Preaching and Avarice in the 'Pardoner's Tale'

Author / Editor
Ginsberg, Warren.

Title
Preaching and Avarice in the 'Pardoner's Tale'

Published
Mediaevalia 2 (1976): 77-99.

Description
References to medieval treatises and exegetical tradition suggest that the Pardoner's connection with ale, dove, and tree indicates that, through avarice, he is too literal to preach God's word. The Old Man, taken literally by the Pardoner, signifies the effects of avarice. The Old Man is repentant, but the Pardoner is not.

Chaucer Subjects
Pardoner and His Tale.