Chaucer's View of the Pardoner as a Character
In the Pardoner’s Tale, Chaucer presents the Pardoner in a particular
light, and being a religious figure, this allows him to make a general
statement about religion at the time. Chaucer’s view of the Pardoner
as a character, and also as something to epitomise religion at the
time, is evident from his use of vocabulary, his style, and by using
strong imagery and description. In this way, Chaucer builds the
character of the Pardoner as someone who is ironically deceptive and
driven by his own selfish motives.
A key theme that runs throughout the Pardoner’s Prologue is religion,
and as the Pardoner’s proper role is to act as an intercessor between
those who wish to repent and God himself, it is appropriate that
Chaucer uses a great deal of religious lexis. There are many examples
of this all through the text, such as when he mentions that the
Pardoner carries ‘Bulles of popes and cardinals’ or ‘official
documents’ signed by popes and cardinals. The plural use of the word
‘popes’ reveals a lot about the Pardoner in that it immediately shows
his disregard and contempt for the clergy. Religiously, there is only
meant to be one Pope and pluralizing the word devalues the pro-noun to
a simple noun. The lack of determiners only further degrades the Pope
as it shows no differentiation in these religious figures and others.
They are simply the same and en masse, whereas, believers of the
religion would disagree and be of the opinion that the Pope is the
highest religious authority, but the Pardoner brings him down to basic
levels and standards.
Another example of lexis related to religion is when the Pardoner says
‘I stonde lyk a clerk in my pulpet’. This simile un...
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...oner and Chaucer does not let his readers forget it as he gives
continuous reminders throughout the text.
Chaucer is not always so subtle in his presentation of the Pardoner.
Near the end of the prologue, the Pardoner boldly asserts that ‘though
myself be a full vicious man, A moral tale yet I you telle kan.’ The
pardoner describes himself as we have aready been made to see him by
Chaucer’s other techniques and here he admits it shamelessly, which
only adds to the readers’ negative impression of him, in that he is
not only deceptive, deceitful and ‘vicious’ but he also has no regret
or remorse for his actions and attitudes, hence he is unlikely to
change. It is ironic that the Pardoner admits to this characteristic
of his and then claims that he will still be able to tell a moral
tale, although his admittance also shows that he is aware of this
irony.
of Death. When a young boy is asked what happened to a man who had just
Analysis of Kittredge's Chaucer's Pardoner A realistic character is an important element of literary works. This "dramatic propriety" is a characteristic that many critics believe is absent in Chaucer's "The Pardoner's Tale" due to lack of believability. However, George Kittredge challenges this view in "Chaucer's Pardoner", stating that throughout the tale, the pardoner is indeed an extremely realistic and complex character. Kittredge's defense of "The Pardoner's Tale" begins with his acknowledgement of alternative explanations for the pardoner's unusual confession. Using logic, Kittredge disproves the theory that the pardoner is "a reproduction of the False-Semblant."
In “The Pardoner’s Tale,” Geoffrey Chaucer masterfully frames an informal homily. Through the use of verbal and situational irony, Chaucer is able to accentuate the moral characteristics of the Pardoner. The essence of the story is exemplified by the blatant discrepancy between the character of the storyteller and the message of his story. By analyzing this contrast, the reader can place himself in the mind of the Pardoner in order to account for his psychology.
Money is a very important attribute to have, but worrying about it too much could maybe get you killed. In the canterbury tales there are two tales. One of them is the pardoner's tale and the other is the wife of bath's tale. I believe that the pardoner's tale is the better tale. (Geoffrey Chaucer) author of (The Canterbury Tales). In the Canterbury Tales the narrator goes on a pilgrimage and for entertainment he has the people he went on the pilgrimage with tell him tales. And he would reward whoever told him the best tale. The pardoner's tale is about three friends who let greed and money get to their heads which end up killing their friendships and themselves. The wife of bath's tale is about a knight who let's lust get to his head instead of loving someone for who they are. Although both tales are great tales and give a great moral lesson, The pardoner's tale is the better tale of the two because of its ability to teach a lesson while still creating a great story.
A pardoner is a person that could relieve someone from their sins. In the case of the Pardoners Tale, the Pardoner expects money for relieving sinners from their sins and for telling a story. The pardoner in this tale is hypocritical, his scare tactics prove this. He says that greed over things like money is an evil thing, and his audience should give him large amounts of money so he can pardon them from their sins.
In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales he strongly deliberate the differentiation and similarities throughout “The Pardoner's Tale” and “The Wife of Bath”. The stories compare by using some of the deadly vices; as well as demonstrating in each tale the exploration for something and also how both provided advice for a better living in the end. While on the contrast point of view, Chaucer shows how the irony of both tales differentiate, the tales opposite ending in death or love, as well as the complete setting in the tales of “The Wife of Bath” and “The Pardoner's Tale”. In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales he strongly addresses the difference and similarities between the vices, quest, moral, irony, ending(death) and climax.
