We have read both "The Pardoner's Tale" and "The Wife of Bath's Tale." Which of the stories do you feel met the requirements of Harry Bailey (the Host) storytelling contest: providing entertainment and moral. Give specific reasons for your decision. (The deadline to post a response is midnight, Wednesday, October 9, 2013.) 
3 comments:
I thought the Wife of Bath's tale was much better than the Pardoner's. She had a story that had both moral and entertainment separately. The Pardoner's tale was entertaining because of the moral; when all of the rioters were dead, that was the most entertaining part, very ironic. In the Wife's tale, I enjoyed the side stories for emphasis, such as Midas's ass ears. Her story had interesting plot details and twists, unexpected was the answer that women wanted dominion over men. (Not in hindsight, however). It also had plenty of humor, when he must marry the old woman. Whereas, the Pardoner's tale was what you'd expect from men chasing death. So I think the Wife of Bath's tale was more entertaining and had an especially unusual moral for its time.
Although the wife of bath's tale was hilarious, I believe the Pardoner's tale better met the requirements. The Wife of Bath's tale focused a little more on the entertainment side with the old crone's relationship with the knight, but she did make valid points with women wanting control and had sufficient data. However, I believe the Pardoner had a better tale because the moral was clear and it wouldn't have been such a shocking and controversial thing to hear at the time unlike the Wife's tale having women in charge. I also liked the use of all there forms of irony in the Pardoner's tale because it made it entertaining, but didn't take away from the moral.
I think that the Wife of Bath's tale is worthy of being a winner on this journey. The Pardoner's tale was great, but I really think the Wife of Bath's tale really met the requirements. She had a great moral and was very entertaining in a way. Her story got my attention more than The Pardoner's tale. The ending of the Pardoner's tale was predictable. However, the Wife of Bath's tale was unexpected. Also, the pardoner was a hypocrite, which made me feel as if he did not even learn any moral from his tale.
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