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The Canterbury Tales: The Pardoner's Tale
The Pardoner, unlike the Friar and the Summoner, does not seem to feel defensive about his corruption. To some degree the Friar and Summoner attempt to deny that they are greedy and taking advantage of their congregations. They both become angry with each other f

or their insulting stories and do not want to admit that there is any truth to the tales. The Pardoner, however, comes off as egotistical and almost proud of the tricks that he manages to play on the unsuspecting commoners.

digitalcommons.salve.edu/cgi/v…

The Pardoner basically tells his tale to individuals who believe whole-heartedly in the truth and wisdom of the Pardoner. They revere him as a leader in the church. After hearing his moral tale denouncing greed, they are more likely to prove that they are not greedy by giving him their money. This is all part of his plan and leads us to Chaucer's moral purpose

Chaucer uses all of his religious characters to show the virtues of the local parson and the vices of the established Catholic theocracy. He believes that the Pardoner, with his manipulations and lies, is degrading the church and religion itself. Thus his message is "Beware the Pardoner."

www.enotes.com/homework-help/w…
* *
HERE IS THE PROLOGUE TO THE PARDONER’S TALE.

‘Lordings,’ quod he, ‘in chirches whan I preche,
I peyne me to han an hauteyn speche,

And ringe it out as round as gooth a belle,

For I can al by rote that I telle.

My theme is alwey oon, and ever was—

“Radix malorum est Cupiditas.”

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the Pardoner began, “whenever I give a sermon in church, I try really hard to speak out in a loud voice that resonates like a bell. I know all my sermons by heart and they’re all centered on the same theme: Radix malorum est cupiditas—the love of money is the root of all evil.

“The first thing I do when I preach is I tell people where I come from, and then I show all my letters authorizing me to preach and issue church pardons. These are letters that the pope himself has signed. I always start by showing the pope’s official seal that’s on my passport in order to protect myself from priests and government official who want to arrest me or stop me from doing Christ’s holy work. After that, I tell my stories. I show all my letters signed by the pope, cardinals, and various bishops, and I sprinkle a few Latin sayings in here and there to spice up my sermons and make them sound holy. Then I pull out all my boxes crammed full of old cloth and bones, which everyone assumes to be holy relics. I’ve also got a piece of bone from the shoulder of a Jew’s sheep that I keep in a brass box. ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ I say, ‘Listen carefully. Put this bone in a well so that when your cow or calf or sheep or ox gets worms or is bitten by a snake, you can wash its tongue with the special well water and heal it. Furthermore, any sheep that has the pox or scabies that drinks from this well will be cured. And if an honest farmer drinks some of this well water before dawn, before breakfast, just as this Jew taught our ancestors, then all his farm animals will multiply. This water will also get rid of jealousy. If you make soup from it, you’ll never doubt your wife’s faithfulness again, even if you have reason to suspect she’s cheating on you or if she’s had an affair with two or three priests.

‘I also have this mitten that will increase your grain harvest, whether it’s wheat or oats, if you wear it—and offer a small fee, of course.

“‘Ladies and gentlemen, I warn you though, that my relics won’t help any man who’s committed a horrible sin or any woman, whether she’s young or old, who’s cheated on her husband. For those of you who remain seated and decline to come up and make an offering, well, we’ll all know that you must fall into this category. But, all of you who’ve only committed little sins here and there should come up and see me. Make an offering in God’s name, and I’ll use my power that the pope has given me to pardon you so that you’ll be absolved of your sins.’

