The Character of the Pardoner in Chaucers Canterbury Tales

The Pardoner's Tale is arguably the finest short narrative in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The tale of three men that attempt to kill Death, but instead die themselves is a story of exceptional intellect, moral, and humour. These three qualities are quite unsurprising considering the actual author of these tales. What is surprising though is that the character that tells this fantastic story is the Pardoner. There have been many studies on Chaucer's characterisation of …

…the seriousness that has overtaken him. He allows his speech to go on for too long to allow some joculiarity into the serious tone that has presented itself. It is clear that the Pardoner is not an easy character to understand. He is at times immoral and quite deceitful. While at others he is honest and humorous. The main division therefore lies in whether the weight is placed on his actions or on his words.