There are several types of foolishness being described in the Pardoner's Tale itself. He describes gluttony in general, then specifically wine. He talks of gambling, taking bets and the like, and of swearing. The beginning of his tale describes three fools who go foolishly seeking death, then find it in a large amount of gold. Deception is another topic addressed by the Pardoner. He comes right out and says he is a con artist, and that he is out to take people's money. In his tale, deception by the rioters leads to the death of all three. These are good points, but there is another deception the Pardoner plays, and gets caught. His tale is a direct chastisement of the host, Harry Bailey, who is not pleased by this. As a whole, Chaucer effectively uses this character of the Pardoner to point out some of the more foolish and deceptive aspects of other characters in the tales as well.

In the beginning, the narrator describes the Pardoner in some quite undesirable terms. The Pardoner represents the "ugly truth." The Knight is grand, the Wife is pretty, but the Pardoner is downright ugly. He is also the only pilgrim

to acknowledge his shortcomings. He knows he is a con artist and a liar, and in his tale's prologue he freely admits this in both words and actions. The Pardoner then proceeds with the tale itself, which is a deception as well. In his tale he describes gluttony in detail and defines it as not just overeating, but the intense pleasure of doing so. He also denounces wine with graphic examples of drunkenness. He discusses the negative merits of swearing and cursing. Then, he closes the tale itself with a condemnation of gambling.

There are several things going on here. The first, and most obvious hypocrisy is before telling this tale, the Pardoner insisted on stopping at an inn for food and beer. He is also a participant in a bet: he who tells the best story wins. However, there is another level. This tale is a retaliation against the host, who just before asking the Pardoner to speak had been cursing and talking about using beer as medicine to mend his broken heart. It can be suspected that the host is drunk, as well. Several things from the tale upset the host. He is the owner of a tavern, encouraging food and drink. He himself likes to partake of these things. He also swears often, and from the General Prologue, we know the host was the one to propose the storytelling game in the first place. So, at the end of the Pardoner's Tale, when the Pardoner suggests, "...our Host shall begin, for he's the man enveloped most by sin" (1585.457-458), it is in direct response to the insult the host made at the beginning of the Pardoner's tale. This nearly starts a physical fight, but the Knight steps in to stop any further confrontation. The Pardoner's tale may have been aimed at the host, but it also describes much of the rest of the pilgrimage. After all, the group met at a tavern, they agreed to this storytelling game or bet, and some of them have been drunk for much of the trip thus far. Indeed, the sins listed in the tale do seem to apply to most of the characters. In this way, he seems to

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Approximate Word count = 1361
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)