ABSTRACT

The centrality of food and drink in the ‘Introduction to the Pardoner’s Tale’, the ‘Pardoner’s Prologue’, and the ‘Pardoner’s Tale’ itself has been shown by a number of scholars, in particular Martin Stevens & Kathleen Falvey (1982), Clarence Miller & Roberta Bux Bosse (1972), Joseph Millichap (1974), Robert Nichols (1967), and Frederick Tupper (1914). This essay builds on their insights by showing that Chaucer deliberately constructs a semantic field of words relating to food, some of which are neologisms. The scholars mentioned above show how the bread and wine of the texts have deeper metaphorical resonances with the Mass. But their insights can be taken further, by demonstrating that Chaucer subverts this layer of meaning with yet another discourse set: words and deep metaphors relating to brokenness, violence, and death, as opposed to the whole, the healthy – the holiness of Christ’s body and blood, and its representation in the Christian Mass. In carrying this out, the Pardoner is one of Chaucer’s most evil characters, but also becomes one of his most ethical constructions, as he demonstrates what a Christless world would be like.

摘要

食物和饮料在《赎罪券商的故事导论》、《赎罪券商的序言》和《赎罪券商的故事》本身中的中心地位已被许多学者所证明，特别是马丁·史蒂文斯和凯瑟琳·法尔维 (Martin Stevens & Kathleen Falvey) (1982)、克拉伦斯 (Clarence)米勒和罗伯塔·布克斯·博斯 (1972)、约瑟夫·米利查普 (1974)、罗伯特·尼科尔斯 (1967) 和弗雷德里克·塔珀 (1914)。这篇文章以他们的见解为基础，表明乔叟有意构建了一个与食物有关的单词的语义场，其中一些是新词。上述学者展示了文本中的面包和酒如何与弥撒产生更深层次的隐喻共鸣。但他们的见解可以更进一步，通过证明乔叟用另一种话语集颠覆了这一层意义：与破碎、暴力和死亡，