How far is the pardoners tale gothic? Essay

The gothic genre, thought to be introduced in 1769 by Horace Walpoles noel The Castle of Otranto, was remembered for its crude, grotesque, exaggerated nature. Although in chivalrous times the chivalric movement had non commenced, Chaucers can be considered a precursor to this movement as many aspects in the pard championrs tale are introduce gothic, however Chaucer did not perceive his writing as Gothic, he did not intentional write a Gothic tale like afterward authors did. The pard nonpareilrs tale is considered the most Gothic out of completely the Canterbury Tales as it is the most abundant with gothic elements. These elements include Chaucers definition of the excuser, the attractiveness of evil in the text, the presence of supernatural and horror, the digressions, and the personification of death. Its be event of the gothic elements this text that modern interpretations pack viewed The Pard one(a)rs Tale as one of the earliest examples of a Gothic text. A car park el ement that is appoint in the gothic style is the breaking of conventional clean-living or ethnic code. Morals and ethics in the 13th century originated from the perform which had the leave in knightly England. The perform was known by many to be corrupt because of its hypocrisy and exploitation of the edict.Common peasants in the society were judge to be 10% of their wage to the Church, which is how it attained its extraordinary wealth. Although the majority of people were aware of the Churches corruption no one would ch all(prenominal)enge it in forethought of the punishment of incessant hell in that locationfore the Churches established authority was able to prevail while the people carried on being exploited. Chaucer hold this corruption, and with his presentation of the Pardoner he attacks the established Church. The Pardoner breaks all of the moral conventions set by the Church, his fraudulent nature is exposed by Chaucer as he hadde a pilwe-beer, which that he sey de was Oure Lady veyl. The role of the Pardoner in society was to allow people to buy pardons for their sins from him. There were gullible or fear stricken people who would often do this, in fear that their sins would prevent them from going to heaven, the Pardoner was one of the most corrupt of the clergy and is a perfect example of the corruption of the Church in Medieval England, Chaucer shows the Pardoners exploitation as he uses a pillow crusade to claim it was Marys veil. This would have shocked and horrified the minority of readers who would have had hope for their salvation through thePardoner.From the Pardoners description in the planetary Prologue its withal clear that he breaks conventions of the Church as he unnormally rides with hood, for jolitee, wered he noon just in the fact he doesnt wear his cap shows that hes not as dedicated to the Church as he likes to portray, it also hints at self-confidence which in medieval times was considered a sin. There are to a gre ater extent inferences in his description that hint he breaks conventions of the Church. He is described to have heer as yelow as wex which is significant as the blonde hair was usually associated with cunningness, reinforcing the Pardoner as a sinister character. Blonde hair was also associated with effeminacy, its clear that he had intentions of making the Pardoner into a distaff character as he had no berd and he were a geldyng or a mare. Chaucers mockery of the pardoners manhood has leave alone to many modern interpretations of the Pardoner as a homosexual.This would have been cunning to the medieval audience as homosexuality was not the same in the middle ages, however, to those readers who picked up on this undertone, it would have horrified them as this went against all the moral and ethnics theyd been taught. Chaucers presentation of the pardoner breaks morals that the Church set, and therefore is a convention that most modern interpretations would recognise as being Goth ic. *The text is filled with a macabre atmosphere this is oddly achieved with Chaucers portraying of the attractiveness of evil. Avarice is one of the most stated sins preached in the Pardoners tale, to the contemporary medieval Christian, avarice was strongly against their morals. Avarice was considered a curse and the Pardoner refers to it as swich cursedness because it takes away peoples tending from trying to achieve eternal life. In the tale, the attractiveness of avarice is evidently shown in the presentation of treasure found by the rioters florins fine of gold, y-coined rounde so faire and brighte, a precious hoord. The young rioters are clearly overpowered by the lecherousness of riches and money, this is echoed by the Pardoners own lust for money, despite preaching alkali malorum est cupiditas he commits avarice as his daily job. The medieval doctrine would chafe this for the reason that he jeopardises other peoples chance of achieving eternal life for his own pro fit.The Pardoner often preaches some various the sins that cause bodily corruption. Bodily corruption was viewed a sin as everyone was expected to take care of their body since it was given to them by the divine. Thepardoner preaches about gluttony, which destroys the body due to greed for food, the pardoner states that corrupt was all this being for gluttony, he also condemns sex and drinking, this makes it a chilling medieval tale as destroying ones body was a tenacious fear in the society. The most Gothic element that appears in the pardoners tale is the theme of death and the depiction of the supernatural in the mysterious man. In the 14th century England was hit with the black plague. This was a tragic disease that wiped out 70% of the population in London. As a consequence, death clearly surrounded everyday life. A common theme in medieval times was death. Many artists and authors personified death, this is most clearly shown in the picture the dance of the dead where deat h is represented as dancing skeletons.Chaucer also personifies death in the pardoners tale. cobblers last in itself is a very gothic theme, its included in many later gothic texts, just as the works of Edgar Allen Poe, Stokers genus Dracula and Wildes Dorian Gray. The personification of death makes it chilling and horrifying as theres no way to escape it. Countless Gothic texts, much(prenominal) as Frankenstein and Dracula embody their societys biggest problems into their supernatural. Since the black plague was a massive issue, the old man in the text represents death, one of societys biggest problems. Chaucer, in his representation of the old man, perverts the usual depiction of them being wise and instead gives him an air of mystery.Mystery is key in Gothic literature it tampers with the audiences emotions as they deal with the unknown. Chaucer presents the old man with an eerie atmosphere this olde man gan loke in his visage. This line would endorse a palpate of horror into the reader as the man just stares at one of the young men. The pardoners tale follows many of the conventions of Gothic, although it was written many years ahead the Gothic period is thought to have started its still considered a Gothic text to an extent as it would have haunted the medieval audience.