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Pardoner's Duality In The Canterbury Tales

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The character of the Pardoner in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is a complex one, full of contradictions and ambiguity. On one hand, he is described as a "noble ecclesiast" (Chaucer 691) and a skilled preacher, capable of moving his listeners to tears with his sermons. On the other hand, he is also a con artist, selling indulgences to people who believe that they can buy their way out of sin. This duality is central to the Pardoner's character, and it is the source of both his power and his corruption. One of the most striking aspects of the Pardoner's character is his lack of morality. He openly admits to his listeners that he is a fraud, saying "I preach but for covetise" (Chaucer 696), and he even goes so far as to boast about his dishonesty. He tells a story about how he once sold a fake relic to a gullible crowd, and then adds, "Thus spit I out my venom under hue / Of holiness, to seem holy and true" (Chaucer 723-4). This willingness to deceive others for personal gain is a hallmark of the Pardoner's character, and it reveals the depths of his depravity. …show more content…

He is a master of language, capable of using his words to manipulate and seduce his listeners. When he describes the sins of gluttony and drunkenness, for example, his language is almost sensual, as he speaks of "the swete breeth of wyn and milk" (Chaucer 684) and "the fumes stronge / Of licour ful of moysture and of heete" (Chaucer 688-9). This ability to use language to create vivid images and emotions is what makes the Pardoner such a powerful character, and it is what ultimately makes him both compelling and

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