Lies and Deceits of the Plague

Lies and Deceits of the Plague

During the time of the plague, many people had a large fear of the imminent death that was constantly looming the streets and alleys of cities. Because of this fear, many priests and other holy men sought to use the fear as a way to make a profit for themselves. Many people of this time who knew about the lies and deceptions did not feel that it was right, so many of the authors decided to let the people know the truth behind these evil dealings. Authors used their stories to express their feelings while bringing the reader’s attention to the lies and manipulations of the holy men in hopes of bringing about a reform.

Many of the authors during this time, such as Geoffrey Chaucer, used their works to express their feelings about the priests. In Chaucer’s “The Pardoner’s Tale”, Chaucer expresses his feelings with his tone of writing and through one of his main characters. “I wolnon of the Apostles counterfere. I wol have money, wolle, chese, and whete, al were it yeven of the provereste page, or of the provereste widwe in a village, al shold hir children sterve for famine” (195). Chaucer uses this distressing tone to express his anger towards the fact that most of the holy men who lie do not care about who they are taking from. He deliberately writes this passage to strike into the readers what was really going on. Chaucer also in part shows his anger through the host at the conclusion of the tale.

“Thou woldst make me kisse thyn olde breech and swere it were a relik of a saint, thogh it were with thy fundament depeint…I wolde I hadde thy coillons in myn hond in stede of relikes…thay shuld be shryned in an hogges tord” (207). Chaucer expresses with this passage his anger about how priests would do whatever it took to make a profit. The host is angry because the pardoner has already told the group of travelers about his lies and tricks, but he is still trying to collect money.

In “The Pardoner’s Tale”, the Pardoner, out of drunkenness or foolishness, confesses to the rest of the group about his lies and deceptions. “For certes, many a predicacioun comth ofte tyme of yvel entencioun” (194). Here, Chaucer has the Pardoner admit to the fact that most sermons, including his, are evil. Another trick the Pardoner exposes is his ability to guilt and embarrass the people into giving him their money. “If any wight be in this chirche now that hath doon sinne horrible…to often to my relikes in this place. And whose findeth him ow of swich blame, he wol I com up and offer a Goddes name…by this gaude have I wonne…” (193). In this passage, the Pardoner is saying that if you have sinned, then you will not be able to stand. Many of the people would have felt that people would have thought they were sinners if they continued sitting, so the people would get up and make offerings. The Pardoner also just blatantly

comes right out and confesses that he is not a good person by saying, “For though myself be a ful vicious man, a moral tale yet I yow telle can…” (195). Chaucer is saying here that many of the priests would think they can still stand up and preach and tell moral tales, even though they are completely evil in nature.

Another tale in which a priest is exposed is in the story of Brother Onion in Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron. Brother Onion was a priest who promised the people that he would show them a feather from the angle Gabriel, when actually he would only be showing a feather from a parrot. Two men who were friends of Brother Onion decided they were going to trick