The Pardoners Tale
The pardoner, in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Pardoner's Tale," is a devious character. He is a man with a great knowledge of the Catholic Church and a great love of God. However, despite the fact that he is someone whom is looked at with respect at the time, the pardoner is nothing more than an imposter who makes his living by fooling people into thinking he forgives their sins, and in exchange for pardons, he takes their money. His sermon-like stories and false relics fool the people of the towns he visits and make him seem as a plausible man, which is exactly what the pardoner wants. In fact, the pardoner is an avaricious and deceitful character whose driving force in life is his motto, "Radix malorum est cupiditas," which is Latin for "greed is the root of evil." The pardoner's entire practice is based upon his motto and is motivated entirely by greed. The pardoner is supposed to forgive sins, however, he views his position as a scheme to make money and turns it into a fraud. His excellent speaking skills allow him to turn this profession into a scam. He attracts the people with his storytelling and his sermons, which are pleasing to them, "By God, I hope I shal yow telle a thyng / That shal by reso
Chaucer A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Works. An Introduction to Chaucer. New York: Rossignol, Rosalyn. "The Pardoner's Tale." Besides being a great storyteller and speaker, the pardoner is also a wonderful actor, complete with convincing props to deceive the congregation with. He preaches and tells the people about the power of his relics, which in fact are fakes. Many of his relics were actually the bones of dead animals, such as pigs, which he claimed to be the bones of dead saints, and gloves, which, he claimed, would help crops grow if worn when planting them (Pichaske, 131). The pardoner claims that his relics have the power to forgive sinners of both the punishment due to sin and the guilt of sin itself (Hussey, 177). The people believe the pardoners words and quickly pay to be pardoned, in return the pardoner hands them one of his fake relics. The pardoner quickly and happily accepts their offerings without first seeing if there is any repentance in the people. This goes to show just how uninterested in the people the pardoner is and how he is only interested in the offerings he receives. Those who buy the pardons, mistake what is material (the relic), for what is nonmaterial, which, in this case, is God's forgiveness (Rossignol, 270). Due to the people's ignorance, the pardoner refers to the congregation from which he receives his money, as stupid and describes them as his "apes", or fools in "The General Prologue." "The pardoner is not at all ashamed to say that he does not care a fig about the state of their souls, but only about their pocketbooks," (Rossignol, 268), in "The General Prologue." His main concern is greed, rather than salvation of those who come to him seeking it. What the pardoner is doing is committing a sin, and he is very aware of it himself. The pardoner has let the greed drive him away from God's ways and is following his avaricious feelings. Hussey, S. S. "The Canterbury Tales II." Brewer, Derek. "The Canterbury Tales."
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1365
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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