Essay on The Pardoner of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

617 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The canterbury tales explanatory essay

The Canterbury Tales - The Pardoner

The Canterbury Tales is a poetic story of a group of people, who were going to pilgrimage. They were going to the tomb of St. Thomas a Bechet in Canterbury, which is about sixty miles from London in England. In that group, there were clergy and laity people. And in the poem Chaucer described all of them so well that we can easily see the picture of how they lived and how they behaved in manners of work and other ways of life. And while he was describing, he also criticized some members of the clergy position, because of their abusing of their position and doing things that they were not supposed to do, or not doing something they were supposed to do in their position. Among those people whom Chaucer criticized very much were the Friar and the Pardoner.

In the medieval society, where people were very religious, illiterate and superstitious, the Friar was respected as God himself. The Friar’s job in the church was to help people, who committed crime, by giving them a guide to pray for a certain time so that they can receive absolution. But the Friar in the Canterbury Tales was not honest and dedicated in doing his job. He abused his position by taking money from people who came to confess. He told them that they would get absolution if they pay him and thus broke the vow of obedience because it is against the Catholic Church. He broke the vow of chastity by having adulterous relationships with other women. By wearing expensive clothes, spending his time with wealthy people rather than helping beggars or sick lepers, he broke the vow of poverty.

The Pardoner is a person who says prayer for dead people so that the sins they had committed in life would be forgiven. The Pardoner of The Canterbury Tales abused his position by selling some papers which he claimed if people bought, their time in purgatory would be shortened after death; he sold them for very high price. He also claimed that he had Virgin Mary’s veil, which would have been 1330 years after Mary died. He also claimed that he had St. Peter’s sail and said the pig bones, he always carried with him, were relics of St. Peter. Chucer also criticized him by implying him as a homosexual by referring him to a gelding or a mare.

Show More
Related

  • What I Hope to Gain from a Honors Program Education at Liberty University

    1415 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...hat share my faith and together worship Jesus. I believe that by being in fellowship with other believers I will have a strong opportunity to pursue and fulfill God’s purpose in my life, whether it is a daily or lifetime calling.

    Read More

  • Essay on Verbal and Situational Irony in The Pardoner’s Tale of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Chaucer's Canterbury Tales - Concept of Charity in the General Prologue

    946 Words  | 2 Pages

    meant much more.  It included a love of G-d and doing the will of G-d as well as

    Read More

  • The Pardoner of The Canterbury Tales

    696 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer indirectly depicts the characters through the stories they tell. The tale is a window upon the person that tells it. However, the Pardoner’s tale seems to contradict this situation. The Pardoner, an immoral man, tells a moral story because he believes that doing this will further his ultimate objective – revenge upon God for his anomalous physical attributes. “He had the same small voice a goat has got. / His chin no beard had harboured, nor would harbour, / smoother than ever chin was left by barber. / I judge he was a gelding, or a mare” (21).

    Read More

  • Descartes Forms And Ideas

    851 Words  | 2 Pages

    There was one thing that Descartes knew for certain, he existed. If Descartes was able to think, then he existed, which comes from one of his most famous quotes, “I think; therefore I am.” He knew that since he existed, he could not have created himself, so something else had to have created his existence. He believed that one could go down the line and keep asking what caused that person to exist and so on until eventually ending with an infinite self-causing being, which is God. He used this notion of an existing God to prove his distinction of ideas.

    Read More

  • Thoreau is gay

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    Our modern day political obligations are part of countless examples in which our priority should be to what our government thinks is right, not what we think is right. Noone is ever excited about Jury duty, opening their mailbox one day and finding that their presence in court is mandatory is not exhilarating. Although for some its against their own wishes the obligations they have to the government to help decide the faith of another citizen is part of their civil duty as a citizen of the United States. Thoreau’s belief that we should prioritize what we think is right over what the government thinks is right is proven false under this example in our modern day lives. We owe to our government our presence to help give our opinions in the court of law. If we did not follow our political obligations and support the government then why would they protect us if we do not help to support ourselves. We may think that our presence is unnecessary, and otherwise think that our daily activities are more important but the amount of people it affects is less substantial than our presence in court, otherwise making what we think is right less of a priority then what the government thinks is right.

    Read More

  • Somatic Gene Therapy

    2891 Words  | 6 Pages

    Rubanyi, G. (2001). The Future of Human Gene Therapy. Molecular Aspects of Medicine. 22,3, pp. 113-142.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

    770 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Canterbury Tales is more than an amusing assortment of stories; it is an illustration of the society in which Geoffrey Chaucer lived. It portrays the culture and class system of the medieval ages in microcosm. Every strata of human life at the time were represented by the many characters whose tales are told. Each character’s basic human nature also plays a role in their stories, and each one has within them the strengths and weaknesses that make up all of humanity. Each character exemplifies their life and reputation through the stories they tell. The Pardoner uses his tale as a ploy to garner money. His tale embodies each deadly sin, and every reader can relate to his story and feel the guilt of his characters. The Wife of Bath’s tale expresses her own ideals in the way her character is given a second chance after committing a crime. The Franklin’s tale, because of its straightforwardness and honesty is a direct representation of the Franklin’s simple and joyful life. Each character tells a tale that is a suitable match to their personality. These characters’ tales represent prevalent themes of the middle ages, including greed, corruption of religious clergymen, violence, revenge, and social status. In Chaucer’s society, the traditional feudal system was losing its importance and the middle class began to emerge. The middle class characters within the Canterbury Tales, with their personal lives and interactions with members of differing social classes, gave an understanding of the growth of society, especially the rising middle class, during medieval times.

