Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ is characterized by its use of irony, allegory, and satire. Geoffrey Chaucer exposes the harsh truths about life through his ironic depiction of a corrupt clergyman who preaches against sin while simultaneously being very sinful himself. Geoffrey Chaucer uses this character to attack the corruption seen within the church during medieval times. Geoffrey Chaucer also uses symbolism to convey important themes throughout the story.
Geoffrey Chaucer adds another level of satire to his criticism of the church (and society in general) by using this ironical interpretation of Christianity along with symbols that represent elements that would be taking place in pagan-like rituals. A key theme Geoffrey Chaucer addresses within Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ is the hypocrisy found within society. Geoffrey Chaucer begins Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ by introducing three different characters who are all members of the clergy.
Geoffrey Chaucer uses these three characters as representatives for the corrupt nature seen within medieval society. Geoffrey Chaucer introduces The Summoner, who has a specific and negative role in that he calls various people to court and sometimes even forces them to pay fines with the promise of not having to come back again (Gaines 4). Geoffrey Chaucer then introduces The Friar, who cheats his parishioners with petty thefts and does small favors for money (Gaines 4). Geoffrey Chaucer then introduces The Pardoner, who preaches against the seven deadly sins that he himself commits (Gaines 4).
Geoffrey Chaucer’s introduction of these three characters early on in Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ is an ironic depiction of various aspects within the medieval church and society as a whole. For example, Geoffrey Chaucer mocks the corruption within religion by having his protagonist be a corrupt clergyman who preaches against sin while simultaneously being sinful himself (Egan 1287). Geoffrey Chaucer also uses the concept of hypocrisy to criticize society as a whole.
Geoffrey Chaucer exposes how people will pretend to be something they are not just to gain material goods or respect from their friends and family members (Egan 1287). Geoffrey Chaucer’s criticism of society is made evident by the ironic depiction of a corrupt clergyman who preaches against sin while simultaneously being very sinful himself. Another key theme Geoffrey Chaucer addresses within Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ is greed, or covetousness. Geoffrey Chaucer adds to his criticism of corruption within religion by using symbolism that associates the protagonist with the deadly sin of Greed (Moore 7).
Geoffrey Chaucer begins Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ with the line: “Thou lixt, thou loost, thou janglest as a jay” (Chaucer 191). Geoffrey Chaucer’s use of the line “thou lost an” is allusion to the sin of Greed, as Geoffrey Chaucer uses it to satirize those who rejoice in their greed by following a sinful lifestyle and then asking God for forgiveness afterwards. Geoffrey Chaucer also addresses this theme through his use of symbolism when he has pilgrims wearing gold or jewelry be chased away by dangerous fiends, while the greedy are able to continue on their journey safely (Moore 7-8).
Geoffrey Chaucer’s addition of having these sinful characters being protected from evil symbols that represent greed is another example of Geoffrey Chaucer utilizing irony within his story. Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ also addresses Geoffrey Chaucer’s addition of symbolism that depicts the corruption within the medieval church. Geoffrey Chaucer begins Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ with the line: “Greed was an hindrance nearly everywhere” (Chaucer 191).
Geoffrey Chaucer acknowledges how greed is considered to be shameful throughout society, before Geoffrey Chaucer subverts this through having his protagonist be greedy for money by selling pardons, which is ironic given Geoffrey Chaucer’s criticism of priests who use religion for their own personal gain (Moore 5-7). Through Geoffrey Chaucer’s utilization of irony and satire within Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ Geoffrey Chaucer is able to provide a social commentary on the corruption that Geoffrey Chaucer saw within Geoffrey Chaucer’s society.
Another key theme Geoffrey Chaucer addresses within Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ is death and the decay of the human body after death (Egan 1288). Geoffrey Chaucer takes advantage of irony when he pairs the greed prevalent throughout Geoffrey Chaucer’s society with physical decay in order to continue his criticism of society (Moore 8). For example, Geoffrey Chaucers uses Jayber Crow, who constantly worries about dying and losing everything that money can buy, as a representation for how greedy Geoffrey Chaucer’s society is (Moore 8).
Geoffrey Chaucer also uses this theme in Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ to criticize the corruption within Geoffrey Chaucer’s society by including a prioress who murders and robs an innocent Jew, despite claiming to be devout Christian (Egan 1288). Geoffrey Chaucer also addresses Geoffrey Chaucer’s addition of death and decay through the protagonist, who stops selling his pardons because he claims that they do not work anymore because people are dying constantly (Chaucer 192-193). Geoffrey Chaucer further includes this theme when Geoffrey Chaucer has the clergyman say: “the fiend catch my soul but I have my bell.
The pardoner goes on to prove his lack of knowledge through his prologue in which he explains why priests are more qualified than pardons. The way Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘The Pardoner’s Tale,’ is written demonstrates that Geoffrey Chaucer sees the main character as an imposter and does not approve of the actions that the pardoner takes towards both himself and others. Although Geoffrey Chaucer clearly did not believe in what the pardoner did, Geoffrey Chaucer also did not seem to disapprove of everything the pardoner did.
Geoffrey Chaucer merely disapproved of some things about him more than others. For example, Geoffrey Chaucer shows disapproval of how dishonestly self-righteous the pardoner is; Geoffrey Chaucer shows disapproval of how greedy towards money and life the pardoner is; Geoffrey Chaucer also shows disapproval of the pardoner’s love for God because Geoffrey Chaucer sees it as hypocritical.
Geoffrey Chaucer believes that while the pardoner loves God, he does not necessarily show godly traits. This causes Geoffrey Chaucer to believe that the pardoner is a hypocrite and that his love for God is false. Geoffrey Chaucer believes the pardoner to be godly because Geoffrey Chaucer believes that God is a product of people’s imaginations and so Geoffrey Chaucer only uses the pardoner’s love for God to show disapproval of other things about him.
This can be seen when Geoffrey Chaucer writes, “His bootes clasped faire and fetisly,” (945) this demonstrates Geoffrey Chaucer’s disapproval of how flashy the pardoner dresses in order to get more money from his audience. Geoffrey Chaucer disapproves of the fact that he does not dress modestly at all because Geoffrey Chaucer sees it as a way for someone who belongs in church to deceive other people into believing they are holy, while their actions prove otherwise.
Geoffrey Chaucer does not disprove of the fact that this is a hypocritical action, but he instead uses it to show his disapproval of other things about him such as how much money he is willing to take from people in order to repay for their sins when Geoffrey Chaucer would argue that God should do all the work and so Geoffrey Chaucer uses this opening scene within ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ to demonstrate how Geoffrey Chaucer does not believe him to be very godly or holy by any means.