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Similarities Between The Canterbury Tales And The Pardoner's Tale

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In the novel, “The Canterbury Tales,” author Geoffrey Chaucer uses a pilgrimage to the grave of a martyr as a frame for his tale. He introduces a multitude of different characters with unique quirks, all from separate walks of life. One of these characters, the Host from the Inn, sets up a storytelling contest in an attempt to keep the entire group entertained. The first two tales that have been examined thus far come from the Pardoner and the Knight. The two tales were vastly separate in terms of morals, motives and entertainment. Weighing all of these concepts, of the two, the Knight’s tale definitely was the winner. The Knight’s Tale begins with two knights who have been captured and imprisoned. The knights are very close; they treat each other like brothers and they tell each other that they will always be there for one another. One day, …show more content…

The Knight put a lot of time and energy making his tale one that could be a reflection of societal norms, whereas the Pardoner showed no modesty in weaving his moral into the story. The Knight’s moral of allowing lust to replace loyalty is much more harsh and self-admitting than the Pardoner’s simple moral, “greed is bad.” In the first round of the storytelling competition of, “The Canterbury Tales,” the Knight’s Tale is the definitive winner. The Pardoner’s Tale may have held its own had the storyteller not proclaimed (and bragged about) his hypocrisy before the story even began. The Knight simply wanted to win more. He put more into his story than the Pardoner did. The moral of the story was well adapted and exhibited throughout the story more, and the entertainment value was more than just a brief flash; if anything, it was a flare that lasted long enough to ignite the societal and cultural flaws that we so willingly

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