The Pardoner's Tale Essay

The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, tell a story through a series of poems about of a group of Pilgrims traveling to Canterbury. Stopping at the Tabard Inn in Southwark,a small suburb outside of London, the narrator introduces himself to the pilgrims and gets to know them. By introducing himself to the pilgrims, the narrator forms his own opinions and expresses his impressions of the individual pilgrims in the form of a poem. The Knight, Wife of Bath and the Pardoner show how Chaucer describes different pilgrims by describing a mannered Knight, an extravagant yet experienced woman and a deceiving Pardoner. The Knight is the first to be described by the narrator in the story. The narrator very much admires the Knight in his

His profession is somewhat doubtful because as a pardoner he offered indulgences, or pardons for particular sins. These were normally granted to those people who repented of the sin they had committed. Along with receiving the indulgence, the penitent would donate by giving money to the pardoner for the indulgence. Eventually, this donation became a necessary part of receiving an indulgence. The Pardoner was not supposed to pocket the charitable donations. The Pardoner is described as very well dressed and of a wealthy lifestyle. He is portrayed as a deceptive and deceiving liar by the narrator. “He loudly sang Come hither, love, come home! The Summoner sang deep seconds to this song. No trumpet ever sounded half so strong.” (l. 692-694) Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales told us the story those making a journey traveling to Canterbury.The narrator has no idea who any of the pilgrims are before introducing himself, so he forms opinions very evenly across the pilgrims. The narrator’s own opinions formed this entire tale of the travelling pilgrims. The Knight, Wife of Bath and the Pardoner express Chaucer’s idea of showing that even in the Medieval fourteen-hundreds there were all kinds of people in society a courteous Knight, a worldly and adventurous woman and a deceiving and corrupt