Character Study of the Pardoner, Term Paper Example

Authors often use mirror images to construct a character–and Chaucer is no exception. The pardoner’s physical image mimicked his spiritual image, which Chaucer used to give structure to The Pardoner’s Tale. The pardoner’s sexual nature remains purposefully elusive. Chaucer uses shadowy innuendo, sexual ambiguity and double entendre to create mystery in defining the sexual nature of the pardoner. Chaucer intentionally did not want this character sexually categorized; instead, he preferred to play with the pardoner’s sexuality, alluding to it but not defining it. Conversely, Chaucer manifested the pardoner as a fraud who would swindle a pious believer into buying bogus indulgences and fake relics. The theme constructs a fitting pardoner persona as it examines his dishonest personality and questionable sexuality so as to determine the true nature of this character as Chaucer wished to present him.

Chaucer paints a gaudy, smug portrait of the pardoner. The verse lines, “This pardoner hadde heer as yellow as wex, / But smothe it heeng as dooth a strike of flex; / By ounces henge his lokkes that he hadde, / And therwith he his shuldres overspradde; / But thynne it lay, by colpons oon and oon.” (The General Prologue 675-679), describe the pardoner’s yellow, flaxen, stringy hair, comprised of disheveled wisps and locks, which hang to his shoulders. He did not wear a clerical cap; the cap was tucked in his wallet and was adorned with a “vernycle” (The General Prologue 685)—or Pilgrim’s badge—while the verse lines, “[h]is wallet lay biforn hym in his lappe, / Bretful of pardoun, comen from rome al hoot” (The General Prologue 686-687),” indicated that his wallet was stuffed with bogus pardons from Rome to be distributed to naïve believers; i.e., he had all the earmarks of a flashy religious charlatan who fancied himself as a fashionable dandy. The man has a “voys” (voice) somewhat like a “goot” (goat), but unlike a goat, he had “no berd … ne nevere sholde have” (The General Prologue 688-689). Judging from these lines, Chaucer describes the pardoner as an effeminate man. Chaucer continues to push the sexuality issue when he states, “I trowe he were a geldyng or a mare” (The General Prologue 691); a gelding is a castrated horse—which makes reference to the pardoner being a eunuch, whereas a mare is a female horse—which would refer again to his effeminacy. Not only does Chaucer use the goat and the horse to allude to the pardoner’s sexuality, but he also uses the rooster. The pardoner’s sermon tells of a sinner who visits an apothecary to buy poison to kill a polecat that is preying upon his capons [“And eek ther was a polcat in his hawe, / That, as he seyde his capouns hadde yslawe” (The Pardoner’s Tale 855-856)]. A capon is a castrated rooster, and Chaucer again refers to a castrated animal to reflect the pardoner’s own castration. Chaucer uses animal innuendos to identify the pardoner’s sexuality as a eunuch, but he gives the character a twist when the pardoner tells how he summons the pilgrims to kneel before him in such a manner that this devout position puts their face right next to his crotch (Burger 1143)—this indicates he also has a flair for sexual perversion. However, he does have a natural gift.

The pardoner’s gift is that of a polished orator at the pulpit. His clear, robust voice accompanied by gestures and props make his sermons noteworthy. His morality stories and life lessons mirror his own sinful life, and his sermons are so brilliantly delivered that his audience will fill a collection basket with silver. He openly admits that his efforts at the pulpit do not originate from a spiritual essence deep within him, but rather from his want of money and material goods [“I preche nothing but for coveitise” (The Pardoner’s Prologue 433), he says, “[a]nd wynne gold and silver for I teche” (440)]. The lines, “For certes, many a predicacioun / Comth ofte tyme of yvel entencioun; / Som for pleasance of folk and flaterye, / To been avaunced by ypocrisye” (407-410), state his true intention for achieving brilliant oratory—greed. He views his religious calling as a way to make money, and feels no guilt when he takes it from a poor servant or widow whose children are starving.

Speaking of money, the pardoner is constantly thinking of new ways to generate money.

His relics are something to behold. As he makes his way through the pilgrimage, he looks like a “moveable shrine endowed with relics unsurpassed by those of anyone else in England” (Burger 1143). Chaucer describes his relic collection to include a pillowcase which he claims was the Virgin Mary’s veil, a piece of Saint Peter’s sail during a meeting with Jesus at sea, and a bottle of pig bones (Chaucer 23-29) which he passes off as holy relics. He even carries two veils, one of which he sewed to his clerical cap or hood and claimed it was Saint Veronica’s veil, and the other, the Virgin Mary’s veil. He was in the business of religious huckstering and would unload these fake relics on some poor, young clergyman and close the transaction with a pocket of money. He was excellent at duping anyone who showed an interest in his relic collection.

An incident pertaining to the pardoner’s fragmented manhood involved the host, Harry Bailey (who was the leader of the pilgrims) and the pardoner himself. Under the cloak of the ministry and at the suggestion of the Knight to reconcile their differences, the pardoner invited Bailey to kiss the relic. This required Bailey to kneel before him. He tells Bailey to “unbokele anon [his] purs” (Chaucer 6.945). Purs had a double meaning: it could either mean a sack of money or a male scrotum. Bailey recoils and says, “Nay, nay! Thanne have I Cristes curs!” Bailey then threatens the pardoner, “I wide I hadde thy coillons [testicles] in myn hold / In stide of relikes / Lat kutte hem of [let them be cut off]” (Chaucer 6.9a62). This was a direct confrontation to the host, and Bailey felt it necessary to back down because he was a man of authority among the pilgrims and did not wish to become a victim to the pardoner’s invitation because he realized he would have to kneel and put his head at the pardoner’s crotch.

In conclusion, the pardoner is one that is comfortable within his own identity. His sexual identity is somewhat ambiguous because he is believed to be a eunuch. Since a part of his maleness is missing, he compensates for it by enjoying the fact that he is unique and different. Chaucer wants us to contemplate his sexuality—perhaps because thinking about cultural and social taboos or deviations from the normal anatomy of a man during the late Medieval times would be the beginning for changing attitudes. While it is true that normal men of this time held places within authority, the pardoner also found his place in Medieval society. He chose to enter the religious order—although he does not hold the respectability of a monk or friar. However, the rank of pardoner does carry some authority as a preacher soliciting money for sermons, indulgences and relics that he happily touts among the pilgrims. His personality mirrors his fragmented manhood because he too is fragmented morally, which he speaks openly of during his sermons. Chaucer was a master at character configuration, and there is no better example of this than the character of the pardoner.

Works Cited

Burger, Glenn. “Kissing the Pardoner.” Publications of the Modern Language Association of America 107.5 (1992): 1143-1156. Print.

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. New York: Bantam Dell, 2006. Print.

Reiff, Raychel Haugrud. “Chaucer’s The Pardoner’s Tale.” The Explicator 57.4 (1999): 195-197. Print.

Toswell, M. J. “Chaucer’s Pardoner, Chaucer’s World, Chaucer’s Style: Three Approaches to Medieval Literature.” College Literature 28.3 (2001): 155-162. Print

Zeikowitz, Richard E. “Befriending the Medieval Queer: A Pedagogy for Literature Classes.” College English 65.1 (2002): 67-80. Print.