“With this trick, I’ve earned myself a salary of about a hundred gold coins a year. I stand up there in front of the people like I’m a priest or something and preach and tell a hundred lies like the kind I just mentioned. All the stupid people sit in front of me and soak up every word I say. I make a good show of it, straining my neck to look at all the people to the right and left of me, just like a bird in a barn. I gesticulate with my hands and speak quickly, which makes my speeches dramatic and fun to watch. I always preach about greed and the other deadly sins, which makes them happy to give away their money—namely, to me. I’m only in this for the money you know, not for cleansing immortal souls. Why, I don’t give a damn if their souls are as rotten as garbage when they die! Of course, I’m not the first person who’s preached with an ulterior motive either. Some priests give sermons to make people feel good about themselves so that they’ll get promoted to bishop. Others preach for love of fame or to fan the fires of hate. I only preach to make money and sometimes to get back at people who’ve said nasty things about me or my fellow pardoners. I can rail against a person in the audience to ruin his reputation, for example, and, even if I don’t mention his name, everyone will know whom I’m talking about. That’s how I get back at my enemies, by spitting out my venom under the guise of being holy and virtuous.

“Let me put it another way: I preach out of sheer greed. That’s why I usually only give sermons about how the love of money is the root of all evil. That way I can preach about the same sin that I myself indulge in. But even if I’m guilty of the sin of greed, that doesn’t mean I can’t help others not to be greedy, now does it? But who am I kidding? I said I’m not preaching to save their souls. I preach only because I want to make money, and that, my friends, is that.

“Anyway, then I tell the people all the old familiar tales that they just love to hear over and over again. Stupid people like to hear those old stories, you know, because they’re easy to remember. And do you think that since I help cure the people of their greed by taking all their gold and silver that means I would ever live in poverty? Hell no! I refuse to live like a simpleton, working with my hands, making baskets. Being a traveling preacher is much more lucrative. I’m not trying to be an apostle who lives in holiness. No, I want money, nice clothes, and expensive food, even if I receive it from the poorest workingman or the poorest widow who can’t even feed her own starving children. No! I want wine and a woman in every town. But listen, listen. Now that I’ve drunk a beer or two, I’m going to tell you a story that I hope you’ll like because, even though I’m a pretty awful guy, I can still tell you a moral tale, one of the ones I usually tell people only for money. So sit back, relax, and I’ll tell you my story.”

www.sparknotes.com/nofear/lit/…

Description

The Canterbury Tales: The Pardoner's Tale
The Pardoner, unlike the Friar and the Summoner, does not seem to feel defensive about his corruption. To some degree the Friar and Summoner attempt to deny that they are greedy and taking advantage of their congregations. They both become angry with each other f

or their insulting stories and do not want to admit that there is any truth to the tales. The Pardoner, however, comes off as egotistical and almost proud of the tricks that he manages to play on the unsuspecting commoners.

digitalcommons.salve.edu/cgi/v…

The Pardoner basically tells his tale to individuals who believe whole-heartedly in the truth and wisdom of the Pardoner. They revere him as a leader in the church. After hearing his moral tale denouncing greed, they are more likely to prove that they are not greedy by giving him their money. This is all part of his plan and leads us to Chaucer's moral purpose

Chaucer uses all of his religious characters to show the virtues of the local parson and the vices of the established Catholic theocracy. He believes that the Pardoner, with his manipulations and lies, is degrading the church and religion itself. Thus his message is "Beware the Pardoner."

www.enotes.com/homework-help/w…
* *
HERE IS THE PROLOGUE TO THE PARDONER’S TALE.

‘Lordings,’ quod he, ‘in chirches whan I preche,
I peyne me to han an hauteyn speche,

And ringe it out as round as gooth a belle,

For I can al by rote that I telle.

My theme is alwey oon, and ever was—

“Radix malorum est Cupiditas.”

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the Pardoner began, “whenever I give a sermon in church, I try really hard to speak out in a loud voice that resonates like a bell. I know all my sermons by heart and they’re all centered on the same theme: Radix malorum est cupiditas—the love of money is the root of all evil.

