"The Pardoner's Prologue & Tale" from Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

"The Pardoner's Tale" is a c__________________________ or e________________________________tale. What does this mean?

"The Pardoner's Tale" is a cautionary or exemplum tale. It is a moral tale, real or fictitious, that expresses a moral value or lesson.

Allegory: What does the sack of gold represent?

"The Test" of moral and values which will determine fate- integrity, loyalty, honesty, and friendship

What does "Radix malorum est cupiditas" mean?

Latin for "money is the root of all evil."

Irony: How is the Pardoner's character, his actions, and his main theme, "money is the root of all evil," for his tales an example of all three ironies?

Pardoner's character- dramatic; the reader knows what the Pardoner's real aim and intentions are with telling his tales, to get money and not pardon sins Pardoner's actions- situational; you wouldn't expect a holy person to be deceptive and guilty of committing sin, evil Pardoner's main theme for tales- verbal; he doesn't really mean what he says but he says it to get money from people

Allegory: What does the old man represent?

Symbolic of god (The Poor, sick, or old and haggard characters often represent god in disguise)

Allegory: What does the death of the three rioters represent?

Symbolic of the outcome of greed and betrayal-they all fall prey to their own evil devices

Allegory: What do the three rioters represent?

Symbolize evil, the seven deadly sins

Satire: Why is the subject of the Pardoner's sermons or preachings ironic?

The Pardoner's sermons or preachings are ironic because he preached against greed and other deadly sins but he was guilty of them all himself, specifically greed.

Satire: How does the quote "the love of money is the root of all evil" relate to the Pardoner?

The quote "the love of money is the root of all evil" is the theme of all of the Pardoner's preachings and tales so he could get money from people.

Irony: As another example of dramatic irony, what is the audience aware that the young rioter has planned to do with the other two rioters that are standing watch over the gold?

The young rioter has decided to poison the other two rioters standing watch over the gold so that he could have the gold all to himself!

Why do the three rioters decide to wait until night to move with the gold?

They decide to wait until night to move the gold because it is daylight and they could get caught.

What do the three rioters do to decide who stays guard of the gold and who goes into town to get wine?

They pull three straws and whoever pulls the shortest is the one to go into town and get some wine.

"The Pardoner's Tale" is an ____________________________, __________________________, and ______________________________ conveyance of the greed of the church and the recognition that the church was corrupted during this time period.

allegorical, satirical, and ironic

Allegory: What does the bubonic plaque or "the Black Death" represent?

Death, coming to one and all at their time regardless of who they are

Who tells the three rioters where to find Death?

the old man

How do the rioters treat the old man?

the three rioters threaten the old man and treat him mean, rude, disrespectfully.

Satire: Based on Chaucer's character prologue of the Pardoner, what inference can you make about Chaucer's impression of the Pardoner's role in society/church?

Chaucer is revealing that the Pardoner's were insincere, liars, and frauds.

How is Death being personified?

Death is personified as the person responsible for slaughtering one thousand by his hand during the plague (line 670).

What are the seven deadly sins?

The seven deadly sins are: greed, wrath, lust, gluttony, envy, pride, and sloth

What are the three main social classes of the feudal system and which one did the Pardoner belong to?

The three main social classes of the feudal system were the Aristocracy (kings and their vassals), Clergy (Those who prayed- priests, monks, nuns, friars, etc.), and the Commons (everyone else- doctors, lawyers, clerks, yeomen, etc). The Pardoner belonged to the second class or the Clergy.

Why do the three rioters decide to go after Death?

The three rioters are after Death because he has killed a friend of theirs and many people in nearby towns.

Where are the three rioters supposed to find Death? What do they find instead?

The three rioters are supposed to find Death under an oak tree, but instead they find a heap of gold.

Irony: How did the rioters ultimately find who they were seeking?

The three rioters did find Death under the oak tree, they killed each other over the sack of gold.

Irony: What example of dramatic irony occurs when the young rioter goes into town to get the wine?

The two rioters who stay to keep watch over the gold decide to kill the young rioter so they could get more gold.

Irony: Which type of irony occurs with the three rioters at the end of the Pardoner's tale, and how?

situational irony; the two rioters kill the young one but then die also from drinking the poisoned wine.