    Read More

  • An Analysis Of Pardoner's Prologue And Tale

    1340 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chaucer first begins his sly jab at the Church’s motives through the description of the Pardoner’s physical appearance and attitude in his “Canterbury Tales.” Chaucer uses the Pardoner as a representation of the Church as a whole, and by describing the Pardoner and his defects, is able to show what he thinks of the Roman Catholic Church. All people present in the “Canterbury Tales” must tell a tale as a part of story-telling contest, and the pilgrim Chaucer, the character in the story Chaucer uses to portray himself, writes down the tales as they are told, as well as the story teller. The description of the Pardoner hints at the relationship and similarity between the Pardoner and the Church as a whole, as well as marks the beginning of the irony to be observed throughout the “Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale.” The narrator describes the Pardoner as an extremely over confident, arrogant, and unattractive man, noting that his hair is “as yellow as wex,” lying thin and fl...

    Read More

  • Attitudes And Attrivants In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    The monk receives some scathing sarcasm in Chaucer’s judgment of his new world ways and the garments he wears “With fur of grey, the finest in the land; Also, to fasten hood beneath his chin, He had of good wrought gold a curious pin: A love-knot in the larger end there was.” (194-197, Chaucer). The Friar is described as being full of gossip and willing to accept money to absolve sins, quite the opposite of what a servant of God should be like. Chaucer further describes the friar as being a frequenter of bars and intimate in his knowledge of bar maids and nobles alike. The friar seems to be the character that Chaucer dislikes the most, he describes him as everything he should not be based on his profession. The Pardoner as well seems to draw special attention from Chaucer who describes him as a man selling falsities in the hopes of turning a profit “But with these relics, when he came upon Some simple parson, then this paragon In that one day more money stood to gain Than the poor dupe in two months could attain.” (703-706, Chaucer). Chaucer’s description of the pardoner paints the image of a somewhat “sleazy” individual “This pardoner had hair as yellow as wax, But lank it hung as does a strike of flax; In wisps hung down such locks as he 'd on head, And with them he his shoulders overspread; But thin they dropped, and stringy, one by one.” (677-681,

    Read More

  • The Pardoner In The Canterbury Tales

    664 Words  | 2 Pages

    Tales written in Canterbury Tales divulge the characteristics of 31 characters, each one particularly refined in their own unique way. Geoffrey Chaucer made it easy for the reader to divulge oneself in the characteristics of just one character. One of these characters includes the Pardoner. In many of the stories in Canterbury Tales, they often reflect the characteristics of the character telling them, as if each story is meticulously crafted to reflect upon the characters telling them. The Pardoners allegoric tale appears to be especially evident to this, as The Pardoners tale conveys many personal traits including greed, hypocrisy, and arrogance.

    Read More

  • The General Prologue Of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

    666 Words  | 2 Pages

    ​If one has ever read the General Prologue of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, they will find the attitude of Chaucer to be very opinionated and complex toward the members of the clergy. Some of the clergy consists of the Monk, the Prioress (also known as the nun), and the Friar. Chaucer has gone into depth of each one of these members in each section of the Prologue. From reading each section and analyzes his attitude towards each member, it is portrayed that Chaucer has a complex attitude of appreciation and dishonesty towards the members of the clergy.

    Read More

  • Chaucer's Use Of Satire In The Canterbury Tales

    530 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Church is the first institution that Chaucer attacks using satire in The Canterbury Tales. Chaucer wants to attack the church’s hypocrisy. Chaucer decides to create the character of the pardoner to prove his point. Cawthorne conveys, “His Canterbury Tales collects together 24 narratives with a General Prologue and an epilogue or Retraction.” Chaucer describes the character before telling their tale. The Pardoner is a man who steals from the poor. Chaucer says on page 127 line 77, “For though I am a wholly vicious man don’t think I can’t tell moral tales.” The pardoner knows what he does is wrong, but he continues to do it anyway.

    Read More

  • The Meaning of Our Dreams

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    Newltz, Annalee, and Joseph Bennington Castro. "10 Theories That Explain Why We Dream." Io9. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013.

    Read More

  • Freud And The Interpretation Of Dreams By Sigmund Freud

    707 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since the beginning of time, dreams have been a source of mysterious wonder amongst people. Everyone dreams, and those who claim they do not, do dream, however, they are unable to recall their dreams. Prior to psychological research, dreams were interpreted and explained as an unconscious desire, predictions, or subliminal messages. These outdated beliefs existed throughout time until new psychological research came into being. The new psychological research by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung gave rise to new dream theories that helped gain a greater understanding on dream interpretations.

    Read More

More about Essay on The Pardoner of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

Open Document