Much Of The Irony In The Pardoner's Tale Derives From Chaucer's Duplication Of Narrative Levels Discuss This Statement is written in the form of a frame narrative. A short prologue introduces each tale, the tale is then told and we then return to the frame. Such a framing device requires the reader to continuously move between the frame and the embedded narratives and this leads to our response being anticipated but not always being congruent with the other audiences.Chaucer projects three audiences in The Pardoners Tale: the peasants, the pilgrims and ourselves. This technique emphasizes an ironic disjunction between the knowledge of the different audiences and thus aids us in developing a better understanding of the characters in the tale.In The Pardoners Tale, the Pardoner addresses the implied audience directly, as if he is telling the tale to the peasants. The peasants are illiterate and gullible and we can see that the Pardoner is aware of this through his use of latin, Radix malorum est cupiditas (l. 138), pronouns, tone and condescension, Nat Samuel, but Lamuel, saye I (l. 297).Furthermore, the Pardoner constantly refers to the bible and written texts which he knows the peasants could not read: Redeth the bible and find it expressly (l. 298) and In Holy Writ ye may yourself wel rede (l. 454).We could therefore assume that the peasants would be more convinced by the Pardoners speech than anyone else. Although they would have had some idea of the deceit behind the Pardoners sermon, they would have been more easily persuaded into buying his pardons because of the supposed idea attached to having ones sins absolved.The pilgrims, on the other hand, have a better understanding of who and what the Pardoner is. Although the pilgrims responses to the Pardoner are few, we are made aware of the estimation that they hold of him from the words: And night anoon thise gentils gan to crye,Nay, lat him telle us of no ribaudye.Tel us some mora...
