The Canterbury Tales II
Go to Study Questions for the General Prologue and the Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
The Pardoner's Prologue
1. |
Review the General Prologue's description of the Pardoner. (See ll. 651-96.) |
2. |
What text does the Pardoner use for his sermons? (As you read further, decide why this is ironic.) |
3. |
What items does the Pardoner show his listeners when he preaches? (Use your dictionary for unfamiliar terms that aren't footnoted. For example, the word bull is used here in a special sense.) |
4. |
How does the Pardoner force listeners to pay to use or buy his relics? (See ll. 50-60.) |
5. |
What are the Pardoner's real motives for preaching? (See ll. 75-104.) |
6. |
What part of the Pardoner's sermons do people especially like? |
7. |
What kind of man is the Pardoner? |
Pardoner's Tale
1. |
According to the Pardoner, what was the sin of Adam and his wife? (This is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Drunkenness is a form of this sin.) |
2. |
What other sins does the Pardoner discuss before he gets to his story? |
3. |
What kind of people are the three young men of the story? (Look back at ll. 1-20.) |
4. |
According to the boy, who killed the dead man? |
5. |
What do the three men swear to do? |
6. |
What does the old man tell them about himself and about Death? (Who do you think the old man is?) |
7. |
What discovery distracts the three men from their search? |
8. |
What plan do the remaining two gamblers make after the youngest one leaves? |
9. |
What plan does the youngest make? |
10. |
What happens to the three men? Was the old man correct about whether they would find Death? |
11. |
After finishing his story about greed (avarice, another of the Seven Deadly Sins), what does the Pardoner say next? How can his listeners get forgiveness for their greed? |
12. |
What does the Pardoner offer to the Canterbury pilgrims at the end of his story and sermon? (Judging by what he said earlier, what sort of offer is this?) Which pilgrim does he single out, and how does that person respond? Who makes peace between them? |
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Last updated 08/09/05
