Seven Deadly Sins In The Pardoner's Tale

691 Words2 Pages

Seven deadly sins are the main motifs used in many tales. Once these sins have been committed they reduces the chances of everlasting life and the chances of going to heaven. The seven deadly sins are, pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, and sloth. In the Canterbury Tales the seven sins are used to tell stories and describe how the sins affect the different characters. For example, in the Pardoner's Tale, one of the sins that is shown in the tale is lust. The sin is being committed when the men are drunk and have a girl dancing on top of a table. One of the men hear a bell and asks a young boy whose body is in the casket. The boy then begins to tell the man that it was one of his friends and he had been drinking that night and that …show more content…

When the men were getting closer to the oak tree the found out something. “Till he came to that tree; there they found, Of florins of fine gold, new-minted, round (Pardoner 441-442). Greed is the following sin that is shown in the tale. Going on with the drunk men, in the tale it shows that the men are really greedy. For example, when the men find the gold all that come across there mind is the thought of killing one another just to stay with the gold. After, one of the three men go into town to get some food and drinks for one another, to what he says. The men believe he is going to get something for them to eat and drink, but he is really going to get poison, to kill the other two men so he can stay with the gold. On his way for the poison he stops and asks “Some poison for his rats, some as well For a polecat that in his yard had lain (Pardoner 526-527). The poison was not for some rats like he told the guy, it were for the other two guys that he was traveling with waiting at the oak tree. Although this man seeks for poison, the other two men don;t stay behind as they plan to get rid of the one seeking the poison. One man told the other, “He knows well that the gold is with us two. What shall we say to him? What shall we do? Shall it be a secret?” (Pardoner 489-491). The two men plan on killing the other men when he arrives back from town. When he arrives back the two men go for it and kill the one with the food, after killing him the two men start to eat and drink the food the other men had brought, seconds later they end up dying because of the poison the man had put into their drinks. “Thus ended these two homicides in woe” (Pardoner 565). Greed had finished off the three men and the three men did not end up finding death or becoming rich as they all ended up killing each

Open Document