The Pardoner, His Personality, and His Tale

The pardoner continued to narrate to the treacherous, wicked, gluttonous, hazardous, speakers of blasphemy, and all sinners. He preaches that God gave His only son for the forgiveness of all sinners. He says that by his own forgiving powers can mankind be forgiven and given Heaven's bliss.

The Pardoner

• Blonde, long hair
• No facial hair
• Confusion about his sexuality (man, woman, or a mix of both)

The Pardoner's

Personality & Reputation

• The Pardoner was not well liked, especially by the Host, who questions the authenticity of the relics that the Pardoner carries with him.
• The Pardoner was not a true spiritual man, which can be seen through his fake relics and the abuse of his authority.
• Greedy and very hypocritical

The Pardoner: Occupation

Pardoners travel around and sell official church pardons, which may have been pieces of paper showing the signature of a bishop. These grant the holder the forgiveness of sins. This Pardoner also trades relics, or pieces of clothing, bones, and other objects that used to belong to long-dead saints. Some relics he claims to posses are the veil of Mary and a piece of St. Peter's sail,

also, he carries a jar full of pigs' bones

with which he can cheat a lot of

money from unfortunate

people.

The Pardoner: More Occupation

• The Pardoner is a good preacher, but he even tells the other pilgrims that he only preaches to win money by scolding people of their sins so that they would more likely to buy his pardons.
• Even after telling the other pilgrims about his occupation, he tries to sell his relics to them.

Summary of

His Tale

The pardoner's tale starts with three merry men in a bar who would live

and die for one another and are as close as brothers. These men hear

the bell preceding a funeral parade. After finding out the dead man whom

that parade was for was a friend of theirs who was at the bar the night before

and was killed by a thief known as Death. The bartender told them of a town that Death may be in, so at once the men set out to find their friend's killer. On their way to the town they saw a man who was very old and completely covered except his head. They found out that the man was not able to find anyone to give him their youth and Death even refused to kill him, so he was stuck in life to live as he was until God willed him to die. After asking the old man where Death was, the three men ran to the tree under which the ancient man told them Death was. When they reached the tree they saw a great amount of wealth and the most evil of them said to spend the wealth

easily for they were given the wealth by Fortune. They were to wait

until night to move the wealth to their homes, so they drew straws

to see which one would run to town for food and drink so they

could wait until night.

The Pardoner and His Tale

Summary of His Tale: Continued

The youngest of the three pick the short straw and ran to town. As soon as he turned, the other two plotted to keep

the gold to themselves by killing the youngest when he returns while pretending that it is merely a game. Similarly, the youngest man plotted to buy poison to kill the other two so he may have the gold for himself. So he plotted and never intended to repent. The apothecary he bought the poison from told the young man that no living thing can live through ingesting the poison and will surely be dead within the time it takes to walk a mile. The youngest man poured the poison into two out of the three flasks he bought and poured wine into all three flasks. One of these flasks he kept clear for himself to drink of. At the return of the youngest man, the

two other men killed him just as they plotted, then sat

down to have a drink. They then died from the

poison from the youngest man.

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.

Sources

• Murphy. "The Pardoner, His Prologue, and His Tale." Web. 29 Mar. 2015.
• Shmoop Editorial Team. "The Pardoner in The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue & Frame Story." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 29 Mar. 2015.
• "The Pardoner's Tale." <i>Wikipedia</i>. Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Feb. 2015. Web. 29 Mar. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pardoner's_Tale>.
• "The Canterbury Tales." <i>Chaucer's Canterbury Tales ~ Presented by ELF</i>. 1 Jan. 2013. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.

By: Jackie Seitz