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The Pardoner Character Analysis

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Jenny Pan Mrs. Onions – Block 5 Sept 5th The Canterbury Tales – Character Study of the Pardoner Whether it is through the general prologue, the pardoner 's prologue or the tale, it is evident that Chaucer holds a critical tone towards the Pardoner who is an exceedingly corrupt despite being a member of the Medieval Christian church — a place of religious devotion and moral teachings. Chaucer begins by presenting the Pardoner as an unsightly individual. The Pardoner has hair not only 'as yellow as wax ', (695) but comparable to 'a hank of flax ', (696) whether it is the foul image engendered from the descriptions, or the harsh sounds of the ‘k’ and ‘x’ that resonate, readers are influenced into feeling repulsed by the Pardoner. His …show more content…

Extending from the physical descriptions of the Pardoner, Chaucer’s disapproval of the Pardoner becomes increasingly evident. He questions the character 's masculinity through the judgment that 'he was a gelding, or a mare. ' (711) Such judgments almost dehumanizes the Pardoner, possibly a conclusion deriving from the pardoner’s lack of integrity and humanity as he 'asserts ' that a pillow-case is 'Our Lady 's veil ' (714-715) for a sole reason — Greed. This deceitful pardoner earns 'more [money] than the parson in a month or two ', to which the poet sarcastically comments '[there was no other of] equal grace ' to him, conveying a highly disapproving tone, that in stark contras to 'grace ', the pardoner 's actions is evidently disgraceful. Chaucer continues to mock the Pardoner, 'How well he read a lesson or told a story! ' (729) The sarcasm evident in the use of an exclamation mark, for it is ironic how 'best of all he sang an offertory, ' (730) a song for the sole purpose of 'winning silver from the crowd ', once again …show more content…

Chaucer proceeds to portray the pardoner’s indecency by granting him a voice to further develop his personality. His prologue commences with a proud statement of his unchanging theme: 'radix malorum est cupiditas [greed is the root of all evil], ' (334) a motto that continually serves to create irony when juxtaposed to future statements. In the pardoner’s prologue, it is evident how unashamed the pardoner is about his actions of deceit. He proudly reveals to his audience that his money originates from those in 'poverty ' (449); from 'the poorest widow in the shire ' (450), in addition to such appalling account, he remarks with contentment, ‘[even though] her kids [will] be starving, I 'll be fine. ' (451) His greed is

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