An exemplum is a tale that teaches a moral lesson by an example. The Canterbury Tales displays exempla in “The Prologue,” “The Pardoner’s Tale,” and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” by using each character to teach a moral lesson to the audience. “The Prologue” shows the audience that some people are different from their appearances, “The Pardoner’s Tale” teaches the audience that greed is the root of all evil, and “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” teaches the audience the true nature of women. “The Prologue” shows the audience exemplum by giving different characteristics of deceiving characters.
The ones who eviate from the common rule show the audience how looks and titles can be deceiving. One of many deceiving characters from “The Prologue” is the doctor. “All his apothecaries in a tribe / were ready with the drugs he would prescribe, / And each made money from the other’s guile” (“The Prologue” 435-37). The doctor and his apothecary scam people into buying medicine that would not help them for profit. Another character is the Summoner, whose job is to summon people to court to pay for their crimes, but instead he takes bribes and lies. Another deceiver is the Miller, his job is to grind up grain for his customers.
The miller, instead of doing his job, “Was a master- hand at stealing grain. / He felt it with his thumb and thus he knew / Its quality and took three times his due” (“The Prologue” 578-80). Each of these characters stray away from the rules of society by lying and stealing to get money. This shows that even though one might have a higher title, they still do what is in the best interest for themselves than care about others. “The Pardoner’s Tale” teaches the audience that greed is the root of all evil by telling a story of three brothers who try to defeat Death, but end up getting defeated.
The three men take journey to seek Death and meet an “old, old fellow” on the way there (“The Pardoner’s Tale” 140). This old man directs them on how to find death, saying, “To find out Death, turn up this crooked way / Towards that grove, I left him there today” (“The Pardoner’s Tale” 183-84). The three men begin on their journey to find Death, but instead of finding Death under the tree they find “A pile of golden florins on the ground, / New-coined, eight bushels of them as they thought” (“The Pardoner’s Tale” 192-93).
The brothers were so happy to see the gold sitting there, so they thought up a plan to keep the gold. The youngest of the brothers went into town, while the other two kept watch on the gold. While at the tree the one brother said to the other, “Nevertheless, if I could shape things thus / So that we shared it out- the two of us- / Wouldn’t you take it as a friendly act? ” (“The Pardoner’s Tale” 235-37). So the two brothers strategized a plan to keep the gold amongst themselves instead of sharing with the youngest, but the youngest had other plans for them as well.
The youngest “found an apothecary / And said, “Sell me this poison if you will, /I have a lot of rats I want to kill” (“The Pardoner’s Tale” 276-78). When the youngest came back to the tree the two brothers stabbed him hoping for a victory. Thinking they won all the gold for themselves, they drank the poison wine and died. All three brothers died at the tree, letting Death win. This tale displays “two of the Seven Deadly Sins, avarice and gluttony,” and shows that Death should be accepted because it cannot be avoided (Kantor). “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” shows the true nature of women.
This tale tells the audience of how a knight embarked on a journey to answer one question, “What is the thing women most desire? ” (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” 51). The knight raped a woman and the citizens were enraged by his actions that they sent him to King Arthur to be tried and killed. “But that the queen, and other ladies too, / implored the king the exercise his grace” (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” 40-41). The queen got to decide the knight’s fate and sent him searching for what women most desire. “He knocked at every house, searched every place, / Yes, anywhere that offered hope of grace” (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” 65-66).
Every woman gave a different answer than the last, “Some said that women wanted wealth and treasure “Honor,” said some, some “Jollity and pleasure,” Some “Gorgeous clothes” and others “Fun in bed,” “To be oft widowed and remarried,” (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” 71-74). For the knight could not tell what women most desired because he got different answers from each woman he met. So the knight traveled home with no answer to give the queen and feared for his life, until “He saw a dance upon the leafy floor / Of four and twenty ladies, nay, and more” (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” 137-38).
For he grew excited hoping they could give him an answer so the queen would spare his life. As he approached the ladies “There wasn’t a living creature to be seen / Save one old oman crouched upon the green” (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” 143-44). The old woman offered to help him as long as he promised to do as she asked. The old lady told the knight that women most desire “The self-same sovereignty/ Over her husband as over her lover” (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” 184-85).
The knight told the queen and everyone before him the answer from the old lady and his life was spared, but for getting to live the old lady asked him to take her as his wife, which he finally agreed to. The knight was miserable having to marry the woman, which she saw, so she gave him a choice, “To have me old and ugly till I die, But still a loyal, true and humble wife That never will displease you all her life, Or would you rather I were young and pretty And chance your arm what happens in a city” (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” 366-70).
The knight thought about it and made up his mind saying, “Whatever pleases you suffices me” (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” 381). The next morning the knight saw his wife was a “young and lovely” lady (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale” 397). They both lived in perfect happiness the rest of their lives. “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” employs romance elements, but challenges expectations of typical romance closure” (Phillips). This tale hows the audience that different women desire different things, but each of them desire control over men.
These tales teach the audience that not everyone is who they say there are, greed is the root of all evil, and shows the true nature of women. These tales can compare to today’s society because not everyone is who they say they are, many people are greedy, and many women want different things, but all desire power over men. Each tale shows the audience to be true to themselves and everyone around them, not to be greedy because it can lead to terrible things, and to let women have power because it makes life easier for everyone.
