Sexuality In The Pardoner's Tale

Sexuality has been a repeated and imposing question throughout many of Geoffrey Chaucer’s tales. Some characters have used their voluptuous body parts to obtain revenge and vengeance where other’s human sexualities are probed as a whole. In The Pardoner’s Tale, the Pardoner’s sexuality is the most difficult to determine. Throughout the lines of the text, there is no present and clear evidence that reassures the sexuality of the Pardoner. However, the possible answer to the Pardoner’s true identity is evident and marked through examining his individual personality, presence of transgressive sexuality and interactions with peer individuals.

When looking at the Pardoner’s characteristics, it is noticeable that he is not the purest man. The Pardoner is categorized as a man who lacks his manly qualities. “That it is joye to se my bisynesse. / Of avarice and of swich cursednesse / Is al my prechyng, for to make hem free / To

yeven hir pens, and namely unto me. / For myn entente is nat but for to wynne, / And nothyng for correccioun of synne. / I rekke nevere, whan that they been beryed, / Though that hir soules goon a-blakeberyed!” (Chaucer 399-406). The Pardoner leads a hypocritical double life, exhibiting falseness and immortality to his ecclesiastical position and relics. This aspect transgressive sexuality could possibly be the reason why the Pardoner’s sexuality is questioned.
Further, The Pardoner’s Tale is exhibited and presented by the Pardoner as a moral and justified tale. Certainly, the morals and principles of this tale are validating the importance of context and his prologue. However, the language within the text maintains built ambiguity and intrinsic limitations. “But shortly myn entente I wol devyse: / I preche of no thyng but for coveityse. / Therfore my theme is yet, and evere was, / Radix malorum est Cupiditas. / Thus kan I preche agayn that same vice / Which that I use, and that is avarice” (423-428). The use of the word “Cupiditas” works to institute the rigorous association between gender and avarice. The absence of value fundamentals to mature prosperity is the central theme of “The Pardoner’s Tale.” The three men’s behaviors mirror the Pardoner himself. The young Flemish scoundrels fail to determine the factual treasure of Grace, but rather a material treasure which they have used to lead to mystical death and damnation. This duplicitous story which constitutes false merits is similar to the Pardoner’s sexuality.
During the conclusion of The Pardoner’s Tale, the Pardoner attempts to sell fake pardons to a man named Harry Bailey, known as the Host.

The Host replies, “Thou woldest make me kisse thyn olde breech, / And swere it were a relyk of a seint, / Though it were with thy fundement depeint! / But, by the croys which that Seint Eleyne fond, / I wolde I hadde thy coillons in myn hond (948-955). Harry Bailey suggests that the Pardoner and his testicles have not surely parted company. He also infers to possible sexual insult when the Pardoner calls for the Host to kneel before him, unbuckle his "purse," and "kiss the relics. “Anon they kiste, and ryden forth hir weye” (968). However, by inducing Harry Baily to kiss the Pardoner, Geoffrey Chaucer brings both men into contact. The physical affection of the sense of touch serves as a way by which both men can verify their bodily vulnerability and defenselessness. The Host proceeds to assume clear information on the Pardoner, signifying that he is inclined to the same sex, categorizing him as a

homosexual.
The character of the Pardoner in The Pardoner’s Tale is a prominent portrayal and representation of the dichotomy of man. The Pardoner has told us in his Prologue that his main theme, “Greed is the root of all evil,” is unchangeable and inflexible. The hypocrisy the Pardoner describes in his Prologue before the tale becomes evident through the vices he lists in the beginning (gluttony, gambling, swearing). This hypocritical action is an example of Chaucer’s many satirical works. The Pardoner cannot confess the unnamable sin that he commits throughout the tale. The presence of sin might be the conceivable reasoning further leading to the Pardoner’s homosexuality along with his immoral personality, presence of transgressive sexuality and interactions with the Host. With this information coming into account, it can provide possible analysis for other works in determining sexuality of puzzling and indistinguishable characters.