A Textual Analysis of Chaucer's, The Pardoners Tale.

         The lines show that a lot can be identified in the way in which the Pardoner prevails himself towards his audience and the style of the language that he uses throughout out his speech is also a way in which for us to help identify his character more carefully. His beginning lines within the section prove to us that he is a sinful man, quite ironic however as he himself is a man of the clergy and to be committing the sin of ‘Radix malorum est Cupididitas’ (cupid being the route of all evil) from lines 426-427 which he admits by himself “Thus kan I prche again that same vice Which that I use.” He does not seem to express any admiration of the sin that he commits, which shows what a dishonorable man he is.

        Towards the later of the prologue we are able to learn that this plays a valuable part towards my argument as the Pardoner does in fact brag about the way in which the stories in which he tells are of a fictious nature. He believes he is able to get away with these stories as the people whom he reveals to them to are all considered being uneducated and working society. The selfish character which he is as he is unlike the others within life as is a metaphorical character ‘robbing from the poor in order for him to survive’. It is quite ironic within a way as the Pardoner would not chose to be poor as he perceives them all as lower classes against him, but these people seem to continue to listen to the awful stories he leads them to believe are of some relevance just like his ancient ruins. The man does not deserve to have any respect given to him when he pays none to those ‘below’ him.  As I have stated previously that the mans character is of a wicked and selfish manner, he does not  however seem to sense what he is doing but he does not feel any sense of remorse towards the poor whom he is stealing from. Lines 449- 451 “Al were it yeven of the poverest page Or of the povereste widwe in a village.”  This shows that he is not an honorable man of the clergy if he would not help the dependants within the village. He seems to have persuasiveness about himself as he is clever into having people hand money over to him; this is purely due to the fact that he believes he is of more intelligence than them as he can trick them into this ordeal.  At the very end of the tale he brags to the man that it is time for him to tell another story one of which always proves to be significant to him which usually makes him a lot of money. This can obliviously be seen that he is purely looking for one thing within life to achieve all the money he can order to please him and only him.

        I t can be said that this prologue uses a direct statement in order to reveal that way in which he preaches and the use if his techniques and tricks which he confesses to the crowd. The lines are presented to us within a rhetorical ways which help us to familiarize the character and what is being told to us.  He softens the others within the clergy by showing them the relics which are not of any ancient use they are just ‘fakes’ simply like him. The purpose of theses lines towards the argument I have tried to point across is that he simply a selfish man of a non feminine character.