Questions for the Pardoner's Tale

Before discussing, look back at the General Prologue’s treatment of the Pardoner.

1. Why do you think the Pardoner chooses to be so honest with the rest of the Pilgrims about his corruption? What is his intent here?



2. After the Prologue, he goes on to tell a remarkably moral tale. If such an immoral pilgrim can tell such a moral tale, what are the implications of this contrast on the very art of storytelling and narration in which Chaucer is so invested?



3. The Pardoner introduces his main characters in the opening lines of the Tale, but then goes into a long discussion of what are usually called “tavern sins.” Like the Wife and Chaunticleer, he is interested in “authorities.” What do you notice about his examples? How does his initial preaching on these sins deepen his hypocrisy? What techniques does he employ to make his preaching against these vices effective?



4. Note carefully the speeches of the little boy and the old man. Are they similar in any way? Many people have taken the old man as symbolic. What do you think?
   


5. Does Chaucer attempt to individualize the revelers? How does the Pardoner distinguish between them? What is poetically just about their deaths? [Note: Poetic Justice is punishment of wrongdoers in proportion to and in a manner fitting their crime—called “poetic” because this kind of justice happens more often in fiction than in real life.]
   


6. Read the end of the Tale carefully. This section presents one of the most debated problems of all Chaucer’s work. What exactly happens? Notice that the Pardoner closes off his account of what he says to the country folk and turns to the pilgrims. How does he expect them to respond? Does he really think he can sell them fake relics after all that
   has been admitted? Why is the Host so furious? What are the people laughing at when the Knight intervenes? Why do you think the Knight’s intervenes the way he does?
   


7. What are the several layers of irony in this “masterpiece of irony,” The Pardoner’s Tale? [Remember to think about ‘dramatic irony.’]
   


8. We have met gold and treasure before, in Beowulf. How is this subject handled differently
   in Beowulf and in the Pardoner's Tale? Are there any similarities?



9. What other good discussion questions can you think of for the Pardoner?