The Pardoner In Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

In the “Prologue” of The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer sketches out each character that appears in his stories. For both the summoner and pardoner specifically, Chaucer emphasizes imagery and details to convey the idea that one’s religious standing does not affect their moral one. Through the characterization of the summoner and pardoner, Chaucer reveals that even the holiest of people can be corrupt. By characterizing the summoner using imagery and details, Chaucer demonstrates that immorality does not discriminate against religious views. He describes the summoner’s face as “on fire, like a cherubin” with “black scabby brows” framing his “narrow” eyes and “pimples sitting on his cheeks” (Chaucer 624-625, 627, 633). From the description,

The description is so disturbing that the reader can picture an ugly man as they read. As discussed in class, by describing the summoner as an unattractive man through using strong imagery, Chaucer conveys the possibility that the grotesqueness of the summoner is more than just skin-deep. The negative tone in the imagery of the summoner demonstrates Chaucer’s negative attitude towards the summoner; thus, even the churchman, someone who typically aligns with Christianity’s morals, is presented as a corrupt official. In addition to imagery, Chaucer uses details to describe the summoner’s immoral actions. He states that the summoner is “lecherous as a sparrow” and “drinking strong red wine till all was hazy” (626, 635). Lecherous means excessive sexual desire, and sparrows are common birds, thus Chaucer probably means that the summoner’s activities were typically promiscuous. Churchmen at the time were supposedly celibate, so it is unusual that the summoner is not. In addition to this, Chaucer describes how the summoner tells people that they can pay their way out of punishment as “for in his purse the punishment should