The Pardoner’s GP Portrait Line 671 What does a Pardoner do? Gelding or Mare?

The Pardoner’s Prologue Hypocrisy and Deceit Line 41 ff Eating and drinking as he lectures on drunkenness and gluttony (line 34)

The Pardoner’s Prologue Confessional like the Wife’s Hypocrisy and Deceit “Relics” (line 59)

The Pardoner’s Prologue Hypocrisy and Deceit Relics and blackmail l. 89 ff.

The Pardoner’s Tale Form of the tale Sermon Exemplum

The Pardoner’s Tale The Black Death Reaches England in 1348 and kills up to 30,000 of London’s 70,000 inhabitants as well as up to 1/3 of total English population Plague reference is Chaucer’s addition to this widely transmitted tale

The Black Death

The Black Death

The Three Rioters They hear a bell announcing a death l. 376 They understand death literally (Paul: the letter vs. the spirit 2 Cor 3:6)

Parodic Inversions in the Tale How to learn to correctly read and interpret the world as a Christian Tavern/Church Oak Tree/Cross Earthly Treasure/Heavenly Reward Christ’s blood/wine False Communion

The Pardoner’s Ambiguities The Pardoner also clearly suffers from a type of “blindness” His physical ambiguities mirror his moral ambiguities Chaucer creates a correlation between his moral and physical state

The Pardoner’s Ambiguities Why does the Pardoner try to “con” the pilgrims? “Epilogue” Line 631 ff Why does the Host react so violently?