Arvind Sujeeth

+Shakespeare – 1

Dr. Dulick

10/8/02

A Tale of Two Contexts

The Chaucerian world is not one dimensional – it uses context as a rhetorical strategy to create theme. Considering the vast intricacies of Chaucer’s writing, it is necessary to examine a piece not only by itself, as a stand-alone tale, but within the contexts of the character doing the telling and his environment. Chaucer’s characters were rich and developed; they often complemented or supplemented one another, and subtleties linking the characters to their tales and to the others’ tales become extraordinarily crucial. The Pardoner is a telling example of this. By itself, it is a convincing, powerful moral sermon; within the context of the character, it is a gimmick for swindling money out of the gullible prey; in the context of the entire compilation, it represents the conflict between the Pardoner’s homosexuality and the basic human need for acceptance.

If the tale was told completely out of context, disregarding the Pardoner and the company, it would be nothing more than a sermon. A well told, especially convincing sermon – but still a mere sermon, not altogether special nor unique. The Pardoner begins the tale by describing the worst sins: “dronkenesse” (346), “glotonye” (346), “hasard” (350), and “swering” (352). The wretches in his story set out in a virtuous quest to slay death, but are beguiled by the sins he had aforementioned: “O cursed sinne, of alle cursednesse! O traytours homicyde, o wikkednesse…That to thy Creatour which that thee wroghte and with his precious herte-blood thee boghte, thou art so fals and so unkinde, allas!” (364). Their chance finding of a gold treasure releases the selfishness within, and they turn on each other, and thus encounter their demise. It is a classic story of good corrupted by evil, of the treacheries of evil and the justice dealt to sinners - at least, until you consider the teller: a beguiling, eloquent Pardoner looking to get rich by selling God’s providence, as if it could be mass-produced and packaged.

When the Pardoner is brought into the picture, it is no moral story; it is completely amoral. As the Pardoner explains in the prologue, “radix malorum est cupiditas” ( 342) – the greatest evil is greed. And “thus can [he] preche again that same vyce which that I use, and that is avaryce…[He] preche no thing but for coveityse” (342). The Pardoner is a skilled thief; he effectively sells nothing for something, disguising it as redemption and hope. And he is quite good at what he does – even after all is said and done, the joke is still on the host, who falls for it nonetheless.

When the host is brought in the picture, a third context emerges. In this context, the tale is neither moral nor amoral, but a story about acceptance. The Pardoner’s homosexual relationship with the Sumnour is set up in the prologue to the Canterbury Tales: “Ful loude he song, ‘Com hider, love, to me.’ This Sumnour bar to him a stiff burdoun: Was never trompe of hals so greet a soun” (32). The host knows that, and mocks him for it: “’Thou bel amy, thou Pardoner,’ he seyde, ‘Tel us some mirthe or japes right anon” (338). It is logical, then, that the Pardoner’s tale is a lashing out at the host, a mockery born of bitter revenge at being forced to live dual lives or else be cast out into isolation. In the end, he receives his deliverance by making the host look a fool in front of the company; in an angry outburst of self-defense, the host again returns to a low-shot at his homosexuality, as it were: “I wolde I hadde thy coillons in myn hond in stede of relikes or of seintuarie; Lat cutte hem of, I wol thee helpe hem carie” (306). Where the first two contexts were concretely moral or amoral, the third is amoral to the heart of conservative Christian doctrine, but moral to the heart of simple human compassion and acceptance.

With that final meaning, Chaucer transcends his themes to a universal level. It is no slight feat to turn a tale on its heels, and then on its heels again, with the use of subtle and extensive context – but Chaucer does it effectively and extraordinarily.