Canterbury Tales is not the first poem to deal with morality and it certainly is not the last. Morality is a characteristic of being human and even if the sense of morality is subconscious it is still there. In his tale the Pardoner discusses greed, using the example of three rioters. The moral of his tale is that greed leads to death. The Pardoner tells the listeners of his tale that “if any of yow wol of devociun/Offren and han myn absolucioun,/ Cometh forth anon, and kneleth heer adoun,/ And mekely receyveth my pardon” (ll.923-926 ). The Pardoner does not change he makes money by lying to people and then he goes on the issue a warning to his pilgrimage mates and offer to free them of their sins (for a price), which yes forgiving people of their sins for money, is what a pardoner does but he irks me all the same. The whole issue of penances leaves me flabbergasted the idea that the Catholic Church makes money off of the mistakes that people make, it does not seem right to me. However, I know from my study of medieval history that this was a commonly accepted idea and practice. It is no wonder that Chaucer included a pardoner in his book of tales.
In my opinion the idea that the Pardoner is corrupt brings
up an interesting point. The Catholic Church, especially this practice of selling penances was not principally
challenged prior to Martin Luther, at least as far as I know. The Catholic
Church had a lot of power; after all, it was the religion of Britain. Yet,
Chaucer openly questions the practice of penances in the form of the corrupt
Pardoner. This may just be my opinion but I believe that he actually does more
than question the Catholic Church, I believe that he is using the Pardoner and
his tale to outright criticize the church and if not the whole church than at
least the specific practice of selling penance. I believe Chaucer was trying to make a statement of some kind with the character and tale of the Pardoner. Thoughts anyone?
I agree with Sarah, that Chaucer was making a statement by including the "Pardoner’s Tale", essentially shedding a negative light on the pardoner’s job and the Catholic Church. During medieval times, the church was all-powerful and no one made claims against it. With the "Pardoner’s Tale", Chaucer gives us a rare glimpse into the idea that people knew the pardoner’s job was ridiculous. However, it was the way life and religion carried on during those times. People understood and accepted it because what else was there to believe? The Catholic Church was the dominant entity in society and politics, influencing decisions for decades. Compared to nowadays, it is looked down upon for people to try and buy their way into heaven. I don’t believe in such a concept because attempting to do so reveals a person’s inner pride and greed. Overall, I like the "Pardoner’s Tale" and think it’s has great moral teachings behind it. As for the pardoner, well, I find him to be funny, devious and greedy, the opposite of who should tell a moral story. It is for that reason he is the perfect storyteller.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Sarah, that Chaucer was using the Pardoned and his tale to criticize the church and its selling of penance. I'm not really religious, so I didn't really see it that way. But now with it being said, I'm surprised that someone didn't reprimand Chaucer for writing this story. Most people don't have enough oomf to criticize the church openly, especially since religion was really important back then. Well, its also probably because Chaucer did write about some really good points with the whole gambling, using God's name in vain and gluttony is really bad and you'll go to hell.
ReplyDelete