Irony In The Pardoner's Tale

343 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on the pardoner's tale

The Pardoner was an ironic figure. He preached about greed and money, because he wanted money. He didn’t care about his sins his sole purpose was to get money. In the medieval times it was hard, and people became desperate and lost hope. In the Pardoner’s journey he tells about three drunken brothers. He tells how the three brothers lust after wealth. The three brothers are tied together and said to protect one another. Irony doesn’t escape these brothers. They turn against each other after they said they would protect each other, they are looking a way to kill death, and death was closer than they thought.

These three brothers went to for a mission to “kill death.” Ironically death can’t die, but these idiots don’t have enough sense in them

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between The Knight's Tale And The Pardoners Tale

    1382 Words  | 3 Pages

    The man claims he is waiting for Death to take him for some time, and the angered men are enraged by the name Death. The rioters ask where to find Death, and the old man says they can find death under a certain oak tree. The rioters rush to the tree and find gold coins. The men do not want to be taken as thieves, as discover a plan to transport the gold at night. The men direct the youngest to retreat back to town and grab wine. While the youngest is away, the two remaining men design a plan to kill the third to increase their profits. The man in town is also consumed by greed, and he decides to poison the wine. Retreating with the poison wine, the youngest man is killed by the other two rioters. To celebrate, the two men drink the wine. Within minutes, all three of the greedy rioters are dead. After his tale, the Pardoner asked the group for

    Read More

  • Personification And Irony In 'The Pardoner's Tale'

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    My purpose is to write an essay in which I describe the use of personification and irony in "The Pardoner's Tale.". Without Geoffrey Chaucer we probably would not be speaking English, but French as our main language. Geoffrey Chaucer has wrote many amazing stories including The Pardoner's Tale. Geoffrey Chaucer uses personification and irony throughout the story "The Pardoner's Tale.". Throughout the story Death is personified. Three men known as rioters in their town are at the bar drinking away when the tavern boy goes on describing the passing of their dear friend. Saying their friend was murdered by Death himself. The three men are outraged and in their drunken stage, vow to find Death and destroy it to avenge their friend. As the men babble

    Read More

  • Gilgamesh And The Cannibal Spell For King Unis Analysis

    2043 Words  | 5 Pages

    As a natural phenomena that occurs frequently yet is still not completely understood, death has confounded and, to a certain degree, fascinated all of humanity. Since the dawn of our species, people have tried rationalize death by means of creating various religions and even attempted to conquer death, leading to great works of literature such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Cannibal Spell For King Unis.

    Read More

  • Greed of the Pardoner in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    Through the Prologue to the Pardoner's tale, the character of the Pardoner is revealed.  Although the Pardoner displays many important traits, the most prevalent is his greed.  Throughout the prologue, the Pardoner displays his greed and even admits that the only thing he cares about is money: "I preach nothing except for gain" ("Pardoner's Tale", Line 105).  This avarice is seen strongly in the Pardoner's tale as well.  In the Pardoner's tale, three friends begin a journey in order to murder Death. On their journey, though, an old man leads them to a great deal of treasure.  At this point, all three of the friends in the tale display a greed similar to the Pardoner's.  The three friends decide that someone should bring bread and wine for a celebration.  As the youngest of the friends leaves to go buy wine, the other two greedily plot to kill him so they can split the treasure only two ways.  Even the youngest decides to "put it in his mind to buy poison / With which he might kill his two companions" (383, 384).  The greed, which is evident in the character of the Pardoner, is also clearly seen in the tale.

    Read More

  • Essay on Verbal and Situational Irony in The Pardoner’s Tale of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “The Pardoner’s Tale,” Geoffrey Chaucer masterfully frames an informal homily.  Through the use of verbal and situational irony, Chaucer is able to accentuate the moral characteristics of the Pardoner.  The essence of the story is exemplified by the blatant discrepancy between the character of the storyteller and the message of his story.  By analyzing this contrast, the reader can place himself in the mind of the Pardoner in order to account for his psychology.

    Read More

  • Comparing Canterbury Tales And The Pardoner's Tale

    798 Words  | 2 Pages

    This first quote that is featured from the pardoner's tales ending is, “He took a bottle full of poison up And drank; and his companion, nothing loth, Drank from it also, and they perished both.” (Chaucer 179). Another quote that features and displays this tales amazing ending, “They fell on him and slew him, two to one. The said the first of them when this was done. ”(Chaucer 179).

