Pardoner's Tale and the Wife of Bath in Detail - Essay Example

Wondering what to do, the answer finally dawns on them that they should transport the gold in the dark, and in the meantime, the youngest of them goes to get some wine and bread for them to eat. While he is away, the other two show their level of greed as they begin plotting how the young one will die when he returns, in order for their share of the loot to increase.

On his part, the youngest, while going to get the food, has a similar, greed-inspired thought that if he kills the two, he’ll have the gold all to himself. In his gluttony, he poisons the two wine flasks meant for his comrades. On his return, the two ambush him immediately, and to celebrate their new wealth, indulge in the wine, not knowing that it was poisoned. Soon after, they both die and in the end, it’s their greed that kills them all.

They were good friends before stumbling upon the gold but soon after, their minds could only picture their share of the loot and how they could increase it. An analysis of the moral of two tales from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales: The Pardoner's Tale and The Wife of Bath reveals just how greed can be one of the deadly sins. It is also profoundly ironic that in the end, they find who they were looking for; Death.

Moral Lesson from the Wife of Bath’s Tale
In the tale, the central lesson to be learned is that “Women seek to be in charge of their men.” This lesson is well illustrated by the old hag in the story. While the knight is almost at his end in despair after searching for almost a year to discover what women want, he meets the old hag. Asking the same question, the hag agrees to share the answer with him, but only in exchange for a favor. On seeing that he has no way out, the knight quickly realizes that he has no choice but to accept his fate and this effectively sees the old hag hold all the cards and have a decisive upper hand.

The old woman then proceeds to reveal the favor she wanted the knight to fulfill, that she wanted to marry him. At first, the knight is reluctant for she was old, but she reminds him that he is bound by his promise. The knight, seeing no way out, keeps his promise and marries her. The lesson, of women wanting to control their men, is also seen in the options the old hag gives the knight after their union. The old woman asks her husband to choose how he wanted her to look either ugly, old, but faithful, or beautiful, young but attracting the interests of other men. We see her having the upper hand yet again, with her trick question.

In response, the knight tells her to be what she desires. With this freedom, she decides to be both beautiful and faithful. The knight is obviously happy with this choice, but the old hag is even happier, for now, she enjoys the best of both worlds by being beautiful and faithful. Furthermore, the choice is left entirely to her makes her even happier, as the knight did not have any input. Read More