The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Chaucer's Pardoner is unique within the group travelling to Canterbury. While the Parson, the Wife of Bath, the Clerk, and others would love to sway the group toward their respective opinions and views, the Pardoner intends to swindle the group out of its money. His sermons are based on sound theology, but they are rendered hollow by his complete lack of integrity in applying them to his own life. He is a hypocrite - his root intention is to accrue money. Curiously, the Pardoner is openly honest about the nature of his operations.
With power, man loses his own ideals, perverts a utopian aim surpassing his own laws. Despite Moliere’s attempt to depict a true hypocrite in Tartuffe, he fails. Moliere’s Tartuffe is said to depict the true hypocrite because it’s main character Tartuffe, acts like a pious man while his intentions are in fact, very cruel. True to the definition of hypocrisy, Tartuffe’s actions are in complete disagreement with his thoughts. However, contrary to Gilde’s complete description of the word, Tartuffe has not ceased ‘to perceive his deception’.
His objective, however, is not to garner sympathy; it is to showcase his manipulative talents, to expose the gullibility and selfish depravity which underlie many displays of religious belief, and to shock, mock and violently strip his listeners of their illusions. In the Canterbury Tales, the Pardoner is the cynical but authoritative voice of truth at its most foul. If a man is clever and perceptive -- if he is not prone to self-delusion, if he has keen insight into himself, into others and into human nature -- then that man will have an ability to manipulate and exploit others -- that is, a consequent temptation to be villainous - that dimmer bulbs will lack. In blunt terms: knowledge is power, and power corrupts. The converse is also true: if a man is willing to commit himself to villainy, he will be more likely to discover, through exploiting them, the weaknesses, depravities and delusions with wh... ... middle of paper ... ...lieve it.
Geoffrey Chaucer's masterpiece "The Canterbury Tales" depicts characters from every stratum of feudal society and exposes the contradictions of the character's social roles. As a Church representative, the Pardoner, for instance, is to be a scammer of gullible believers. His tale is an ironic narrative that speaks about human morality. The Pardoner's tale is of three men finding fortune to have a better life and defeat death, but end up killing each other. Though the use of irony in "The Pardoner's Tale" satirizes both the corruption of the Catholic Church and individual human greed and materialism as evidenced by the characters in the tale and the Pardoner himself.
His mask is very unique in that he is dependable and informative, yet he will stab you in the back the moment it becomes convenient for him. No man can be more two-faced when he has incredibly selfish desires, hidden under a veil of well-meaning intentions. The falsehoods of Iago are the driving force throughout the story, and his mask never changes because it serves a double-purpose. Roderigo, an initially well-intentioned man who is lovestruck for Desdemona, is corrupted by Iago’s deceptive lies. His mask portrays his sadness and melancholy behavior, seeking sympathy from the manipulative Iago.
The author Chaucer shows the Pardoner preaches against greed which is ironic considering the Pardoner's hypocritical actions. Chaucer the author shows how the Pardoner uses his position as an employee of the Church to extort the poor, pocketing of indulgences, and failure to abide by teachings against jealousy and avarice. The juxtaposition of the church values and the characteristics of the Pardoner indicate the author’s satirical view on the Pardoner.
This reflects a more realistic attitude: one of uncertainty and confusion. The pardoner is a dynamic character that seems very realistic. Kittredge's hypothesis that the pardoner was once a sincere friar, corrupted by his trade, seems very likely. Despite his corruption, the pardoner has "a moment of moral convulsion," revealing a complex personality that seems more realistic than an emotionless and completely corrupted shell. "The Pardoner's Tale", despite what critics may say, does not violate the "dramatic propriety" that is critical to literary work.
As already stated Roderigo is used yet trusts Iago and we can understand this because to some extent he is claimed to be stupid. For Bradley to point out that Othello is merely tricked, as anyone else would have been is purely contradictory to the last of his quotes. "Othello's mind, for all its poetry, is very simple. He is not observant" BRADLEY It is this alone that allows him the leeway in which he can organize and carry out the acts of villainy that strife this play. The character undoubtedly commits a series of crimes against his fellow peers, some which lead to death.
Twain uses Huck to exhibit his objection to the blind faith that civilized society places towards religion. During Huck and Jim’s journey, they encounter two men who refer to themselves as the Duke and Dauphin. These two men make their living by stealing and cheating people out of their money. When they are eventually caught they pay for their sins by being “tarred and feathered.” Huck expresses his thoughts on the subject by saying, “It was a dreadful thing to see. Human beings can be awful cruel to one another” (Twain294).
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. His sermon-like stories and false relics fool the people of the towns he visits and make him seem as a plausible man, which is exactly what the pardoner wants. In fact, the pardoner is an avaricious and deceitful character whose driving force in life is his motto, “Radix malorum est cupiditas,” which is Latin for “greed is the root of evil.” The pardoner’s entire practice is based upon his motto and is motivated entirely by greed.