Bowers, John M. “‘Drunkensse is Ful of Stryvyng’: Alcoholism and Ritual Violence in Chaucer’s Pardoner’s Tale.” ELH, vol. 57, no. 4, 1990, pp 757-784.

In his essay “‘Dronkenesse is Ful of Stryvyng’: Alcoholism and Ritual Violence in Chaucer’s Pardoner’s Tale”, John M. Bowers investigates the ways in which the Pardoner’s alcoholism characterizes him. Bowers argues that the Pardoner’s dependence on alcohol influenced his choice of occupation, his avarice, and his attitude towards his fellow pilgrims. Bower argues that the Pardoner’s openness with his fellow pilgrims--about his various sins and his relic scam--are the result of in vino veritas. According to Bower, the Pardoner is so adept at manipulating others’ shame because he feels shame so strongly himself. Bower utilizes psychological concepts throughout the article to analyze the Pardoner’s interior life. He names the shame that the Pardoner feels toxic shame and argues that it is “smoldering at the psychic center of every alcoholic and fueling his addiction” (Bower 765). The Pardoner’s reliance on alcohol influences the story he chooses to tell--in it, interestingly, the rioters themselves choose to challenge death and plot to kill one another under the influence of alcohol.