ath. Instead, they find a box, and inside the box is gold. To make a long story short, the three men end up killing themselves because of their greed. They did find death, but not in the way that they had hoped (Chaucer 302-309).In a way, The Pardoner’s Tale is a direct extension of the personality of the Pardoner. The character of the Pardoner is omnipresent throughout the tale, which is told in an intimidating style that intends to create a sense of horror at the consequences for sinful action. The Pardoner takes a religious role in the tale because he is preaching against sin (Brown 156). What is ironic, and humorous, about this is that the Pardoner himself is one of the biggest sinners of all. The Pardoner admits that he feels guilty, but yet he still continues his sinful actions.Another humorous thing about The Pardoner’s Tale is that Pardoner really never mentions anything about the three main characters of the story. Besides the fact that he mentions that they are hoodlums, the Pardoner never mentions any distinguishing characteristics. Basically, the only real thing we know about the characters is that one of them is younger than the other two (Morse 143). The only somewhat developed character in the story is the old man. He is a grotesque figure that is condemned to walk the earth for eternity. He mentions that he doesn’t believe in heaven, and the only way he can die is if he exchanges bodies with another man. This brings up my next point: this is the only thing even closely related to religion in the 7story. One would think that a man which such a religious stature as the Pardoner would tell a story that would have to do with God or the church. The Pardoner’s Tale doesn’t even come close. Instead, the Pardoner chooses to tell a story about greed and money, the only two things that are on his mind. One final story that contains a significant amount of humor and satire is The Wife...
