How we cite our quotes: (Line number)
Quote #1
Oure lige lordes seel on my patente,
That shewe I first, my body to warente,
That no man be so boold, ne preest ne clerk,
Me to destourbe of Cristes hooly werk. (51 – 54)
The Pardoner refers here to showing everyone the "seel," or stamp of approval he's received on a piece of paper, signaling his permission from the local authority to sell pardons there. Because orders of traveling friars and preachers regularly fought over territory, they had to get this permission in order to legitimately preach in someone's territory. It's somewhat striking that the Pardoner refers to his body while defending his right to preach there. This choice of words may be meant to draw our attention to the Pardoner's body, as it will play a significant role in what remains of his Prologue and Tale. It could also suggest that traveling pardoners were at risk for getting beat up by the local clerics.
Quote #2
Thanne shewe I forth my longe cristal stones,
Ycrammed ful of cloutes and of bones;
Relikes been they, as wenen they echoon.
Than have I in latoun a sholder-boon
Which that was of an hooly Jewes sheepe. (61 – 65)
This passage illustrates another important role bodies play in the Pardoner's Prologue and Tale. Relics are pieces of the bones, clothing, or possessions of a holy person. Many medieval people thought they had miraculous healing or other powers, but the Pardoner admits with "as wenen they each one" ("or so they think") that his relics are fake. Chopping up saints' bodies into little pieces to worship may sound weird to us, but many saints themselves thought it was a great idea. There's a story about St. Mannas that claims that his finger detached itself of its own accord when a priest came around to collect relics from him after his death.
Quote #3
If that this boon be wasshe in any welle,
If cow, or calf, or sheep, or oxe swelle,
That any worm hath ete, or worm ystonge,
Taak water of that welle, and wassh his tonge,
And it is hool anon; and forthermoor,
Of pokkes and of scabbe and every soore
Shal every sheepe be hool that of this welle
Drynketh a draughte. (67 – 71)
The Pardoner presents the bone that belonged to a 'hooly Jewes sheepe' as having curative powers specifically for animals who have parasites or caught pox, thus linking the bodies of these sick animals to that of the mysterious sheep to whom the bone once belonged. Bodies heal bodies.
Quote #4
I preche so, as ye han heerd bifoore,
And telle an hundred false japes moore.
Thanne peyne I me to strecche forth the nekke,
And est and west upon the peple I bekke,
As dooth a dowve sittynge on a berne.
myne handes and my tonge go so yerne
That it is joye to se my bisynesse. (107 – 113)
The Pardoner's description of himself stretching out his neck to peer down on the lowly audience, moving his hands and tongue frantically, emphasizes the way he uses his body in his preaching, of which it becomes an integral part. The Pardoner knows how to use body language to get his points across.
Quote #5
They duance and pleyen at dees, bothe day and nyght,
And eten also and drynken over hir myght,
Thurgh which they doon the devel sacrifise
Withinne that develes temple in cursed wise,
By superfluytee abhomynable. (182 – 185)
This passage might be alluding to the Christian idea that the body is the Lord's temple. In this case, because the gluttons abuse this body by stuffing themselves, they make it into the devil's temple and everything they eat and drink in "superfluitee," or excess, becomes devil-worship.
Quote #6
Hir othes been so grete and so dampnable
That it is grisly for to heere hem swere.
Our blissed lordes body they totere –
Hem thoughte that Jewes rente hym noght ynough –
And ech of hem at otheres synne lough. (186 – 189)
For some reason, medieval Christianity had developed the idea that oath swearing was equivalent to tearing Jesus's body to pieces, torturing it like it was tortured at its crucifixion. BTW, this isn't the only time in the Canterbury Tales where Jews are the epitome of evil. Check out the Prioress' Tale, where Jews actually tear apart the body of a Christian child. Jews had been expelled from England in 1290 and weren't allowed back in until 1657, so it's unlikely that anyone in the Pardoner's audiences had ever met one.
