The Pardoner

1. The Pardoner http://images.google.com By: Paige Lambert “But let me briefly make my purpose plain; I preach for nothing but for greed of grain… And thus I preach against the very vice, I make my living out of – avarice.” The Pardoner

2. The Pardoner A pardoner is a member of the clergy who has been given power by the pope to forgive sins and grant indulgences (promises made by the Church to reduce the length and severity of punishments due after death). The Pardoner is fairly well off (approximately 100 marks/year) because he can trick anyone into giving him money in return for forgiveness of their sins. The Pardoner answers to the Pope. There is no modern day Pardoner. The Church no longer charges for forgiveness of sins or uses relics. Today, there is less fraud than in Chaucer’s time. In society, a pardoner is the lowest and least liked position in the clergy which is still the highest group of people in society. However, the Pardoner is the least moral of all the Canterbury characters.

3. Physical Description • Long, curly, yellow hair (Cunning and Deceptive) • Bulging Eyes (Gluttony) • Beardless (Craftiness) • Mousy looking • High goat-like voice (Treachery) http://www.sacred-texts.com

4. Emotional Description • Very, very greedy • Dishonest • Covetous • Guiltless • MAJOR HYPOCRITE! http://www.sacred-texts.com

5. What does Chaucer Think? Narrator Chaucer Poet Chaucer • Likes the Pardoner • “In Church he was a noble ecclesiast” (1.729). • “There was no pardoner of equal grace” (l. 713). • Does not like the Pardoner • Note the description • “I preach for nothing but for greed for grain” (l.2). • Throughout the prologue the pardoner admits again and again to being a hypocrite. http://oneeyedman.net

6. Tale Summary Three lewd, rowdy friends are sitting in the tavern when a funeral procession passes by outside. The men ask the serving boy about the procession to which he tells the friends the man was slain by the notorious criminal, Death.

7. Tale Summary The three friends vow to search out Death and kill him. On their search, they encounter an old man also searching for Death. He tells the men he last saw Death up the rode by a tree.

8. Tale Summary The men find the tree, but instead of finding Death, they found a pile of gold. They decide to split the gold three ways. Because they would be accused of thieves if they walked into town with so much gold, they decide to wait until nightfall to bring the gold back into town.

9. Tale Summary The youngest of the men is sent back into town to fetch food and drink to last until nightfall. While he is gone, the two men guarding the gold devise a way to kill their friend and split the gold between themselves. And while in town, the youngest friend buys a vile of poison and slips it in the bottles of wine meant for his friends.

10. Tale Summary When the youngest returns, his friends kill him. After, they drink the poisoned wine and they, too, die.

11. Reflection The Pardoner’s tale clearly reflects his character because his story is about greed. He preaches Radix malorumestcupiditasor “The love of money is the root of all evil,” which is what happened to the characters in the story. Their greed led them to commit crimes against their most beloved friends.