Pardoner and His Relics
As by some strange perversion of metonymy, characters in literature are often characterized by their possessions, along with or rather than their words and deeds. In other words, those things which are closely related to a character show many of the same traits as the character himself; and, describing said objects may begin to substitute for a description of the actual character. This method of characterization is used by Geoffrey Chaucer in his description of the Pardoner in The Canterbury Tales. As readers, we learn about the Pardoner not only through his (conflicting) words and actions, but his character is further exemplified by his possessions. When we first hear of the pardoner, the narrator is in the process of describing each of the pilgrims. The Pardoner is at once established a fake, and it becomes clear that none of his "relics" are really what they appear to be. In the general prologue, the narrator says, "For in his male he hadde a pilwe-beer Which that he saide was Oure Lady veil; (line 696)" "Ha hadde a crois of laton, ful of stones, And in a glas he hadde pigges bones, (line 701)" In other words, he keeps a jar full of old rags and sells them as secon
In other words, he counts on people's greed in order to make a living (or as he says, a good living), but at the same time preaches against it. So, it becomes clear that the pardoner does not truly believe that his preaching will impact anyone's life at all. If he did, he wouldn't be preaching against avarice. Thus it becomes clear that the pardoner is savagely abusing his papal authority in order to secure his own gain. "Thus spete I out my venim under hewe Thus can I preche again that same vice Thus, we learn that Pardoner is not out to convert anyone, as a man in his position should be. Rather, he seeks to increase people's greed and sinfulness. In fact, a full conversion of his audience would render him jobless. He forges these false relics in order to feed people's greed for material things. Further, he invents false papal bulls to encourage people's ideas that it is okay to sin, because a quick fix will always be close at hand, as long as they can afford it. So, his falsehoods as a Pardoner and the forgeries he sells as relics are closely linked in both purpose and description. Both seek to falsely comport patrons and both assume heavenly authority that neither truly has. He preaches as a way of gaining money and yet, as a layperson, he is not licensed to preach! He also makes no secret of the fact that he uses his title and his
Some common words found in the essay are:
Oure Lady, Pardoner Pardoner, Canterbury Tales, Pardoner Relics, people's greed, pardoner relics, Geoffrey Chaucer, pardoner assume, people's trust, learn pardoner, papal authority, hear pardoner,
Approximate Word count = 918
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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