Quote #7
Allas, the shorte throte, the tendre mouth
Maketh that est and west and north and south
In erthe, in eir, in water, man to swynke
To gete a glotoun deyntee mete and drynke! (231 – 234)
The Pardoner uses the terms "shorte throte" and "tendre mouth" to symbolize a glutton at the beginning of this passage. The point he wants to make here is that a disproportionate amount of work goes into feeding the glutton – he's taking more than his "fair share." There's the implication that the body is insatiable.
Quote #8
Allas, a foul thyng is it, by my feith,
To seye this word, and fouler is the dede
Whan man so drynketh of the white and rede
That of his throte he maketh his pryvee
Thurgh thilke cursed superfluitee. (238 – 242)
The drunken man makes his throat his "privy," or toilet, both because of what he puts into it—disgusting drink—and because of the senseless, drunken speech that comes out of it. Once again, body=disgust.
Quote #9
Ther walken manye of which yow toold have I –
I seye it now wepyng with pitous voys,
That they been enemys of Cristes croys,
Of whiche the ende is deeth, wombe is hir god.
O wombe! O bely! O stynkyng cod!
Fulfilled of donge and of corrupcioun,
At either ende of thee foul is the soun. (243 – 249)
The Pardoner reveals the roots of his argument against the "wombe" (which represents gluttony here) in Pauline scripture. The belly comes to stand in for the glutton himself. A glutton's belly is full of corrupt stuff and emits foul sounds at either end for obvious reasons. He's also referring to the senseless speech that comes from the lips of the drunkard. What an image of the belching, stinking, farting, blathering drunkard. Shmoop will never eat or drink anything ever again.
Quote #10
O dronke man, disfigured is thy face!
Sour is thy breeth, foul artow to embrace
. . .
Thou fallest, as it were a styked swyn;
Thy tonge is lost, and al thyn honeste cure;
For dronkennesse is verray sepulture
of mannes wit and his discrecioun. (265 – 266, 270 – 273)
Partiers, listen up. Your breath stinks. The Pardoner wants to emphasize the effects of drink on the body: the way it disfigures the face, breath, and, most importantly, looses inhibitions, so that a drunk man can't keep a secret and talks crazy. His comparison of the drunk man to a "stiked swyn," or stuck pig, insinuates that a drunk man is no more sensible than an animal. And let's not even get started on hangovers…
Quote #11
"Lo, how I vannyshe, flessh and blood and skyn!
Allas, whan shul my bones been at reste?
Mooder, with yow wolde I chaungem y cheste,
That in my chambre longe tyme hat be,
Ye, for an heyre-clowt to wrappe me.
But yet to me she wol nat do that grace,
For which ful pale and welked is my face." (446 – 452)
The Old Man that the Three Rioters meet on the way longs for death because without it, his body is wasting away. He's aware of how the fragility of the body makes death a welcome thing. The revelers, who've been making very good use of their bodies, find this old guy disgusting. The Old Man represents the spiritual self, as opposed to the corporeal self.
Quote #12
"Lat be," quod he, "it shal nat be, so theech,
Thou woldest make me kisse thyn olde breech,
And swere it were a relyk of a seint,
Though it were with thy fundement depeint." (661 – 664)
Oh, snap! The Host's angry response to the Pardoner suggests that the art of the physical insult predates reality TV. He suggests that the Pardoner would ask him to kiss his ass as a saintly relic even if it were stained by his "fundement," or anus. Some people, remembering the pilgrim Chaucer's description of a "geldyng or a mare" in the General Prologue, read this as the host's dig at the Pardoner's sexual inadequacy.
Quote #13
"But by the croys which that Seint Eleyne fond,
I wolde I hadde they coillons in myn hond
In stide of relikes or of seintuarie.
Lat kutte hem of, I wol thee helpe hem carie;
They shul be shryned in an hogges toord."(665 – 679)
The Host threatens to castrate the Pardoner and enshrine his testicles in a hog's turd. Pretty "colorful" talk, don't you think? The Pardoner's just asked the Host to kiss his relics and unbuckle his purse (worn below the waist)—pretty suggestive remarks. We can see why the Host might be upset. Remember how the Wife of Bath called her husbands' private parts the "nether purse?"