Pardoner S Tale
Name: _______________________ Mods:_______
from The Pardoner’s Tale
Reading Check
1.
How does the Pardoner describe his own character and morals in the Prologue to his tale?
2. According to “The Pardoner’s Tale,” why are the three young rioters looking for Death?
3. Where does the old man tell the rioters to look for Death? How do they treat him?
4. Describe the rioters’ plan for the gold and how it proves fatal to all three of them.
Thinking Critically
5.
How do the descriptions given by the tavern-knave and the publican personify Death? What does the rioters’ response to the description of Death tell you about their characters?
6.
What do you think the poor old man symbolizes?
7. Irony is a discrepancy between expectations and reality. What is the central irony in “The Pardoner’s Tale”? (What do the rioters expect to find under the tree? What do they actually find?)
8. Explain the irony in the fact that the Pardoner preaches a story with this particular moral. How do you account for the psychology of the Pardoner? Is he truly evil, simply drunk, or so used to cheating that he does it automatically?
9. What aspects of medieval society (and human nature in general) do you think Chaucer is satirizing in “The Pardoner’s Tale”?
10. What moral does the Pardoner want us to draw from his tale? How is it different from the moral you think Chaucer wants you to draw from “The Pardoner’s Tale”?
11. Do people with the Pardoner’s ethics exist today—in all sorts of professions? Explain your response.
12. Is greed or desire the root of all evil? Discuss the Pardoner’s moral.
Answer Key:
1. He admits he is corrupt and greedy
2. They want to kill him
3. He tells them to look under nearby oak tree; they treat him disrespectfully
4. The youngest rioter will go to town while the other two stay with the
from The Pardoner’s Tale
Reading Check
1.
How does the Pardoner describe his own character and morals in the Prologue to his tale?
2. According to “The Pardoner’s Tale,” why are the three young rioters looking for Death?
3. Where does the old man tell the rioters to look for Death? How do they treat him?
4. Describe the rioters’ plan for the gold and how it proves fatal to all three of them.
Thinking Critically
5.
How do the descriptions given by the tavern-knave and the publican personify Death? What does the rioters’ response to the description of Death tell you about their characters?
6.
What do you think the poor old man symbolizes?
7. Irony is a discrepancy between expectations and reality. What is the central irony in “The Pardoner’s Tale”? (What do the rioters expect to find under the tree? What do they actually find?)
8. Explain the irony in the fact that the Pardoner preaches a story with this particular moral. How do you account for the psychology of the Pardoner? Is he truly evil, simply drunk, or so used to cheating that he does it automatically?
9. What aspects of medieval society (and human nature in general) do you think Chaucer is satirizing in “The Pardoner’s Tale”?
10. What moral does the Pardoner want us to draw from his tale? How is it different from the moral you think Chaucer wants you to draw from “The Pardoner’s Tale”?
11. Do people with the Pardoner’s ethics exist today—in all sorts of professions? Explain your response.
12. Is greed or desire the root of all evil? Discuss the Pardoner’s moral.
Answer Key:
1. He admits he is corrupt and greedy
2. They want to kill him
3. He tells them to look under nearby oak tree; they treat him disrespectfully
4. The youngest rioter will go to town while the other two stay with the