    Read More

  • Greed Depicted in Chaucer's The Pardoner’s Tale

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    A pardoner is a person that could relieve someone from their sins. In the case of the Pardoners Tale, the Pardoner expects money for relieving sinners from their sins and for telling a story. The pardoner in this tale is hypocritical, his scare tactics prove this. He says that greed over things like money is an evil thing, and his audience should give him large amounts of money so he can pardon them from their sins.

    Read More

  • Justice In Macintyre's After Virtue

    188 Words  | 1 Pages

    However, MacIntyre does not think that a state putting forth such a thin conception of the good can rationally settle competing theories of justice (chapter 17 in After Virtue is devoted to this argument). Just as debates in public morality, such as abortion, cannot be settled rationally by members of society, neither can philosophers or a nation’s citizens settle the debates on justice. Though interesting, the validity of this argument will not be explored here, as the objective of this section is not to carefully examine why MacIntyre thinks the neutralist state fails,

    Read More

  • Pride in The Cask of Amontillado

    873 Words  | 2 Pages

    Irony is also used throughout this tale. The use of revenge in this story shows irony. Montressor avenges himself by fooling Fortunato into literally walking into his own grave. Fortunato pursues the "cask" which ends up being his own casket. Montressor even asks Fortunato repeatedly whether he would like to turn back.

    Read More

  • The Pardoner's Tale And The Wife Of Bath Satire Analysis

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    After some time, the Pardoner is ready to present his tale, including both moral interjection and a merrier tone. The Pardoner begins by describing a group of young Flemish people who spend their time drinking and indulging themselves in all forms of excess. He continues to tell the tale, in which the people eventually end up drinking positioned wine and all die. As is, there are more details in the tale that we did not go over, there are some key elements that help us to better understand the Pardoner upon hearing his tale. First of all, we know from The General Prologue that the Pardoner is just as bad or corrupt as others in his “profession”.

    Read More

  • Corruption and Greed in The Canterbury Tales

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    The pardoner tells the readers that money and greed is root of all evil throughout this tale. In his tale, there are three drunken men, one day, decide to find Death and annihilate it. They ask one old man where the death is and he points at the tree where a lot of gold are. When they find gold they only think of getting gold as many as possible and end up planning to kill each other. Three men are unaware of their own evil and as a result, three all die. By story-telling this tale which comprehends no interaction with his behavior, the pardoner negate his own moral and advises other people how should they live their life in order to avoid sins.

    Read More

  • The Paradox of Revenge in Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado

    1369 Words  | 3 Pages

    ?The Cask of Amontillado? raises a question pertaining to the multiple character of the self (Davidson 202); Can harmony of one's self be restored once primal impulses have been acted upon? This question proposes the fantasy of crime without consequence (Stepp 60). Edgar Allan Poe uses first person point of view, vivid symbolism and situational irony to show that because of man's inner self, revenge is ultimately not possible.

    Read More

  • Comparing Beowulf And The Pardoner's Tale

    733 Words  | 2 Pages

    I mean to have money, wool and cheese and wheat though it were given me by the poorest lad or poorest village widow, though she has a string starving children…” ( Line 44-47, Page 168) . The pardone here tell the reader how greedy he and how he does not care where his money or food come from all he care about is that he has money and food. Yet after what the pardoner say that he teacher his audience and the reader not to greedy. “ Why make a sermon of it? why waste breath? exactly in the way they’d planned his death they fell on him and slew him, two to one… He took a bottle full of poison up and drank; and his companion, nothing loth, drank from it also, and they perished both.” (Line 280-289, Page 175). The Pardoner’s tale is teaching the readers about not being greedy by telling a story about what money and greediness can do when it comes between people, they can kill each other for it. Like the three men who were planning on kill the youngest of them so they can have the money divided on the both of the only, while the youngest man was getting poison to kill the two of them so he can have all they money for

    Read More

  • Free Measure for Measure Essays: Mercy vs. Justice

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    Morality: mercy wins over justice, and yet there is a strong sense of justice having been done. Symbolically accomplished by the Duke (justice) taking on the habit of "a true friar" (mercy but with sense of justice) starting with I.iii.48.

    Read More

  • Vengeance In Hamlet

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    Vengeance is considered to be an eye for an eye. One man takes another man’s father’s life, and then it only seems in reason that they should repay them back by killing their father’s murderer. Each son had killed in anger and emotion that was left unsolved and leaving all but one character Prince of Norway dead. The characters acted out blindly throughout the play and it ended in tragedy. After the death of multiple characters the readers will have a lesson learned that vengeance does not end in triumph.

    Read More

More about Irony In The Pardoner's Tale

Open Document