The Chaucer Review: An Indexed Bibliography (Vols. 1-30)

Halverson, John. "Chaucer's Pardoner and the Progress of Criticism." 4 (1970): 184-202.
The Pardoner's motivation for his tale has been hotly debated; the question of his drunkenness and of the strained relationship between him and the other pilgrims is closely related to his motivation. Critics argue that the Pardoner merely attempts to con the pilgrims or that he is demonstrating his pride in his ability to defraud. His overblown self-descriptions, however, become dubious, but the "benediction" presents a difficulty for this view. Early critics understood the Pardoner's impotence as a representation of his spiritual state. Now, critics more carefully examine indications that the Pardoner and the Summoner are homosexual. Other scholars have attempted to demonstrate that the Pardoner has some orthodox tendencies, but he remains a disgusting character. If readers take his self-descriptions at face value, they perceive that he has committed the unforgivable sin--rejecting God--so he experiences "living death and present hell" (192). From the beginning, the Pardoner seems to focus on death, and his tale demonstrates a search for death. The ambiguity of the old man, however, has posed a problem for this interpretation. Various critics have suggested that he represents only an old man, Death himself, the Wandering Jew, and the vetus homo (old man of sin), or all of them at once. Readers must remember, however, that they know about the Pardoner only from what he himself says, and readers can assume that he is aware that he has a relationship to those around him. His "song" suggests a resemblance to Faux Semblant in Roman de la Rose and may show an attempt to manipulate his audience in order to play a trick on them. The Pardoner seems to wear a mask which serves both to protect him and to release malice while satisfying his ego. The Pardoner's playfulness escapes the Host who responds in anger, thus thwarting the Pardoner's desire to make the pilgrims look foolish and demonstrating that the Pardoner has overestimated the sophistication of his audience. At its root, however, the tale is a meditation on death which strongly affects the Pardoner and darkly colors his tale.

Karlen, Arno. "The Homosexual Heresy." 6 (1971): 44-63.
Increasing numbers of urban dwellers, not Eastern influences, made homosexuality a problem for the Middle Ages as writings from different parts of Europe demonstrate. Since the Romans, people have believed that city-dwellers were over-sexed and contaminated the rural populace. Views regarding sex became increasingly polarized, reaching even the clergy. Priests (the middle rank of the clerical estate) had reputations for an inability to control heterosexual desires. As concern about sexuality increased, charges of deviant sexuality accompanied charges of heresy and often resulted in witch hunts. These charges were particularly linked to the Albigensians, whose beliefs contributed to the rise of the courtly love tradition. For political gain, the Inquisition linked aberrant sexuality and heretical religious beliefs which resulted in the destruction of the Templars.