In the prologue of “The Pardoner’s Tale”, the protagonist reveals the truth about his real essence. He explains to people that he is a hypocrite, and although he is ordained to forgive people’s sins and help them avoid bad practices in the future, in reality, he is a sinner himself. From the very beginning of the tale’s prologue to its very end, the main character confesses his lawlessness and immoral way of living.
In the first lines of the prologue, we read:
First I pronounce whennes that I come,
And than my bulles shewe I, alle and some.
Our life lordes seel on my patente,
That shewe I first, my body to warente,
That no man be so bold, ne preest ne clerk,
Me to destourbe of Cristes holy werk (Chaucer para. 335-340).
In these words, the main protagonist explains that his authority to forgive sins is given by the Holy Church that acts on behalf of Jesus’ name, and, thus, people should respect and obey him. Then the pardoner shifts to describing his miraculous belonging, stating that he possesses the bones and cloths of holy people and animals which are able to save from any harm including diseases, oaths, bites of venomous animals, and even the bursts of anger and jealousy. Gradually, he begins to give people hints that these incredible possessions may become their property, and this can be so for a little fee. Thus, he shows himself as a haymaker rather than a man of godly devotion.
Next, the pardoner begins to advert his unique empowerment from the pope to forgive sinners; however, he does not only describe what he can do for the sinners who need forgiving, but he explains what they must do, stating that only those who make offerings to Christ will receive god’s favor and mercy.
Suddenly, an abrupt change occurs in the pardoner’s narration as he begins to confess in his lawlessness. First, he says that the practice of forgiving sins is nothing more than the business that helps him earn as much as 100 golden coins a year. He says that he is a showman who organizes performances for stupid people, and then, he bleeds them white (Chaucer para. 392-395). The pardoner describes the only reason behind his activity in the following way, “Is al my preching, for to make hem free to yeve her pens, and namely unto me’ (Chaucer para. 402,403). These words mean that the man only needs money, and does not care about people, about their sins, whether they are deadly or not, and he does not care about anything as long as he can get his precious “pens”. He adds that sometimes he preaches just revenge to those who speak bad things about him, and thus, he is satisfied because he mixes them up with dirt and totally ruins their reputation. So, he warns people about the danger of becoming his enemies.
In the final part of the prologue, the protagonist reveals how terribly bad his corruption is. We read: “I wol have money, wolle, chese, and whete, al were it yeven of the povrest page” (Chaucer para. 449,450). This means that he needs the abundance of money that he receives in an illegal way for a particular purpose, and the purpose is to drown in excessive drinking and immorality.
References
Chaucer, Geoffrey 2007, The Pardoner’s Tale. Web. 2008.