Irony in “The Pardoner’s Tale”: Unveiling Hypocrisy and Satirical Critique

Defining Hypocrisy and Chaucer’s Critique

According to Merriam-Webster, hypocrisy can be defined as “behavior that contradicts what one claims to believe or feel.” In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, this quality of hypocrisy is best shown through the Pardoner and his story, known as “The Pardoner’s Tale.” The Pardoner begins his story with the prologue, in which he states that the moral of the upcoming story is “Radix malorum est cupiditas” (Chaucer 7), which translates to “The love of money is the root of all evil.

” The Pardoner follows this with the statement that “[h]e knows what to say about avarice because it is the very vice that he practices” (Bloom). The story itself follows three young men on their journey to avenge their friend, which they plan to do so by killing Death, which they are led to believe lies in a mortal form. However, over a fight for money, they kill each other. The Pardoner then finishes his story by attempting a sales pitch on the other pilgrims. Throughout the story, Chaucer uses figurative language, such as irony and satire, to accomplish many things. The use of irony and satire in the story helps to develop the effect of the Pardoner’s hypocrisy while also subtly attacking the church system for its corruptness.

The Ironic Quest for Death

There is irony and satire used in the story, directed mainly towards the Pardoner’s own hypocrisy. While the rioters are searching to find Death, an old man leads them toward a tree, which they believe is the place in which Death resides. However, upon arriving at the tree, there is no sight of Death. The only thing that remains at the tree is a large treasure, consisting of “[a] pile of golden florins on the ground,/New-coined, eight bushels of them as they thought” (Chaucer, 169-170). This is ironic because after coming across this treasure, they cease to care about avenging their friend and only focus on the money. In “The Narrative Art of the Pardoner’s Tale,” Ian Bishop states that “[t]he quest that they had embarked upon in their drunkenness is forgotten: the company of ‘sworn brothers’ is no longer inspired by heroic intentions of ridding the world of a dangerous public enemy. In their sobriety, their main source of inspiration is their avarice” (Bishop).

This statement shows how they no longer cared about their friend and that now their main purpose is only to gain wealth. Later, the rioters eventually use their need for money as a reason to kill and attack the other, which is ironic because they did find Death in the end. The Pardoner uses this irony to prove how avarice is the root of all evil and could eventually cause one’s downfall. Irony and satire are used again because the Pardoner uses this story to try and sell his pardons to gain money.

Satirical Insights into Church Corruption

The tale is an attack on the Church, and this is accomplished effectively by Chaucer’s use of irony and satire. Satire is often used. Chaucer also uses the hypocrisy he developed to accomplish this powerfully. The Pardoner exhibits many sinful traits that can be alluded to by all members of the Church. Firstly, the Pardoner’s need for money can be interpreted as how all high members of the Church want money. Also, in the prologue, the Pardoner explains how he suffers from the curse of avarice. In addition, towards the end, he attempts to sell his pardons and relics, which he explained earlier were fake. Because of this, it can be inferred that he is unaware of the villainous acts he commits. This is satirical because it hints at how all people are unaware of the difference between right and wrong. Rosalyn Rossignol describes this connection by stating that “the epilogue’s purpose is simply to illustrate the man’s moral blindness” (Rossignol). Chaucer used this tale and his story of the Pardoner in order to communicate with readers the Church’s corruption and to make more people aware. Most likely, Chaucer hoped that his story would spark a change in the system.

Counterarguments and Chaucer’s Ultimate Aim

Despite most beliefs, some people may argue against the idea that “The Pardoner’s Tale” is an attack on the Church. They believe that “The Pardoner’s Tale” is actually not an attack on the Church. They argue that the story does not stretch any further than the story itself. This means that they might believe that we are reading too far into it. They might also believe that the only purpose for the story is entertainment, not any further. However, due to the substantial amount of satire used, it is evident that Chaucer’s goal was to communicate the corruption in the Church system.

Throughout the tale, the rioters make many decisions that develop how hypocritical the Pardoner is. This development allows Chaucer to effectively attack the Church for their corrupt practices. Chaucer’s clear attacks on the Church bring well-needed attention to the Church and allow more people to be aware of the corruption. With this newfound awareness, people may be able to do something about this. Overall, Chaucer effectively uses satire and irony to establish the Pardoner as a hypocrite and also uses this development to attack the Church.

References:

1. Chaucer, Geoffrey. “The Canterbury Tales.” Translated by Nevill Coghill, Penguin Classics, 2003.
2. Bloom, Harold. “Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.” Infobase Publishing, 2010.
3. Bishop, Ian. “The Narrative Art of the Pardoner’s Tale.” Chaucer Review, vol. 2, no. 3, 1968, pp. 202-211.
4. Rossignol, Rosalyn. “Revelatory Forms: The Pardoner’s Tale.” PMLA, vol. 98, no. 5, 1983, pp. 852-864.

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