“The first thing I do when I preach is I tell people where I come from, and then I show all my letters authorizing me to preach and issue church pardons. These are letters that the pope himself has signed. I always start by showing the pope’s official seal that’s on my passport in order to protect myself from priests and government official who want to arrest me or stop me from doing Christ’s holy work. After that, I tell my stories. I show all my letters signed by the pope, cardinals, and various bishops, and I sprinkle a few Latin sayings in here and there to spice up my sermons and make them sound holy. Then I pull out all my boxes crammed full of old cloth and bones, which everyone assumes to be holy relics. I’ve also got a piece of bone from the shoulder of a Jew’s sheep that I keep in a brass box. ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ I say, ‘Listen carefully. Put this bone in a well so that when your cow or calf or sheep or ox gets worms or is bitten by a snake, you can wash its tongue with the special well water and heal it. Furthermore, any sheep that has the pox or scabies that drinks from this well will be cured. And if an honest farmer drinks some of this well water before dawn, before breakfast, just as this Jew taught our ancestors, then all his farm animals will multiply. This water will also get rid of jealousy. If you make soup from it, you’ll never doubt your wife’s faithfulness again, even if you have reason to suspect she’s cheating on you or if she’s had an affair with two or three priests.

‘I also have this mitten that will increase your grain harvest, whether it’s wheat or oats, if you wear it—and offer a small fee, of course.

“‘Ladies and gentlemen, I warn you though, that my relics won’t help any man who’s committed a horrible sin or any woman, whether she’s young or old, who’s cheated on her husband. For those of you who remain seated and decline to come up and make an offering, well, we’ll all know that you must fall into this category. But, all of you who’ve only committed little sins here and there should come up and see me. Make an offering in God’s name, and I’ll use my power that the pope has given me to pardon you so that you’ll be absolved of your sins.’

“With this trick, I’ve earned myself a salary of about a hundred gold coins a year. I stand up there in front of the people like I’m a priest or something and preach and tell a hundred lies like the kind I just mentioned. All the stupid people sit in front of me and soak up every word I say. I make a good show of it, straining my neck to look at all the people to the right and left of me, just like a bird in a barn. I gesticulate with my hands and speak quickly, which makes my speeches dramatic and fun to watch. I always preach about greed and the other deadly sins, which makes them happy to give away their money—namely, to me. I’m only in this for the money you know, not for cleansing immortal souls. Why, I don’t give a damn if their souls are as rotten as garbage when they die! Of course, I’m not the first person who’s preached with an ulterior motive either. Some priests give sermons to make people feel good about themselves so that they’ll get promoted to bishop. Others preach for love of fame or to fan the fires of hate. I only preach to make money and sometimes to get back at people who’ve said nasty things about me or my fellow pardoners. I can rail against a person in the audience to ruin his reputation, for example, and, even if I don’t mention his name, everyone will know whom I’m talking about. That’s how I get back at my enemies, by spitting out my venom under the guise of being holy and virtuous.

“Let me put it another way: I preach out of sheer greed. That’s why I usually only give sermons about how the love of money is the root of all evil. That way I can preach about the same sin that I myself indulge in. But even if I’m guilty of the sin of greed, that doesn’t mean I can’t help others not to be greedy, now does it? But who am I kidding? I said I’m not preaching to save their souls. I preach only because I want to make money, and that, my friends, is that.

“Anyway, then I tell the people all the old familiar tales that they just love to hear over and over again. Stupid people like to hear those old stories, you know, because they’re easy to remember. And do you think that since I help cure the people of their greed by taking all their gold and silver that means I would ever live in poverty? Hell no! I refuse to live like a simpleton, working with my hands, making baskets. Being a traveling preacher is much more lucrative. I’m not trying to be an apostle who lives in holiness. No, I want money, nice clothes, and expensive food, even if I receive it from the poorest workingman or the poorest widow who can’t even feed her own starving children. No! I want wine and a woman in every town. But listen, listen. Now that I’ve drunk a beer or two, I’m going to tell you a story that I hope you’ll like because, even though I’m a pretty awful guy, I can still tell you a moral tale, one of the ones I usually tell people only for money. So sit back, relax, and I’ll tell you my story.”

www.sparknotes.com/nofear/lit/…