. The men claim that they will “slay this traitor Death” (371). Although Chaucer knows death not to be man, he personifies it in this tale into the form of a man. This quote demonstrates the deadly sin of pride because the foolish rioters think they can avenge their friend against an unknown enemy. This sin is used in order to show how pride in one's own self may lead to unwanted repercussions. Because this tale was written in this time period, boasts and pridefulness were common. The use of pride develops the characters from being a band of brothers to becoming each other's murderer.

Additionally, Chaucer criticized the behavior of another character, the Friar. Like the Monk, the Friar enjoyed a lavish and extravagant life style, always ready to befriend young women or rich men who might need his services, the Friar actively administers the sacraments in his town, especially those of marriage and confession. However, Chaucer’s worldly Friar has taken to accepting bribes and exploiting the hapless and hopeless to achieve financial gain as seen in lines 250-273:

    Consequently, within Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, the Friar exhibits the traits of a good person, but not a member of the clergy, this is what the Friar fails to exhibit the good charm of, he is nowhere near the worst human being among the group, but he is the most morally incorrect in the entire

In “ The Pardoner's Tale” and “ The Wife of Bath” by Geoffrey Chaucer, the people who do not learn from the mistakes they make suffer repercussions.

In the Pardoner's Tale, one of the seven deadly sins expressed in the writing is greed. For instance, when it states, “And here is gold, and that in great plenty, that’s to be parted here among us three. Nevertheless, if I can shape it so that it be parted only by us two,....”(Line 483-486). As a result, the use of greed impacts literary elements such as character. Chaucer uses that sin to develop the characters by making them selfish or self serving. Therefore, showing how the use of greed plays a key role to the characters in unfolding the moral of the tale. This sin is used to show how some people can be so self centered that they won’t even consider the idea of possibly helping someone else when knowing they can benefit better elsewhere.

During the 1380’s a miller, who is the person who grinds flour, only made twenty dollars a year, while the cost of flour was 56 cents per pound. This might make it difficult to stay honest, because stealing 40 pounds of flour would be worth more than he made in a year. Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, The Reeve’s Tale, is a story told by Oswald, the reeve, because he is angry about the miller’s tale. Oswald decides to tell this tale to embarrass the miller. The Reeve’s Tale, is a tale about a miller who stole flour and grain for profit. Symkyn, added cheaper grain to the flour, and stole the good flour for extra money on the side. Not only was Symkyn a thief, but he was also morally challenged. This tale crosses the line of immorality, while comparing street smarts and book smarts, but most importantly discusses an underlying desire for revenge.

When the narrator gives the rationale, “He aimed at riding in the latest mode…” (Wilhelm 110) for the Pardoner’s foregoing of a hood he characterizes the Pardoner as vain and materialistic—both traits condemned in Christianity. Because the narrator insinuates that wearing hoods while riding is commonplace and the pardoner is “aiming” or specifically trying to distinguish himself and seem exclusive, the Pardoner is painted in an un-Christian and acquisitive light. This mannerism is hypocritical on the Catholic Church’s part because they are employing someone who goes against the teachings of Jesus. The Pardoner shows even more corruption when he sold pigs’ bones disguised as relics to poor farmers for outrageous sums of money (Wilhelm 111). A true follower of Christ would not deceive the innocent for money, and they would show reverence for holy artifacts of their religion. The Pardoner displays none of these characteristics. Instead of helping the less fortunate and serving his lord through the church, he is acquiring for his own benefit. The narrator explains how this behavior “made monkeys of the priest and congregation” (Wilhelm 111). This line shows how even the image of those who worked for the church and had good intentions were sullied by the miscreants among them. Chaucer is showing how the bad actions as a few affect the institution as a whole, especially since the papacy was allowing this to