Avarice In The Pardoner's Tale Essay

460 Words2 Pages
In Medieval times, there were different factors that had immense roles in society. A pardoner would be one of them because they would sell indulgences to people. Also, greed took over the majority of individuals during this time which impacts the writing of Chaucer in The Pardoner’s Tale. The historical context deepens the readers understanding because it leads to the search of the Black Death and shows how avarice can have such an effect in someone’s life. Ever since the beginning everyone is terrified of the bubonic plague and are conscious it is everywhere and that they can be affected at any moment. “In Medieval England, the Black Death was to kill 1.5 million people out of an estimated total of 4 million people between1348 to 1350,” (Trueman 1). It was so powerful that it terminated with more than one fourth of the population. This leads to Chaucer’s writing where he says, “And we will kill this traitor Death, I say! Away with him as he has made away with all our friends,” (l. 96-98). The three rioters decide that they…show more content…
“Critics often call the form used in these two Prologues ‘literary confession’ but neither of Chaucer’s characters expresses any sign of regret,” (Taize 1). None of the characters are remorseful for their actions and all they care about is money. In the pardoner’s prologue Chaucer writes, “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 had a string of starving children, all agape,” (l. 44-46). The pardoner’s main objective was to manipulate people, no matter their circumstances, to be repentant for their sins in order for him to acquire money from indulgences. Also, this has an outcome on the three rioters who are full of acquisitiveness and have selfish thoughts of killing others to obtain wealth. After all, greed is such a dilemma that leads to
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