Chaucer The Pardoner
De La Fuente 1
The Pardoner’s Tale is undoubtedly consistent with the character of the Pardoner. First and foremost, the villainy of the Pardoner is displayed through his tale. His greed is also proven by the characters of the tale. In addition to greed, the tale exhibits the gluttony that the Pardoner clearly possesses. Deceit also takes place in the tale, which does not result in success for the main characters, similar to the Pardoner himself. Clearly, the tale also proves how the Pardoner is a liar. One final thing that The Pardoner’s Tale suggests is the homosexuality of the Pardoner. So as the tale progresses, it becomes obvious that the tale of the Pardoner is undoubtedly consistent with his character.
The Pardoner’s Tale displays a sense of evil and villainy that reflects upon the Pardoner’s character. In The Pardoner’s Tale three young men are told by an old man that they will find death under a tree. Instead, they find eight bushels of gold, which they choose to sneak into town. The youngest goes into town to fetch food and drink, but brings back poison, hoping to kill the others and keep the gold for himself. His companions soon kill him, and drink the poison under the tree. Chaucer writes:
They fell on him and slew him, two to one. Then said the first of them when this was done, ‘Now for a drink. Sit down and let’s be merry, for later on there’ll be the corpse to bury.’ And, as it happened, reaching for a sup, he took a bottle full of poison up and drank and his companion, nothing loth, drank from it also, and they perished both (256).
Bernard F. Huppe also offers an informative discussion regarding the Pardoner. He discusses the type of character the Pardoner proves to be. Huppe states:
De La Fuente 2
The story reflects its teller. It reflects his great skill, for its power is unmistakable. There is no reason to assume that Chaucer should have expected the pilgrims to have remained unmoved by it—to the triumphant...
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