Benign Incarnations: Chaucer's Pardoner and the Pardoner's Old Man

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dc.contributor.authorFox, Michael A
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeDonatelli, Joseph M.P. (English)en_US
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeEgan, Rory (Classics)en_US
dc.contributor.supervisorFinnegan, Robert E.
dc.date.accessioned2023-01-10T23:03:09Z
dc.date.available2023-01-10T23:03:09Z
dc.date.issued1994
dc.date.submitted2023-01-10T23:03:09Zen_US
dc.degree.disciplineEnglishen_US
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts (M.A.)en_US
dc.description.abstractThe purpose of this thesis is to explore the figures of the Pardoner and the Old Man in The Pardoner's Tale. By first documenting the accepted role of a fourteenth century "quaestor" and the ramifications of his itinerant preaching, I will show that the Pardoner does not place souls in the great spiritual jeopardy most critics maintain. Turning to his exemplum, I will examine the figure of the Old Man and demonstrate how Chaucer's possible sources and analogues and the Old Man's appearance confirm the aged wanderer's benevolent nature. Further evidence, from other tales and works, will corroborate these findings: the Old Man's appearance at the threshold is clearly unlike other "liminal" appearances in the Chaucerian corpus. Finally, I will offer a possible explanation for the many conflicting interpretations which The Pardoner's Tale has generated. I believe Chaucer offers a complex exposition of his theories of language: using Augustine's theory of signs and interpretation, I explain how the Pardoner offers the Canterbury pilgrims a lesson on interpretation and how, simultaneously, Chaucer uses the Pardoner to illustrate a further lesson about the efficacy of language.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/37084
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsopen accessen_US
dc.subject14th centuryen_US
dc.subjectEnglish literatureen_US
dc.subjectGeoffrey Chauceren_US
dc.subjectThe Canterbury Talesen_US
dc.titleBenign Incarnations: Chaucer's Pardoner and the Pardoner's Old Manen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
local.author.affiliationFaculty of Arts::Department of English, Theatre, Film and Mediaen_US
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