The Pardoner's Tale tells the stories of two men, both "forty-ish", who cannot help falling madly in love, sometimes despairingly, sometimes with great success. The lineaments of gratified desire are persuasively drawn. Precise details of plot and character dissolve into an amorous haze, spreading delight….
The two stories are ingeniously linked…. [The] linking method has been deliberately designed to make it difficult for John Wain's narrative to carry conviction, to suspend the reader's disbelief: he has met this self-imposed challenge and succeeded triumphantly….
This is a free excerpt of 82 words. There are 229 words (approx.
1 page at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
Read the rest of this Criticism with our Wain, John 1925–: Critical Essay by D. A. N. Jones Access Pass.
