Sexuality In The Pardoner's Tale

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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 …show more content…

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

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