The Pardoner is a particularly bad person, not just by his immoral behavior, but also in the way he deceives people. As a representative of the church, he’s allowed to give sermons and convince people to buy pardons. He uses this position to satisfy his own selfish cravings, which he confesses to the other pilgrims.
How do you describe the Pardoner?
The Pardoner is a swindler, a smooth-talking cleric who offers pardons for sin in exchange for money (known as “indulgences” in the Middle Ages). He admits his hypocrisy, but his love for money, food, and liquor stop him from ending his vices.
What kind of person is the Pardoner?
Chaucer’s Pardoner is a highly untrustworthy character. He sings a ballad—“Com hider, love, to me!” (General Prologue, 672)—with the hypocritical Summoner, undermining the already challenged virtue of his profession as one who works for the Church.
How can you describe the Pardoner who told the tale?
The Pardoner is an enigmatic character, portrayed as grotesque in the General Prologue. He is seemingly aware of his sin – it is not clear why he tells the pilgrims about his sin in the prologue before his tale commences. His preaching is correct and the results of his methods, despite their corruption, are good.
What are a few characteristics of the Pardoner?
The Pardoner has long, greasy, yellow hair and is beardless. These characteristics were associated with shiftiness and gender ambiguity in Chaucer’s time. The Pardoner also has a gift for singing and preaching whenever he finds himself inside a church.
Is the Pardoner a good guy?
The pardoner tells the story and emphasizes the sins of others. He uses the story to provoke the other pilgrims to buy his pardons. This shows that the pardoner is a greedy, hypocritical man. Still, he is a good preacher and the message of his tale, though corrupted, is also good.
Is the Pardoner an honest man?
In his prologue, the Pardoner frankly confesses that he is a fraud motivated by greed and avarice and that he is guilty of all seven sins. Even though he is essentially a hypocrite in his profession, he is at least being honest as he makes his confession.
Is the Pardoner manipulative?
The Pardoner is known for cheating people and stealing their money through his selling of false relics. Through his tale, he manipulates his audience by inspiring repentance through his ability to evoke emotions of shame, guilt, and fear.
What is ironic about the Pardoner himself?
The Pardoner tells a story with the intention of teaching the company that greed is the root of all evil, yet he tries to swindle them and get contributions even after he admits they are fake. This is ironic because he should be practicing what he preaches, but he does the exact opposite.
What is the Pardoner like in Canterbury Tales?
The Pardoner of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is the epitome of avarice in medieval literature. He cheats his patrons, selling them fake religious relics, pedaling papal pardons for his own profit, and bragging about these exploits along the way.
How does Chaucer view the Pardoner?
Pardoners were laypeople who had the authority to sell indulgences, and Chaucer makes his Pardoner particularly bad. Through his narrator, whose voice is often ironic–seeming to convey information in an objective fashion but also criticizing it–Chaucer portrays the Pardoner as callous, immoral, and decadent.
Why is the Pardoner untrustworthy?
Chaucer’s Pardoner is hypocritical, selfish and unreliable despite his tacit desire to preach and encourage others to pursue a life free of blasphemy, gluttony and materialism.
Is the Pardoner greedy?
The Pardoner demonstrates his theme that “greed is the root of all evil” not only in his tale, but also in his “confession” of the methods he uses to make money. His greed leads him to preach a sermon whose main purpose is to get the listeners to buy his relics and pardons.
What sins did the Pardoner commit?
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales”, the Pardoner committed sins through gluttony and avarice; the Wife of Bath through Pride and Lust; and also the Monk through gluttony and wrath.
Is the Pardoner a villain?
Thus, while the Pardoner is the most evil of the pilgrims, he is nevertheless the most intriguing. The most provocative thing about the Pardoner is his open revelation about his own hypocrisy and avarice.
Is the Pardoner virtuous or dishonest?
Therefore, the Pardoner of The Canterbury Tales is a virtuous being. First, the Pardoner believes that greed, if practiced correctly, is not the root of all evil. Next, despite his claim that he doesn’t care about his audience, the Pardoner hopes to rescue people with his artful sermons.
Is the Pardoner immoral?
Of the twenty-four existing tales, the Pardoner’s is one of the most intriguing. While he himself is an entirely immoral character, he tells an entertaining and very moral tale. The Pardoner’s moral tale, while he is immoral, is a true example of Chaucer’s ability to match tale to teller.
What is the Pardoner’s moral?
The Pardoner’s tale is presented as a straightforward fable with an obvious moral. Greed is the root of all sin, and the wage of sin is death.
How is the Pardoner corrupt?
Here, the Narrator reveals telling details about the Pardoner, perhaps the most corrupt character in the group. Here, readers learn that the Pardoner uses false flattery to manipulate and make a fool of the local priest and congregation. In addition, the Pardoner uses his pleasing voice for profit.
What is the Pardoner’s main motivation?
The Pardoner has composed this wonderfully powerful Tale (sermon) in such a way as to move his hearers to the utmost. Only his motivation in doing this is not love (a desire to save them from their sins) but vice (a desire to make them anxious so that they give him much money) (Anthony, n.d.).
How is the Pardoner prideful?
The Pardoner demonstrates his pride when he mentions getting “silver things” from just about everyone when he preaches. He enjoys boasting about the valuables he receives from others. At the conclusion of his tale the Pardoner shows wrath with their ever grateful host.