The Pardoners Tale By Chaucer Theme Analysis - 1533 Words

Theme Analysis Essay The Canterbury tales have various stories that have moral lessons. Along with that, many themes can be found in these tales. Among the various pilgrims featured in the Canterbury Tales, the Pardoner is one of the most fully described characters. Chaucer goes into great detail describing the Pardoner. The Pardoner is a fraudulent huckster who shows who does not care about passing off false items as the relics of saints. He also sells indulgences in exchange for money. The Pardoner shifts from moments of direct honesty to shameless deceit, openly admitting the tricks of his trade to the travelers but nevertheless attempting to use these various methods on these travelers who are aware of his schemes. In his prologue,†¦show more content†¦The three men could have easily shared the treasure they found and been rich. Greed took control of the two older men and they killed their younger friend without a second thought. This plot event clearly shows how the tw o men betrayed the younger friend for the gold that they all found under the tree. There is no question that the two older men are â€Å"distracted by gold†¦and soon forget about their dead friend, each of them wanting to taak the gold hoom’† (King 1). This is a stark contrast from the beginning of the tale when the three men said they would â€Å"live and die for one another as brother born might swear to his born brother† (Chaucer 100-101). This quote is comparing the friendship these men share to the bonds of brotherhood. In other words, this quote is stating that nothing can come in between the oath these men swear to each other. However, when the men found the gold each of the men broke their oath without hesitation. This shows how the men only care about personal and materialistic gain. Along with that, it is seen that the men are only concerned with what is tangible. They know nothing outside their materialism and â€Å"their dedication to food an d drink is another dimension of their materialism† (Williams 82). The men start off in a bar setting eating and drinking gluttonously and after finding the gold, the firstShow MoreRelated Powerful Satire in Chaucers Canterbury Tales Essay3466 Words   |  14 PagesThe Canterbury Tales If one theme can be considered overriding or defining throughout Medieval European society, it would most likely be the concept of social class structure. During this early historical period in Europe, most of society was divided into three classes or estates: the workers, the nobles, and the clerics. By Chaucers time, however, the powerful estate structure had begun to wear down. 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Often this term is used interchangeably with both the literary technique and the larger story itself that contains the smaller ones, which are called framed narratives or embedded narratives. The most famous example is Chaucers Canterbury Tales, in which the overarching frame narrative is the story of a band of pilgrims traveling to the shrine of Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. The band passes the time in a storytelling contest. The framed narratives are the individual stories told by theRead MoreSniper and How Much Land Does Man Require5559 Words   |  23 Pagesattempting to encircle in one day. His anxiety and exertion kill him and he is buried in just six feet of earth. The whole story illustrates how foolish people can be when they try to be too important and to acquire too much. Tolstoy uses the same theme in another simple story titled What Men Live By. Tolstoys whole philosophy in his later life is pretty much exemplified in the Sermon on the Mount in the Book of Matthew in the New Testament. He himself gave up his privileged position as a Russian