Moral Corruption of the Three Rakes in Pardoner’s Tales in Canterbury Tales

LUO Wan-ru

Abstract： In a tale by Pardoner in Canterbury tales of Geoffrey Chaucer， the moral corruption of the three rakes was exposed obviously. The tale indirectly showed us the moral state of people in English society in the 14th century.

Key words：Geoffrey Chaucer ; Canterbury tales ; Moral Corruption

1  Preface

Geoffrey Chaucer is one of the greatest writers in 14 century， and also one of the greatest poems in the English literary history. His works， based on the realities of his own country at that time， with absorbing the literary features from the continent of Europe， had a great influence on the late English literature. As his most representative and successful work， Canterbury tales showed us a broad picture of English society at that time with its unique genre， humorous languages and rich characters. Through reading it， we enjoy ourselves， but at the same time more than that we have the thought of human nature and the attitude towards our life.

In the tale told by the pardoner， there was a horror among people in a small village that a man called “Death” would always kill people at night when they were in their deep sleep. After knowing this， three drunk rakes had been sworn brothers and tried to find Death and kill him. On their way to seek for Death， they met an old man and treated him rudely. From the old man， they knew where Death was. However， when they got to there， no Death was there but a heap of gold under a tree. At last， they all died from their tricks on each other in order to have those golden for their own use.

2  Moral Corruption in the Tale

In this tale， through two things， their moral corruption was exposed obviously. One is their meeting with an old men， behaving impolitely， rudely and conceitedly; the other is their finding fine round florins coined of gold under a tree， behaving selfishly， avariciously， and cheatingly.

On their way seeking for Death， they met an old man who was so old. He greeted them meekly and politely. However， instead， he received the three rakes impolite and rude treatment. One of them even cursed the old man， “what， fellow， bad cess you ”（357）. Though accepting with curse， he still gently advised them to be courteous and respect of others. And later he also told them the direction of Death， which showed his kindheartedness and tolerance. There is a obvious comparison between the three rakes rudeness and impoliteness and the old mans courtesy and gentleness.

Then according to the direction pointed by that old man， they came to a tree. To their surprise， there was a fine round of golden coins. They were so glad at the sight. Instead of seeking for Death， they began to plan how to have it for their own. In their mind， each had their own thought being the only owner of this heap of gold， and how to kill the other two. Faced with the temptation of treasure， their avarice was revealed to us， which made them crazy men who even slain their companies. They became selfish and cold. Their tricks on others sent them to death. The moment they died is the time they found the Death.

3  The Reflection of the Moral State of People in English Society

The three men were just the representative ones in this village. At the beginning of the story， the pardoner had told us there were a group of young people in a village who were addicted to alcohol， gambling and prostituting. When it came to the three rakes， they already “had sat themselves in a tavern to drink” “long before any bell had rung for morning service”（355）. Drunkenness was their usual state. From these， it showed that people in the village led a rotten and numb life， which is a reflection of  a real life state in the English society at that time.

Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1343， and died in 1400. It was a period when Britain was experiencing a profound historical changes. From 1337 to 1453， there were always wars between England and France， called Hundred Years War. The years of war brought a great disaster to English people. Especially for the poor people， they had to bear heavier oppression from the up-class rulers. Another important event happening during the period when Chaucer lived was the terrible Black Death， which broke out first in the continental Europe in 1347， and came to the south of England in 1348. The Black Death continued until in the year of 1665. It caused a great number of death and a rapid shrink of labour force， which resulted in sharp rise of labors wage and in turn threatened the interest of the up-class. For that reason， the British Parliament passed a bill， The statute of Laborers， which claimed that anyone could put those laborers who were against the law and escaped to death. The bill greatly restricted the flow of labor force， then hindered the economic development. As result， it caused a huge revolt among people in the countryside in 1381， which gave a heavy blow on the feudal force.

The sufferings by wars and the death by plague caused great panic among people in England at that time. At the same time， it led to the deviation of the peoples mind and values and the loss of morality. People became avaricious and selfish and led a rotten life. Just like the people in the tale told by the pardoner feared the Death and were always in a panic. Without a way saving themselves out， they resorted to alcohol， gambling and prostituting as a way to numb themselves so as to escape from the cruel reality. Due to the mentally numb， moral corruptions bred in peoples mind， such as greed， cruelty， selfish and coldness. The tale indirectly showed us the moral state of people in English society during that period.

參考文献

[1]Geoffrey Chaucer， The Canterbury Tales， New York： Bantam Books， 1981.

[2]肖明翰，《英语文学之父》，北京：社会科学文献出版社， 2005.