The Pardoners Prologue Essay Example for Free

The Pardoners Prologue Essay Paying close attention to the passage, comment on what insights this offers into the Pardoners concerns and methods. (The Pardoners Prologue, lines 141-176) In this passage, we are introduced to the Pardoners motivations in tricking people, how he tricks people and his corrupted nature. Through this, we are given insights into the Pardoners concerns, that of his trade and the idea of sin. We also gain an insight on the Pardoners method of performance. One of the insights we gain through the Pardoners description of his job in the passage is on the theme of hypocrisy. The Pardoner says here, kan I preche again that same vice/ Which that I use, and that is avarice. From this, we see how illogical it is for someone to be criticising about the extreme love for money when he himself is obsessed with amassing a large amount of wealth. It shows that the Pardoner does not really mean what he says and that what he does is all just a performance. While it is ironic that the Pardoner is successful in preventing people from sinning by committing sins himself, we see that the Pardoner seems to be very proud of this achievement. We can see this from how he boasts kan I maken oother folk to twynne/ From avarice, and soore to repente and A moral tale yet I yow tell kan,/ Which I am wont to preche. Thus, we see that the Pardoner does not see the seriousness of his sins, and furthermore feels that he is very successful in his job because he is skilful and experienced in performing. His skill and experience is later shown again when he says For lewed peple loven tales olde;/ Swiche thinges kan they wel reporte and holde. From these two lines, we get the impression that the Pardoner is very shrewd and is able to understand his audience and tell them what they like to hear. We gain more insight of the Pardoners character firstly from the way he continues to trick people even though he knows and admits that it is wrongful. This can be seen when he frankly states For though myself be a ful vicious man and But though myself be gilty in that sinne. Secondly, we learn that he tricks the commoners not only of their money but also of their spiritual salvation. This shows the extent of corruption of the Pardoners character. This idea of him not having a hint of remorse is further reiterated when he goes on to say that is nat my principal entente/ I preche nothing but for coveitise and from the end of the passage Which I am wont to preche for to winne. There is another irony here in that the idea of preaching is usually associated with being holy, but in this case is used as a tool for greed. The repetition of this irony serves to emphasise the point that the only thing he cares about is monetary gains. This focus on material achievement is constant throughout the whole passage. For example, it is said And winne gold and silver for I teche, I wol noon of the apostles countrefete;/ I wol have moneie, wolle, chese, and whete, Nay, I wol drinke licour of the vine,/ And have a joly wenche in every toun and Now have I dronke a draughte of corny ale. Through these actions, we see that his life revolves around material pleasures and this is very unlike what you would expect out of someone who is supposed to be a representative of the church. We obtain more insight on the thoughts of the Pardoner through the description of his method of telling tales to trick people. We see this when he says For lewed peple loven tales olde;/ Swiche thinges kan they wel reporte and holde. From these two lines, we get the impression that the Pardoner holds himself in high regard because he sees other people as ignorant and simple-minded. This idea of self-importance is again emphasised in the later lines when he says For I wol preche and begge in sondry landes;/ I wol nat do no labour with mine handes,/ Ne make baskettes, and live therby,/ By cause I wol nat beggen idelly and That I wol live in poverte wilfully?/ Nay, nay, I thoghte it nevere, trewely!. His refusal to even think about living in poverty and his unwillingness to put himself down and do manual jobs reflects on how he thinks he is of high social status. This is ironic because by gaining wealth through such unscrupulous means of tricking people, he is the one who is truly of lower moral character. We also gain insight on his character from his description of his job. He says that he would still want to enjoy the monetary gains from all his trickery even if Al were it yeven of the povereste page,/ Or of the povereste widwe in a village,/ Al sholde hir children sterve for famine. This three lines really show the extent of the evil side of the Pardoner that he almost seems inhuman and unfeeling because he shows no sign of discomfort in enjoying even at the expense of another persons life. We can gain another insight on the methods that the Pardoner uses when he says, Now hoold youre pees! My tale I wol biginne. Over here, the Pardoner is telling everyone to keep quiet and listen to his story. This is quite dramatic and we are reminded of the theme of performance because it seems as if he is acting for the other pilgrims. In conclusion, we are already able to see the various themes of The Pardoners Tale through the concerns and methods used by the Pardoner in the Prologue. Furthermore, this also contributes to providing us with a better characterisation of the Pardoner. This better understanding of the Pardoner is useful in comprehending the tale which he goes on to tell.