The

Pardoner’s

Tale

by Geoffrey

Chaucer

The Prologue:

- Lesson or Moral of his tale: “Radix malorum est cupiditas” (The love of money is the root of all evil” Timothy 6:10)

- Admission by Pardoner: Admits that his sole purpose in his sermons or tales is to win money from the people. He doesn’t care about their sins.

- Irony: He preaches against the vice (avarice/greed) that he makes money from.

-Three young men called “rioters” are very drunk when they find out a friend of theirs is killed by “Death”

Point by Point Summary

- A plague they call “Death” is killing many young men in the town.

They vow to find “Death” and destroy him

before he kills again.

-The men meet an old man in the woods and treat him

badly.

-The old man tells them he has walked the Earth waiting to die and that it is a sin to treat the

old rudely

-The men believe the old man is Death’s spy but the old man tells them they can find Death under an old tree in the woods.

I. When the men arrive they don’t

find death but find gold coins. They

forget their search for Death and want

the gold.

II. They decide to wait till night to return to town with the gold but they need food and drink

III. They send the youngest

back to town but the other two

hatch a plan to kill him when he

returns.

IV. However, the youngest devises a plan to kill the other two. He

buys poison to put in the wine.

V. What happens?

The youngest returns and is

killed. The other two drink the

poison wine and die. That avarice will get you every

time!

ThemesThemes

The love of money is the root of all evilThe love of money is the root of all evil

Do unto others as you would have done to youDo unto others as you would have done to you

You will reap what you sowYou will reap what you sow

Personification “There came a privy thief, they call him

Death.”

Irony

“If we can only catch him. Death

is dead.”

Dramatic Irony

We know that the thieves are plotting

to kill each other but they do not

know.

Symbols

Old Man = Death

Gold Florins = Greed/Avarice

Next was the Actress, tall and tan in hue,Who wore her fine designer jeans and Louis Vuitton shoesUpon her slender legs and dainty feet.(She was so skinny 'cause she didn't eat.)She carried a Chihuahua in her bag.She was a spoil'd brat and that was a drag.She liked a big party; loud music and frills.Surrounded by friends at her house in Bev'rley HillsWith her sixth boyfriend, father of her child -A talented man, but usually drunk and quite wild.But she'd had affairs with many other blokes,So their relationship was on the ropes.Her name I don’t know, so easy to forget;But her mugshot was in the Daily Gazette.Now her bling is worn on her ankleBut being out of prison; she is most grateful

Works Cited

• Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales.

Librarius, 1997.Web.<http://www.

librarius.com/canttran/gptrfs.htm>.

• Images from Google Images reuse group or Public Domain images.