You can say one thing about the Pardoner: the man knows what he wants. And what does he want? Money! He should keep half an eye out for dragons.
It’s interesting (and very telling) that, immediately before reciting his story, the Pardoner admits that he would “telle an hundred false japes more” (394) in order “to winne” (403), and that he has told this specific tale often for that purpose. I completely expected the sales pitch at the end of the tale, and I don’t begrudge the Host for unmercifully humiliating the Pardoner or, rather creatively, threatening to cut off the his “collions” (952) and to enshrine them in “an hogges tord” (955).
However, greed isn’t the Pardoner’s only vice, although it’s definitely his greatest. He explains that he often preaches against his own misconducts, and then spends over a hundred lines of his tale rambling about how terrible drunkenness is, and he is sure to spend some time decrying other related kinds of sin and debauchery, such as gluttony, gambling, and prostitution. We know that he admits that he “wol drink licour of the vyne, and have a joly wenche in every toun” (452-453), plus he has a “draughte of corny ale” (456) before he even starts his story. An alcoholic con man. What a charmer.
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| Scotty is too good to be compared the Pardoner, but he'd be a great drinking buddy, so here he is. Hopefully he won't commit any murders. |
It’s pretty funny, if more than a bit rude, that the Pardoner says that he chooses to recite fables to the masses because he believes that simple stories are the only thing that unlearned people can “wel reporte and holde” (438). I think it’s ironic that he looks down his nose at uneducated people that share his vices, when he himself admits that he’s not actually not as well-educated as other, more powerful, churchmen; after all, he can only “speke a wordes few” (344) of Latin, which was the main liturgical language in Medieval Europe. Moreover, he purposefully preaches with fables that advise against his own vices. It’s a very “do as I say, not as I do” setup, although I think the addendum “but pay me first” should be added to it.
The Pardoner is certainly an interesting character. His name- or, really, his job title- strikes me as highly ironic considering his nature. He is a 'Pardoner' but he makes it very clear that he thinks all these very vices are terrible, inexcusable things- except, y'know, when he does it. Then it's okay. It's almost as though he's a Pardoner for himself, excusing his own actions and thinking of himself as the exception to the rule.
ReplyDeleteI always seem to imagine a man that is not quite a monk and not quite a nun. He is just some guy who plays that part. He does not know what he is doing. He does not know how he makes his money. He has the thought and the restraint to pick a job where he is required to work in a fashion that would suggest that he is subject to rule. He however finds himself a predator. He is an animal more that a man. The pardoner is crude. The pardoner is more the vulgar. I really can not see him do more than prey on the pensions of old women. He shows all who may listen the world of God without actually knowing it. If he can do any more than actually preach the word of a God he does not know, he will find than he knows no more than an accountant. Has he yet to set up tables in the church without Jesus himself and destroying everything. He comes in. He sits at the pews. He gets up. He takes one look at the tables with gold, money, and valuables all over their tops. The church has been asking for the property of those that are have faith, and are more than faithful. Jesus tips the first table over. He throws their abacuses halfway across the room. His tips the other table over. There are more than a few tables. He looses it and starts demolishing the building. The police come and don’t know what to do with him at all. The Romans who were in charge have no clue. They don’t know what to do. The church is calling for his head. They all want him dead. I just imagine this man the Pardoner at the bedside of some old man asking for this man to change his will. “Please may I become sole proprietor to your will, or you will receive eternal damnation.” The old man is beside himself because he does not want to go to hell. He constantly asks for forgiveness. He is incoherent. The pardoner eventually either forges the old mans signature or he forces the old mans to write his name on the dotted line. In comes Jesus and he is beside himself. He starts doing his thing and demolishing the hospital room. He knows what the pardoner is thinking. The old man passes. The pardoner falls onto the old man. In the end it all means something. It means this man has little religion in a comical world. There is no law. There is no order. There is money. There is nothing more in the world than money besides. The brothels that the pardoner visits.
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