Geoffrey Chaucer is considered the father of English Literature. He provided the most vivid contemporary description of fourteen-century England. Chaucer served as a diplomat, translator, member of parliament , and justice of the peace, but his most important contribution is to English literature. As a writer Chaucer was extremely prolific. Chaucer is best remembered by his unfinished collection of tales known as The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer draws heavily on Boccaccio and his surroundings as an influence and guide to writing his book of Tales.
The Canterbury Tale, written by Chaucer, was written in England during the fourteenth century Middle Ages. Chaucer drew many of his influences and ideas from his surrounding, and it is shown in the collection of stories. In The Canterbury Tale Chaucer uses diction and imagery to effectively tell the story of the Pardoner.
The Pardoners tale talks about the pilgrimage of ecclesiastical belonging to the Medieval Church. The pardoners social rank is todays equivalent to a priest. He has long locks bulging eye balls, yellow hair, small voice. From his appearance it was hard to tell weather he was a man or a woman. His talents and abilities, include singing, telling stories and tales.
The Pardoners tale specifically tells a tale of deception and foolishness. There were many types of sins that were shown and described in the Pardoners tale. He describes gluttony, and how many people are gratifying themselves with wine and drunkenness, which is in turn was disrupting their connection in-between their religion and love for God. He then moves on to talk about another sin; gambling and the curse of chance, and all itss evils... (Chaucer, The Canterbury tale). When he makes a comparison of a man gambling money to am Prince gambling his men, he shows the severity of a consequence when someone chooses to gamble. Then he begins to talk about the sin of sing Gods name in vain. He describes this sin as one of the severest sins that one can commit, saying, This second one of His commandments plain: Thou shalt not take the Lord Gods name in vain. Nay sooner He forbids us such swearing thank homicide or many a wicked thing. (Chaucer, The Canterbury tale) He continues by bringing up the Ten Commandments and explicitly saying that the order of the Ten Commandments proves the severity of a crime, and as for swearing, it is one of the least tolerated sins because it is number two. After his brief explanation and description of the three different sins he begins with his story.
He begins his story by describing men in a tavern drinking that just found out their friend was just killed by An unseen thief, called Death... (Chaucer, The Canterbury tale). In attempts to seek revenge three of the comrades went off to slay this traitor Death... (Chaucer, The Canterbury tale). On their way to find Death, they came upon An old man, and a poor.. (Chaucer, The Canterbury tale) also searching for Death, for he was struck with old age and wanted to get rid of his pain. The three men demanded to know where Death was, so the man told them that they will find death under the tree.
When they came to the tree they were surprised to find of florins of fine gold, new-minted, round... (Chaucer, The Canterbury tale). They thought they might be taken for thieves if they scurry out into he day with a lot of gold, so they decided to take the gold home at night. One of the three comrades leaves to fetch wine. While gone the two men under the tree devise a plan to kill the one who fetched the wine, and the one who fetched the wine was also devising a plan to kill the two mean under the tree. All of this planning was because they thought they would be able to get a greater share of the money. Unfortunately when the man returned to the tree with the wine, he was attacked and killed by his two comrades, and once the two men drank in celebration they also fell dead, for their wine was spiked with poison.
Chaucers moral to the story was to show that our need to gratify ourselves leads us to commit unspeakable acts. The Pardoner sums up the story by saying, God forgive your trespasses, And keep you from the sin of avarice. (Chaucer, The Canterbury tale)
Chaucers way of telling the story is very unique. The Pardoner first starts off with a broad view of all the sin that is going on in the town and era. He describes the place as, Whereby the made the devils temple, wicked wise. (Chaucer, The Canterbury tale) It doesnt precisely state what the Pardoners sin is but as the reader we can assume that the Pardoner has been involved in some sort of gluttony because he talks and warns the people around him about it almost as though he has been through it before. After the Pardoner talks about all these sins he describes a story about three men who were stopped in their track by the temptation of the sin, which ultimately lead to their death. The unique organization gives the reader a brief history and knowledge of the current state of Flanders and how the society is corrupted by all these sins before engaging and telling the story of the three comrades.
The style presented by Chaucer in the tale shows that he is a calm individual that is highly passionate about the topic. When talking about drunkenness he writes, That lust is in all wine and drunkenness.. and O gluttony; full of all wickedness.. O first cause of confusion to us all, Beginning of damnation and our fall. (Chaucer, The Canterbury tale) His diction is this passage shows that Chaucer has a very negative view towards sin. He uses words and phrases such as comrades, turn with fire, and higher one is of estate (Chaucer, The Canterbury tale) These words show that he is wise. His overall diction adds to the effectiveness of the story, because as the reader we are engaged by the tale, and gives the story an archaic feel.
Another distinctive style in the story was his use of stories. The use of stories in Pardoners tale not only provides evidence for his claims but also shows that the sins and the consequences effect people. Chaucers style is very effective in this tale. His use of diction and examples allows the reader to see his passion and his purpose of writing this passage. It also adds to the effectiveness by its validity, by telling stories the reader can connect the claims made by the Pardoners and know that it has actually happened to someone.
After reading the Tale of the Pardoner, it seems that Chaucer has a deeper purpose for writing the story; to persuade the people to live good moral lives. He is appealing to those who are lost, confused and are caught up in self gratification, and tries to persuade them that God has forgiven them.
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