The Canterbury Tales And The P
...out many inherent flaws of human nature, all of which still apply today. In the phrase, “avarice is the root of all evil” (Hopper, 343), one can fail to realize the truth in this timeless statement because of its repetition throughout history. Whether applied to the corrupt clergy of Geoffrey Chaucer’s time, selling indulgences, or the corrupt televangelists of today, auctioning off salvation to those who can afford it, this truth never seems to lose its validity. Many things have changed since the fourteenth century, but human’s ability to act foolish is not one of them. The best example of this is illustrated in The Pardoner’s Tale. His account of three rioters who set out to conquer Death and instead deliver it upon each other, as well as the prologue which precedes the tale, reveal the truthfulness of the aforementioned statement as it applies to humanity in general and the Pardoner himself.
In Chaucer’s descriptive General Prologue of the character’s, the Pardoner is described in very unflattering terms. Chaucer states that he “had hair as yellow as wax....Hung down thinly…But sparsely it lay, by shreds here and there” (Hopper, 343). Also, described in the General Prologue the Pardoner is described as a “gelding or a mare” (Hopper, 44), the Pardoner is presented as apparently lacking the male sexual organs that would “allow him to assume a straightforward gender identity” (Patterson, 371). The general tone of the description paints a picture of the Pardoner as corrupt and slimy from the very beginning of The Canterbury Tales. This image is carried on throughout, and proven several times over in his preceding speech and tale.
Before the Pardoner begins his tale, he delivers a sort of disclaimer, informing the pilgrims of his practices within the church. The...
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