Contradiction In The Pardoner's Tale

Geoffrey Chaucer, during his time and even today, is considered one of the greatest English poets of the Middle Ages. Through his diverse characters and confounding morals, he is able to capture and relate to a broad audience. One of his more memorable characters is The Pardoner. The Pardoner is an interesting character as he seems to meet the exact opposite of what is expected of him, purposely by Chaucer, to voice a statement. The Pardoner’s introduction and tale encompasses several themes, being it betrayal, hypocrisy, and contradiction in general, all relating back to the deeper meaning and criticism Chaucer makes about humanity. Both the Pardoner’s Prologue and his tale encompass contradiction. Chaucer subtly embeds this theme of contradiction throughout the prologue and the tale through both major plot points and minor details. The first instance of contradiction would have to be the very existence of The Pardoner as he promises to forgive others of their sins in exchange for a profit, thus indulging himself in sin, …show more content…
The Pardoner’s Tale revolves around the idea of betrayal. If the scoundrels had not betrayed one another, they would have walked away alive, each with their own share of treasure. But it is through this act of betraying one another, each of them plotting to murder the others in an act of pure avarice, that the scoundrel’s meet their end. After his tale, The Pardoner demands that his audience pay up for their pardoning. This is such a betrayal to the spectators as they expected to be pardoned of their sins for no price. This betrayal is symbolic as stating that nothing in life is exactly free and that you must make sacrifices in order to gain. The Pardoner uses this idea to further benefit himself, manipulating their guilt and coercing them to do what he wants and ultimately