Pardoner's Tale, Chaucer, Canterbury
...parallel between the internal emotions of people and the subconscious exposure of those emotions. This particular story, from The Canterbury Tales, is a revealing tale being told by a medieval pardoner to his companions on a journey to Canterbury. Though the Pardoner's profession is to pardon and absolve the sins of people, he actually lives in constant violation of sins such as gluttony, gambling, and, most importantly, avarice. The Pardoner does feel guilt and advocates not to commit avarice; he exclaims, "'Radix malorum est Cupiditas,'" (line 426) as his theme more than once. Because he drinks so heavily before the poem, he is not aware that he is personifying himself in his tale. Furthermore, he inadvertently places a character in the story that is parallel to himself and who reveals his own personal desire: the old man.
The Pardoner's sinful lifestyle and drinking habits are the cause for the old man to be placed in the story. His whole life, even his profession, is filled with terrible sin every day. The Pardoner knows himself that he is just in it for the money: "'Thus kan I preche agayn that same vice / Which that I use, and that is avarice.'" (Lines 427-28). Even though he is such a hypocrite, his daily greed and lifestyle does make him feel guilty. He continues on about how good of a preacher he is and how he can get money from even the poorest of people. As time passes and he continues on, the effect of the drink can be seen to take place with the subject of his speech. "Â…his tongue loosened by drink, the Pardoner is conceivable as sufficiently carried away to boast incautiously as well as impudently." (Whittock, 187). When his tale starts to unfold, the parallel begins to take place.
At the point where the old man encounters the three men, the Pardoner is personified. The first reaction to the old man is of his physical appearance. The...
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