Examples Of Greed In Beowulf
Most people tend to think that they are good, that everything they do is a product of their positive intentions, but is anyone truly a good person? Today, we see constant heinous crimes, political rhetoric, and social chaos in common society that we know are not caused by good intentions, but what about things we see every day? Common, and even things we see as good doings, are actually influenced by dark motives. Pre-modern literature, though it may not seem like it, is actually a very accurate representation of collective human nature. An analysis of the epic “Beowulf” reveals how Hrothgar’s refusal to save his land, and Beowulf’s conquests for victory, were influenced by pride. However, if one analyzes Chaucer’s text, “The Pardoner’s Tale”,
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Chaucer’s work, The Pardoner’s Tale, begins with the Pardoner himself describing the deception he uses in his work, and his evil intentions behind it all. His tale consists of three drunk rioters who seek to kill death because they find out that their friend has been killed. On their way to a nearby village, to find death, the rioters meet a withered old man. They treat him quite rudely, and threaten to hurt him if he does not tell them where death is. The old man directs them to a tree, when they get there they do not find death, but bushels of gold, to not draw attention to themselves they have the youngest go to town to get food and water while the other two stay with the gold. Both the youngest and the two device plans to kill the other, both plans succeed and all three rioters die. The sin of greed is the desire or conquest for material wealth or gain. "The Pardoner's Tale" shows continually the effects of greed on the person. The pardoner himself states that his "theme" is Radix malorum est cupiditas ("Greed is the root of [all] evils"). One first sees this in the Pardoner's prologue, which is somewhat of a confessional where he states that he, "make[s] [his] living out of avarice" (The Pardoner's Tale 24). He does this by having false credentials consisting of official letters from high-ranking church officials and a superficial use of a few Latin words, carrying around fake relics, and taking hapily from the poorest of the poor. In the actual tale the three rioters end up killing themselves in separate murder plots to get the gold for
Chaucer’s work, The Pardoner’s Tale, begins with the Pardoner himself describing the deception he uses in his work, and his evil intentions behind it all. His tale consists of three drunk rioters who seek to kill death because they find out that their friend has been killed. On their way to a nearby village, to find death, the rioters meet a withered old man. They treat him quite rudely, and threaten to hurt him if he does not tell them where death is. The old man directs them to a tree, when they get there they do not find death, but bushels of gold, to not draw attention to themselves they have the youngest go to town to get food and water while the other two stay with the gold. Both the youngest and the two device plans to kill the other, both plans succeed and all three rioters die. The sin of greed is the desire or conquest for material wealth or gain. "The Pardoner's Tale" shows continually the effects of greed on the person. The pardoner himself states that his "theme" is Radix malorum est cupiditas ("Greed is the root of [all] evils"). One first sees this in the Pardoner's prologue, which is somewhat of a confessional where he states that he, "make[s] [his] living out of avarice" (The Pardoner's Tale 24). He does this by having false credentials consisting of official letters from high-ranking church officials and a superficial use of a few Latin words, carrying around fake relics, and taking hapily from the poorest of the poor. In the actual tale the three rioters end up killing themselves in separate murder plots to get the gold for