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Unit 15: The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales (Non-detailed Study): Discussion and Analysis-VII

achieve her own ends. Because so much of this story is presented from a female perspective, and Notes
because the Wife of Bath was said to be so skilled in all the arts of love, many critics believe that
Chaucer originally intended for this tale to be told by the earthy Wife of Bath. However, The Shipman
is a very worldly and a very nonreligious man, thus having him tell the story is not out of keeping
with his character as it is described in the General Prologue.

15.1 The Pardoner’s Tale

15.1.1 Introduction to the Pardoner’s Tale

Following the Physician’s Tale, the Host began to swear as if he were mad, wishing a shameful death
on the judge and his advocates, and concluding that the cause of the maiden’s death was her “beautee”.
The Host pronounced the tale a piteous one to listen to, and prayed to God that he protect the
Physician’s body.
The Host, concluding that he has almost “caught a cardynacle” (had a heart attack) after the brutality
of the Physician’s Tale, decides that he must have medicine in the form of a merry tale, in order to
restore his heart. Turning to the Pardoner, he asks for some “myrthe or japes right anon”, and the
Pardoner agrees, though, before he begins, he stops at an alehouse to “drynke and eten of a cake”.

The company protests that the Pardoner not be allowed to tell them a ribald tale,
but insists instead on “som moral thyng” - a request which the Pardoner also
grants.

15.1.2 The Pardoner’s Prologue
Radix malorum est Cupiditas (Greed is the root of all evil)
The Pardoner begins by addressing the company, explaining to them that, when he preaches in
churches, his voice booms out impressively like a bell, and his theme is always that greed is the root
of all evil. First, the Pardoner says, he explains where has come from, and shows his papal bulls,
indulgences, and glass cases crammed full of rags and bones, which he claims (to the congregation,
at least) are holy relics with magical properties.
Then, the Pardoner invites anyone who has sinned to come and offer money to his relics, and therefore
to be absolved by the Pardoner’s power. This trick, the Pardoner says, has earned him at least a
hundred marks since he was made a pardoner-and when the “lewd peple” are seated, he continues
to tell them false trickeries and lies. His intention, he says, is simply “for to wynne” (to profit), and
“nothyng for correccioun of synne” (and nothing to do with the correction of sin); the Pardoner
doesn’t care whether, after burial, his congregation’s souls go blackberry picking. Thus, the Pardoner
says, he spits out his venom under the pretense of holiness, seeming holy, pious, and “trewe”.
“Greed is the root of all evils”, the Pardoner quotes again, explaining that he preaches against the
same vice which he himself is guilty of. Yet, although he knows he is guilty of the sin, he can still
make other people turn away from it.
Next, the Pardoner tells the company how he tells his congregation “olde stories” from long ago,
“for lewed peple loven tales olde”. He will not, he says, work with hands and make baskets, but get
money, wool, cheese and wheat for himself, even if it is from the poorest page or poorest widow in
a village. He will drink “licour of the vyne”, and have a “joly wenche” in every town. “Now hold
your pees!” he shouts to the company, and begins his tale.

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