Essential #6

There are many parallels that can be drawn between the Pardoner’s prologue and his tale. The definition of a pardoner is a medieval ecclesiastic authorized to raise money for religious works by granting papal indulgences to contributors. In the definition we see a sin that the Pardoner preaches against. In the tale he preaches against gluttony, indulgences, fraud and vulgarity. The Pardoner is guilty of all the vices he speaks about. This tale is different from the others that we have read. In the first two stories the focus is on love and friendship, but in the Pardoner’s tale the focus is on the negative aspects of life and how they should be avoided. The Pardoner only speaks about love of money. His story focuses on sins because if he gets people to think of their sins they may buy pardons from him. His job is to make money and his story is just a way for him to continue his business.