Thinksheet question: Please answer question 5
Pardoner
1. What is the relationship between teller
and tale? What does the tale tell
us about the Pardoner? Examine not
only his Prologue, but his portrait
in the General Prologue.
2. Why does the Pardoner, after telling
everyone that he is a fake, attempt to get money from them
at the end of his tale? What are
his motivations? What are the
implications of this move?
3. How do the Pardoner and the Wife of
Bath function together in the Canterbury
Tales? What are their similarities and differences? How do they interact dramatically? Why does the Pardoner interrupt the
Wife?
4. The references to the Plague in the
tale are ChaucerÕs addition to this folk theme. What does this addition bring to the tale?
5. Can a corrupt man work good? Can the Pardoner, a Òful vicious manÓ effect salvation?
6. How does this instance of
ecclesiastical satire work with the others we have read?