The Pardoner If the Summoner received Chaucer’s unmitigated disapproval, the Pardoner is a personification of absolute evil. A Pardoner sells papal indulgences and relics. He preached that Papal indulgences pardoned the sins committed in one’s life and ensured a place in purgatory instead of hell. Pardoners made a commercial business out of sale of indulgences as they made them easily available through payment of money. Chaucer’s Pardoner has come straight from Rome …showed first 75 words of 276 total…

…showed last 75 words of 276 total…absence of facial hair indicates that he is a eunuch. He rides ‘dischevelee’ and his hood is in his bag. He wears a vernicle on his cap to indicate his official authority. His special skill lies in singing at the offertory to extract maximum money from the people. The Pardoner does not invite Chaucer’s gentle irony but harsh sarcasm. There is an outright condemnation of the Pardoner’s mal-practices and moral corruption. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**