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Kaitlyn Divine
Winter
British Literature, Period 2
26 October 2015
Avarice Throughout Cultures
Erich Fromm says, Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless
effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction. Both the Anglo-Saxon and Middle
Ages show truth in this statement. People see greed in the Anglo-Saxon time from the epic poem
Beowulf which is translated by Burton Raffel. People also see greed in the Middle Ages in the
poem The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer and translated by Nevill Coghill. In The
Canterbury Tales, The Pardoners Tale is the tale people find most greed in. Beowulf is about
an epic hero and his name is Beowulf. Beowulf is extremely chivalrous and seen as a hero, but
he has a tragic flaw, which happens to be greed. The Canterbury Tales is a poem in which a lot of
pilgrims tell each other tales. The Pardoners Tale is the main focus of this poem in this essay;
this tale consists of the pilgrim who is the Pardoner preaching against greed. In this essay,
readers will see the outlook of greed change as culture changes from Anglo-Saxon to the Middle
Ages.
Avarice is inevitable. Being a human being, greed is unavoidable. It is only natural for a
person to want good things for themselves; and after a while it can become very addicting. In the
Middle Ages, being greedy was very popular. The Pardoner, from The Pardoners Tale
explained to the readers that he [makes his] living out of - avarice (Chaucer, 6). Greed would
have to be extremely popular if one could make a living out of it. Beowulf also does his fair
share of being greedy as well. Beowulf says, We shall see, soon, who will survive / This

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bloody battle, stand when the fighting / Is done. No one else could do / What I mean to, here, no
man but me / Could hope to defeat this monster (Beowulf 680-84). Readers see in these few
lines that Beowulf is greedy for attention and recognition. Beowulf wants everyone to know he is
the best so he is constantly reminding people. Readers notice further that Beowulf craves
recognition when he asks Wiglaf to have a tomb where sailors can see / [That] tower, and
remember [his] name, and call it / Beowulfs tower (Beowulf 813-15). This quote displays that
Beowulf is greedy for attention and recognition because he does not leave it up to his people to
decide if he deserves a tower or not. Beowulf asks for a big tower to be recognized by, so
everyone can remember his name and how great he is.
Greed in the Anglo-Saxon period is less modern and expected than in the Middle Ages.
Greed is more accepted and tolerated in the Middle Ages than in the Anglo-Saxon period.The
Pardoner explains to his audience that, It is an honor to [them] to have found / A pardoner with
his credentials sound What a security it is to all / To have [him] here among [them] and at
call (Chaucer, The Pardoners Tale 303-10). The Pardoner then tells the Host to come
forward for he shall be the first to pay(Chaucer, The Pardoner's Tale 315). The Pardoner is
so expecting of people to have sins of greed that he openly declares that he will pardon anyone's
sins of greed for a price; of course he singles one person out to give pressure on the Host. The
Pardoner is also very open about his greed for money that he basically begs people to take his
service of pardoning so he can be paid. Beowulfs greed is a lot more laid back. Beowulf tells the
people of Herot, My people the wisest, most knowing, / And best of them have seen my
strength for themselves. / Have watched me rise from the darkness of war (Beowulf 149-52).
This quote reveals Beowulf bragging about his glorious battles and how everyone thinks he is so
amazing. This shows Beowulf hungry and greedy for the attention. Beowulf also explains to the

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people the one favor he has to ask of them, which is That [he], alone and with the help of [his]
men, / May purge the evil from [Herot] (Beowulf 165-66). Beowulf first states that he wants to
do this battle alone, and maybe with the help of his men. This shows Beowulf would like all the
credit and be acknowledged for having done all of the work himself. This shows that the AngloSaxon period had to be more subtle about their greed because it was not as accepted as it was in
the Middle Ages. Readers can also realize that the Anglo-Saxon age was more greedy for
acknowledgement, whereas the Middle Ages seemed to have been more greedy for money.
Since the Pardoners time period was a lot more accepting of greed, he is able to be a lot
more open about it, whereas Beowulf has to be extremely subtle about it so he does not ruin his
reputation of an epic hero. Beowulf tells the people of Herot, My lord Higlac / Might think less
of me if I let my sword / Go where my feet were afraid to, if I hid / Behind some broad linden
shield: My hands / Alone shall fight for me, struggle for life / Against the monster (Beowulf
169-74). This quote is very subtle in showing that Beowulf is showing off, hoping to get
attention and hoping to be known as great. The Pardoner is a lot more open about his greed. The
Pardoner says, I have some relics in my bale / And pardons too, as full and fine (Chaucer,
The Pardoners Tale 292-93). The Pardoner embraces the fact that he sins because he knows
everyone else does it too. In the beginning of The Pardoners Tale the pardoner admits to
giving in to greed. The Pardoner admits to the readers, I preach against the very vice / I make
my living out of - avarice. / And yet however guilty of that sin / Myself (Chaucer, The
Pardoners Tale 5-8). Although the Pardoner is open about his greed, he is very hypocritical
about it; for he preaches against it, but practices greed all of the time.
Even though the Pardoner is greedy himself, both poems symbolize that nothing good
comes of greed. The Pardoner tells the crowd of pilgrims, I preach for nothing but for greed of

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gain / And use the same old text, as bold as brass, Radix malorum est cupiditas (Chaucer, The
Pardoners Tale 2-4). Radix malorum est cupiditas translates to the root of evil is desire. This
quote is showing that greed is the desire that is the root of evil. In both stories, people die
because of greed. In The Pardoners Tale there are three boys planning to murder each other
for gold. Readers learned that They fell on him and slew him, two to one. / Then said the first
of them when this was done, / Now for a drink. Sit down and lets be merry, / For later on
therell be the corpse to bury. / And, as it happened, reaching for a sup, / He took a bottle full of
poison up / And drank; and his companion, nothing loth, / Drank from it also, and they perished
both (Chaucer, The Pardoners Tale 277-84). In this quote three boys die, only because they
were greedy of the treasure. At the end of Beowulf, when Beowulf is dying, he asks Wiglaf to
Have / The brave Geats build [him] a tomb, / When the funeral flames have burned [him]
(Beowulf 809-11). Beowulf is dying because he dies trying to get treasure, which represented
greed. In both stories, someone dies trying to get treasure. From this, readers can realize greed
leads to treacherous events, even death.
The idea of greed changes as cultural ideas change. Greed varies and is expressed
differently in both poems due to cultural changes. The differences are that greed is more
expected and accepted in the Middle Ages so people can be more open about it; whereas in the
Anglo-Saxon age it is less accepted and needs to come across more subtle.

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Works Cited
Beowulf. Trans. Burton Raffel. Literature of Britain with World Classics. Ed. Richard
Sime et al. Sixth Course ed. Austin: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 2000. 21-46. Print.
---. The Pardoners Tale. The Canterbury Tales. Trans. Nevill Coghill. Literature of
Britain with World Classics. Ed. Richard Sime et al. Sixth Course ed. Austin: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston, 2000. 129-36. Print.
"Erich Fromm." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2015. 22 October 2015.
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/erichfromm391095.html