There are seven deadly sins that, once committed, diminish the prospect of eternal life and happiness in heaven. They are referred to as deadly because each sin is closely linked to another, leading to other greater sins. The seven deadly sins are pride, envy, anger, sloth, gluttony, avarice, and lechery. Geoffrey Chaucer's masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, provided an excellent story about the deadly sins. Focusing mainly on the sins of pride, gluttony and greed, the characters found in The Canterbury Tales, particularly The Pardoner's Tale, were so overwhelmed by their earthly desires and ambitions that they failed to see the effects of their sinful actions, therefore depriving themselves of salvation.
Gluttony is defined as the over-indulgence of food and drink. The pardoner said that gluttony was the sin that corrupted the world. The first form of gluttony is drunkenness. Drunkenness is sinful because man loses his ability to reason. The three men were guilty of gluttony when they over indulged in wine at the tavern that eventually led to swearing and lechery. The pardoner claimed that drunkenness played a big role when Lot committed incest with two of his daughters. Drunkenness had influenced Herod's decision when he ordered John, the Baptist beheaded. Gluttony was unknowingly committed in these two examples leading to incest and murder. The pardoner, however, did not practice what he preached. He couldn't proceed with his exemplum until he had something to drink. .
Radix malorum est cupiditas- The love of money is the root of all evil. The three men became avaricious and lecherous when they found eight bushels of gold under an oak tree. As a result of greed, the two men decided to plot a murder against the other man who went to town to get food and drink. However, they were unaware that he had evil intentions of his own. He purchased three bottles of wine and poured rat poison into two of them.
