Biblical Allusions
page 515 – “they tore our blessed Lord’s body to pieces – it seemed to them that the Jews had not torn him enough.”
pages 515/517 – “I take Holy Writ to my witness that lechery comes from wine and drunkenness. Look how drunken Lot unnaturally lay by his two daughters unwittingly; he was so drunk he didn’t know what he was doing. Herod (as anyone who has read the story knows), when he was full of wine at his feast, right at his own table, gave his order to slay John the Baptist, who was entirely guiltless.” page 517 – “Adam our father, and his wife too, were driven from Paradise to labor and woe because of that vice – there is no doubt about it; for while Adam fasted, as I read, he was in Paradise; and when he ate of the forbidden fruit on the tree he was at once cast out to woe and pain.” pages 523/525 – “High God forbade swearing entirely – witness Saint Matthew; and in particular, the holy Jeremiah says of swearing, ‘And thou shalt swear in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness’; but idle swearing is a sin. Behold, and see that in the first table of high God’s honorable commandments, the second of the commandments is this – ‘Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain’ Lo, he forbids such swearing before homicide or many another cursed sin; I tell you that it stands in this order; anyone who understands his commandments know that this is the second commandment of God.” |
This allusion is significant because in its context, the Pardoner is using it as an example of the “young folk” who are doing bad things such as gambling, drinking, swearing, and engaging in prostitution. As a result of their crimes, it is almost as if they are “tearing our blessed Lord’s body to pieces” more than it already had been. In conclusion, this creates meaning because it shows (to the extent of) how forbidden these acts are to the pardoner.
With these quotes, the Pardoner is using his knowledge of the bible to give examples of how lechery (similar to adultery) comes from “wine and drunkenness”, which is why it is forbidden. This shows that the Pardoner actually has a thorough understanding of the biblical text, and interprets it correctly, but he uses this knowledge against his “customers”. Overall, these two quotes in particular create meaning because it supports the Pardoner’s motif of drinking (as well as a myriad of other sins) being truly evil. This is ironic in a way, because the Pardoner’s acts of tricking people into buying tickets to Heaven as well as taking their money seems to be worse than the things he himself says are evil. This is another quote in which the Pardoner derives support from the Old Testament to express his extreme distaste for sins, and in this case, that sin is swearing/taking God’s name in vain. Similar to the previous quotes, this is ironic because by performing his acts of selling fake holy relics and selling tickets to Heaven the Pardoner is technically defaming God. |