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Essay / Analysis of Chaucer's Portrayal of the Pardoner in The Pardoner's Tale
The idea of deceiving innocent people for personal gain was prevalent in medieval times. The 14th-century poet of the Canterbury Tales communicates the repercussions of a dastardly deception through the perspective of the Pardoner, who reflects the corrupt values of medieval society. Chaucer implies the universal theme of the poem through subtle verbal irony to create a satirical tale revealing the underlying nature of the Catholic Church. The poet illustrates the Pardoner as a deceptive character through the use of biblical allusions and vivid imagery to illustrate how the possession of corrupt morals leads to destruction. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The Forgiveness Sermon contains biblical allusions to convey the moral of “the curse of avarice and greed” in order to achieve the ulterior motive of oppressing the guilt on the pilgrims. The Pardoner cleverly crafts the story of three drunken rioters who illustrate the sins of gluttony and drunkenness linked to avarice. The heart of the Pardon sermon revolves around the theme “radix malorum est cupiditas”, which means “the love of money is the root of all evil”. Verbal irony is present in this line as the Pardoner preaches about the particular sin that consumes him while he deliberately deceives his congregation for money. Early in his story, the Pardoner alludes to the greedy actions of the three rioters as being similar to the biblical story of Adam and Eve. He describes the rioters as "eating and drinking way more than they could hold" because they "were too drunk to know what they were doing." The Pardoner preaches: “O cursed gluttony, our first distress. . . the very origin of our damnation,” to show the comparison between the ravenous actions of the rioter and the fall of Adam and Eve, indicating that gluttony causes disobedience to God. Following gluttony, the Pardoner preaches that “wine is a lustful thing and that drunkenness disfigures your face” to communicate the effect of the deadly sins. The Pardoner depicts an alcoholic having "a strorous sniffle like 'samson-samson'." . . » to signify how much drunkenness disfigures the image of God in the human person. Forgiveness refers to drunkenness to the Old Testament Israelite, Samson, in an ironic way. In the Old Testament, Samson swore to abstain from drinking, but his downfall was mainly due to his lover, Delia. Likewise for gluttony, the Pardoner suggests to the congregation that drunkenness reduces us to the hands of death. Chaucer demonstrates the Pardoner's complete understanding of the biblical scriptures as he correctly interprets them and gives specific examples of lust. The Pardoner's deceitful nature is revealed as he manipulates the pilgrims by guilting them into purchasing fake relics to obtain indulgences in order to gain redemption. The Pardoner's sermon contains grotesque imagery as it illustrates the corrupt nature of the rioters to achieve a self-condemning effect on the congregation. The Pardoner incorporates grotesque imagery into his sermon to reveal the effects of the rioters indulging in pleasures before recklessly pursuing death. He preaches, “A man who swallows vintages only makes his throat a sink for damned superfluous drinks.” This Pardoner illustrates the image of a voracious rioter drinking alcohol to represent the image of humanity consumed by evil. He continues to describe the effects of gluttony by stating: “Their bellies! Whose end is destruction", to reveal that being consumed.