Chaucer's Pardoner and Preaching

Abstract

The very quality of the Pardoner's confession and tale poses a major dilemma in coming to terms with Chaucer's characterization of the noble ecclesiaste. The Pardoner is perhaps the most accomplished storyteller on the Canterbury pilgrimage; and while his eloquence is finally Chaucer's, the mode of narration we encounter in the Pardoner's prologue and tale certainly differs from, for instance, the Miller's Tale where an ostensibly coarse and drunken narrator can tell a story with graceful ease and sober speed. The Pardoner's eloquence is an essential aspect of his character. In his prologue he insists no less than four times upon his skill as a preacher,' practically baits the pilgrims with his abilities as a storyteller,2 and then, in the brilliant sermon-tale which follows, delivers the advertised and pre-packaged goods. The juxtaposition of evil character and rhetorically effective exemplum dramatizes a separation between the speaker's word and deed; and this separation, which I take to be a basic fact in the characterization of the Pardoner, is emphasized by the Pardoner himself: