Analysis of The Pardoners Tale

A detailed Summary of Analysis of The Pardoners Tale

Love and betrayal are two major themes that appeared often in the works selected for this semesters reading. A theme that is seen in both the story of Joseph and Chaucer's The Pardoner's Tale is betrayal with a blend of greed and selfishness.

The story of Joseph involved a boy named Joseph and his brothers. Joseph appeared to be his father's favorite and always treated him the best. Joseph's brothers seemed to be angry and mad at the fact that he was getting all the attention and so they plotted a scheme to get rid of Joseph by killing him. Rather than killing Joseph, they sought profit in him. The brothers acted selfishly and so they betray him by selling him to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver.

The Pardoner's Tale is a good example of a story containing these elements. In this story, readers see a group of rioters at a local tavern inn drinking and having a good time. As they look behind them they see a coffin being carried away. The rioters soon find out that it the person in the coffin was a very good friend of theirs. As sad and angry as they are, they set off to find out who has killed their companion. An old man directs the three rioters to a tree down the ro

A question that this story raises is How far will people go in order to make themselves happy? In this case the rioters went a far as they possibly could. They plotted to kill each other for something that was not even rightfully theirs. If they had not found the treasure, they would of still been alive. The Pardoner's Tale can easily be connected to the course assignments because although there is betrayal, there is an element of love in it also. Although it is not easily seen, love is shown. The rioters showed love and compassion when they found out that their friend had died. At once they got together to find the person that had killed him. If they did not love or care about this person they would not have even bothered to ask who had gotten killed. This story contradicts the story of Joseph somewhat because although they are very similar they are also different. At the end of the story, Joseph is reunited with his betrayers. He reunites with his brothers and they all forgive one another. This also shows an element of love. They all decide that it is not worth remembering the bad times but to start with the present. The rioters cannot do this because they are dead. This story also contradicts the theme of love and betrayal because a pardoner is thought of one who forgives and helps people with things. They preach and tell stories of good things that happen. In the Canterbury Tales, the Pardoner is looked at as the total opposite. His stories involve murders, st

Some common words found in the essay are:
Pardoner's Tale, Canterbury Tales, Tale Love, Tales Pardoner, pardoner's tale, story joseph, joseph brothers, seen story joseph, story contradicts, canterbury tales, element love, love betrayal, seen story,

Approximate Word count = 1004
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English