The Pardoners Tale Essay Example

speaking about “O cause first of oure confusioun! because his job as a pardoner is to sell pardons, so he must be very knowledgeable on downfalls and sins of men (line 211).

Furthermore, the Pardoner is portrayed as even more of an authority figure through his use of priestly language. For example the Pardoner states, “O original of oure dampnacioun, / Til Crist hadde bought us with his blood again! ” (lines 212-3). The glosses for the words “dampnacioun” and “bought” are “damnation” and “redeemed” both of which have religious connotations attached to them. These religious connotations allow the Pardoner to further portray his knowledge on the Bible and the Adam and Eve story.

Like ethos, appeals to logos are also evoked through this passage and throughout the other biblical stories within the sermon. During the time of Chaucer, the Bible was the ultimate authority. So when the Pardoner makes the claim, “Corrupt was al this world for glotonye:” the pilgrims listened because he was a member of the clergy. But when the Pardoner backed up his claim with the biblical reference, after Adam committed the gluttonous act of eating the forbidden fruit he was cast out by God, the pilgrims believed it (lines 217-23).

Using the ultimate authority, the Bible, makes a persuasive argument to the pilgrims that is hard to resist. Like ethos and logos, appeals to pathos are also used in the Adam and Eve story as well as the other biblical stories. This appeal is used in the Adam and Eve story in two ways: the way in which the Pardoner presents and the material being presented. Lines 210-213 are a good example of

the way in which the Pardoner presents the story: “O glotonye, ful of cursedness! / O cause first of oure confusioun! / O original of oure dampnacioun.

In this passage one can see the Pardoner is speaking very emphatically as shown through the use of exclamation marks. He also uses the rhetorical device of anaphora by beginning each line with the word “O”. This device creates a rhythm to his sermon making him more eloquent, which can lead to persuasion. The other way in which this passage appeals to pathos is just through the subject matter being presented. The Pardoner preaches of a man and woman who fell from Paradise for the sin of gluttony (lines 217-24). He also states without redemption they would be damned (lines 211-2).

The purpose of redemption is so that when one dies they are able to go to heaven. In Medieval culture people knew, after waves of the plague, that death could be anytime. So the just subject matter of redeeming ones sins so they could receive life everlasting could evoke pathos within the people. Following the sermon that uses biblical stories to preach against gluttony and greed the Pardoner states, “Now goode men, God foryive you youre trespass, / And ware you fro the sinne of avarice: / Myn holy pardon may you alle warice—” (lines 616-8).

Through this statement one is able to see the motivation behind the Pardoner’s sermon, to make the pilgrims feel guilty about their sins so he can make money from selling them pardons. Chaucer is able to show this hypocrisy of the Pardoner through him preaching the Adam and Eve story against gluttony but then

in the end failing to abide by his own teachings. Several conclusions could be drawn from this hypocritical portrayal of the Pardoner. The first is the example stated above, some clergy members are morally blind and preaching just to justify his means.

Furthermore this criticism of the Pardoner also criticizes the act of pardoning in the Medieval Church. The Pardoner states, “Myn holy pardon may you alle warice— / So that ye offer nobles of sterlinges,” (lines 618-9). This statement shows that as long as one has enough money they do not have to receive earthly punishment from his or her sins. The Medieval Church was essentially just allowing anyone to buy his or her way to heaven. Both of these examples emphasize the Medieval Churches’ greed for money was more important that spiritual morality.

In this paper, I have argued how the Pardoner uses the biblical reference of Adam and Eve to persuade the pilgrims of a moral lesson. I also have argued that Chaucer portrays to his readers the hypocrisy of Medieval Church through his ironic characterization of the Pardoner. Although it is unclear of what audience Chaucer wrote “The Canterbury Tales” for, it is clear he wrote them in way criticism aspects of Medieval society. He just did so under a guise lyrical phrases and quirky characters.