In "The Ending of 'Troilus,'" E. Talbot Donaldson writes in response to the conclusion of the "Knight’s Tale," one of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, "What it does suggest…is that Providence is not working justly." Though Donaldson correctly points out the fact that the "Knight’s Tale" ends in injustice, he confuses the role of sin in the injustice with the role of God. He asserts that God is to blame for the injustice in the "Knight's Tale" rather than exploring the role of human sinfulness.
The Pardoner’s Greed 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.
He even condemns people he doesn’t know as phonies, such as the man that his
During the 14th century an extreme change took place in society, and a middle class arose between the higher class of nobility and the working class of the commoners (Reid). This significant change caused a median between the two classes, whereas before the higher class and lower class were totally separated from each other. Before the middle class, the upper class looked down upon the commoners, but the establishment of the middle class formed a happy medium where the people could relate to both classes. Chaucer, the author of “The Miller’s Tale”, was a part of this middle class. Chaucer was the son of a wine merchant and spent most of his time at the harbor meeting people of all classes which would later reflect in his writing (Reid). Chaucer made the English language important and wrote in extreme satire, heckling both the noble class and the class of commoners (Reid). For example, “The Miller’s Tale”, tells a fabliau or dirty story that people can relate to for entertainment (Reid). In the poem “The Miller’s Tale”, three characters can be portrayed as evil, but Alison is considerably worse because she is an adulterer, a liar, and inhumane.
There are seven deadly sins that, once committed, diminish the prospect of eternal life and happiness in heaven. They are referred to as deadly because each sin is closely linked to another, leading to other greater sins. The seven deadly sins are pride, envy, anger, sloth, gluttony, avarice, and lechery. Geoffrey Chaucer's masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, provided an excellent story about the deadly sins. Focusing mainly on the sins of pride, gluttony and greed, the characters found in The Canterbury Tales, particularly The Pardoner's Tale, were so overwhelmed by their earthly desires and ambitions that they failed to see the effects of their sinful actions, therefore depriving themselves of salvation.
Throughout literature, relationships can often be found between the author of a story and the story that he writes. In Geoffrey Chaucer's frame story, Canterbury Tales, many of the characters make this idea evident with the tales that they tell. A distinct relationship can be made between the character of the Pardoner and the tale that he tells.
The Canterbury Tales is a literary masterpiece in which the brilliant author Geoffrey Chaucer sought out to accomplish various goals. Chaucer wrote his tales during the late 1300’s. This puts him right at the beginning of the decline of the Middle Ages. Historically, we know that a middle class was just starting to take shape at this time, due to the emerging commerce industry. Chaucer was able to see the importance and future success of the middle class, and wrote his work with them in mind. Knowing that the middle class was not interested in lofty philosophical literature, Chaucer wrote his work as an extremely comical and entertaining piece that would be more interesting to his audience. Also, Chaucer tried to reach the middle class by writing The Canterbury Tales in English, the language of the middle class rather than French, the language of the educated upper class. The most impressive aspect of Chaucer’s writing is how he incorporated into his piece some of his own controversial views of society, but yet kept it very entertaining and light on the surface level. One of the most prevalent of these ideas was his view that certain aspects of the church had become corrupt. This idea sharply contrasted previous Middle Age thought, which excepted the church’s absolute power and goodness unquestionably. He used corrupt church officials in his tales to illustrate to his audience that certain aspects of the church needed to be reformed. The most intriguing of these characters was the Pardoner. Chaucer’s satirical account of the Pardoner is written in a very matter-of-fact manner that made it even more unsettling with his audience. Chaucer uses his straightforwardness regarding the hypocrisy of the Pardoner, suggestive physiognomy of the character, and an interesting scene at the conclusion of the Pardoner’s Tale to inculcate his views of the church to his audience. The way that Chaucer used these literary devices to subtly make his views known to an audience while hooking them with entertainment, shows that Chaucer was truly a literary genius.
this instant there's nothing serious in morality," in this speech it is apparent that he is
Chaucer decides to take some interesting Pilgrims on his pilgrimage to Canterbury The Canterbury Tales: The Prologue. Some of these people include the Monk, Friar, Summoner, Parson, and the Pardoner. These are just a few of the characters selected to go on the journey to Canterbury. All of the characters have different roles, physical traits, personalities, and classes. At times these different traits bring controversy and some interesting conversation. Today, some people to include in Chaucer’s pilgrimage to Canterbury would be a reality television star, an NFL player, and a high school teacher.