A Character Analysis of the Pardoner
In The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, a group of pilgrims meet up at an inn and soon find out that they are all on a journey to see the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket. The pilgrims agree to go together on the journey and each pilgrim will tell two tales on the way to the tomb, and two tales on the way back. Each of the pilgrims are very different from one another and you can tell their personality by the story they tell. The pardoner is seen as somewhat of a strange man, who many of the pilgrims choose not to trust.
The Pardoner can be described as being a dandy man. Chaucer says that his voice was very “small and goat-like.” (page 15) He also had long and smooth yellow hair with no facial hair attached to his chin. The Pardoner carried a bag full of pardons at his side and many fake religious objects for him to sell as well. Even though there were many fake religious objects on the character, he also fashioned a lot of religious symbols on him such as crosses and a talisman. The narrator also says that he does not choose to wear a hood on his head, instead he would keep it folded up and kept in his bag. The Pardoner’s physical appearance tells us that he tries to show that he is a very religious person; but will probably try to swindle you out of your money.
The Pardoner has a pretty unique personality compared to some of the other pilgrims that are in the group. He is always on the lookout to make a sale, even if it means lying to somebody about it. This makes it seem like he is not really a religious person, or that he doesn’t really care about his preaching. It is said that that he preaches against greed, but his personality reflects that he is a pretty greedy person himself. The pardoner even says in his prologue that he will only “preach to make money.” (page 15) This personality makes the other pilgrims not like him that much. The Pardoner has even said that he would rather take the last penny from a widow and her starving family than to give up his own money. He also uses his tale in order to try and sell pardons to the other pilgrims who are in the group. Much of the other pilgrims look d...
