The Pardoner's Tale

The tale and prologue are primarily concerned with what the Pardoner says is his "theme": Radix malorum est cupiditas ("Greed is the root of [all] evils").

(lines 314–17)[1] The Host then asks the Pardoner to "telle us som myrthe or japes [joke, jest] right anon".

He goes on to relate how he stands like a cleric at the pulpit, and preaches against avarice only to gain the congregation's money; he does not care for the correction of sin or for their souls.

Although he is guilty of avarice himself, he reiterates that his theme is always Radix malorum ... and that he can nonetheless preach so that others turn away from the vice and repent—though his "principal entente" is for personal gain.

He scorns the thought of living in poverty while he preaches; he desires "moneie, wolle [wool], chese, and whete"[10] and does not care whether it were from the poorest widow in the village, even should her children starve for famine.

The Pardoner condemns each of these "tavern sins" in turn—gluttony, drinking, gambling, and swearing—with support from the Christian scriptures, before proceeding with the tale.

An ancient man they brusquely query tells them that he has asked Death to take him but has failed (no one wishes to trade their youth for his great age).

He then says they can find Death at the foot of an oak tree and also warns them "God save you, Who redeemed all humankind, And mend your ways!".

When the men arrive at the tree, they find a large hoard of nine bushels of gold florins coins and forget about their quest to kill Death.

Having completed his tale, the Pardoner—forgetful of his remarks during the prologue—falls into the habit of appealing [to an audience] for gold and silver so that the pilgrims may receive pardons for their sins.

The prologue—taking the form of a literary confession—was most probably modelled on that of "Faus Semblaunt" in the medieval French poem Roman de la Rose.

Chaucer describes the Pardoner as an excellent speaker in his portrait of the character in the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, which inherently reflects the quality of the narrative attributed to him.

[15] David goes on to assert that the Old Man may actually symbolise the "Wandering Jew" as defined to be a symbol of death that will supposedly roam the Earth until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

The question of Chaucer's motivation in writing the tale, as well as potential social comments made within it, have been the subject of controversy.

Gregory W. Gross in Modern Language Studies concludes that The Pardoner finds himself publicly shamed by the Host's reprimand at the end of the tale.

In 1961, critic Eric W. Stockton defined the psychology-based research of the character, "The psychology of the Pardoner has perhaps gotten in the way of the task of interpreting the stories' meaning.

The suggestion that outward appearances are reliable indicators of internal character was not considered radical or improper among contemporary audiences.

Indeed, the vivid depiction of the Pardoner's hair, those locks "yellow as wax But smoothe as a strike [hank] of flex [flax]", does little to improve the reader's opinion of his moral character.

Thomas Aquinas, an influential theologian of the late medieval period, had a philosophy concerning how God was able to work through evil people and deeds to accomplish good ends.

Thus, it is possible that with the Pardoner, Chaucer was criticising the administrative and economic practices of the Church while simultaneously affirming his support for its religious authority and dogma.