The Pardoner's Tale
E282136
"The Pardoner's Tale" is a moral exemplum within Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales that exposes greed and hypocrisy through the story of three rioters seeking to kill Death.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Pardoner | 1 |
| The Pardoner's Tale canonical | 1 |
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Canterbury Tale
ⓘ
Middle English narrative poem ⓘ frame tale ⓘ moral exemplum ⓘ |
| associatedCharacter |
the Host (in the frame narrative)
ⓘ
the Knight (as fellow pilgrim listener) ⓘ |
| author | Geoffrey Chaucer ⓘ |
| collection | The Canterbury Tales ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | England ⓘ |
| criticizes |
ecclesiastical corruption
ⓘ
selling of indulgences ⓘ |
| exposes | the Pardoner's own hypocrisy ⓘ |
| featuresCharacter |
Death (personification)
ⓘ
surface form:
Death (personified)
an old man ⓘ three rioters ⓘ |
| form | verse ⓘ |
| frameNarrativeContext | The Pardoner tells his tale to other pilgrims on the road to Canterbury ⓘ |
| genre |
exemplum
ⓘ
moral tale ⓘ |
| illustrates |
irony between sermon and teller
ⓘ
the destructive power of avarice ⓘ |
| influenced | later discussions of hypocrisy in literature ⓘ |
| language | Middle English ⓘ |
| literaryDevice |
allegory
ⓘ
dramatic irony ⓘ personification of Death ⓘ |
| meter | iambic pentameter (in rhymed couplets) ⓘ |
| moral | Radix malorum est cupiditas (the love of money is the root of all evil) ⓘ |
| moralFunction |
to expose clerical vice
ⓘ
to warn against avarice ⓘ |
| narrator |
Pardoner
ⓘ
surface form:
the Pardoner
|
| openingLatinTag | Radix malorum est cupiditas ⓘ |
| partOf | The Canterbury Tales ⓘ |
| period | late 14th century ⓘ |
| plotSummary | Three rioters set out to kill Death and find gold under a tree, leading to their mutual destruction ⓘ |
| primaryTheme |
corruption of the Church
ⓘ
death ⓘ greed ⓘ hypocrisy ⓘ |
| setting |
a road and a tree where the gold is found
ⓘ
a tavern and its surroundings ⓘ |
| sourceType | medieval sermon exemplum tradition ⓘ |
| studiedIn | medieval English literature courses ⓘ |
| textualFeature |
contains direct addresses to the audience
ⓘ
includes a sermon-like prologue by the Pardoner ⓘ |
| workByAuthor | Geoffrey Chaucer ⓘ |
| workIn | Middle English literature canon ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Pardoner