The Pardoner's Tone in the Pardoner's Tale

The Pardoner's tone throughout the Pardoner's Tale
Beneath his bravado, there is an impression that he feels poor regarding his behavior. Most likely this is due to his ego is so went to far. . He tries to appreciate the best in a person by his quite poor endeavor to cover-up his own selfishness: “But that is nat my principal entente ; / I preche nothyng but for coveitise .” His tone transforms from time to time to chastise himself yet somehow he automatically comes back in showing people his love to dishonesty together with deceit.

The narrator feels superior to the people he’s talking about. He is avaricious and unrepentant. The Pardoner is motivated by profit and does not apologize for this. The Pardoner's tone throughout the Pardoner's Tale gives us a picture of a religious man grappling with questions of faith. In his prologue, he talks about the different vices he preaches against, like hypocrisy, pride, laziness and dishonesty. A lot of people want to do the wrong thing and take the easy way out, but he shows them the error of their ways. This shows a concerned attitude his audience--he wants them to be better people. The prologue also makes clear that he take a critical tone toward himself. For example, in line 331 in the prologue, he says, "And rynge it out as round as gooth a belle." This comparison to a round bell shows that he worries about his own physical appearance: he worries that he is fat, or "round," like a bell.
The pardoner wants to help everyone be better people, but sometimes he feels despair. His tone changes to a very sad one after his tale is over, at line 895. He has a despairing tone because he repeats phrases such as "O traytours homycide, O wikkednesse! O glotonye, luxurie, and hasardrye!" But notice that one of the words he uses is "gluttony." He is despairing over mankind's sinfulness in general, but he is also projecting his own personal guilt that he eats too much and is obese.
Finally, his tone changes to a more hopeful one after this, after line 904. He hopes that God will forgive everyone their sins and calls his fellow pilgrims "good men." This suggests an attitude of fellowship towards his audience. This is challenged when the Host says that the Pardoner's breeches are stained with excrement and that he wishes he had the Pardoner's testicles in his hand so he could castrate him. He probably says this because he has suppressed homosexual feelings towards the Pardoner, especially since he kisses the Pardoner at the end of the passage. The Pardoner doesn't insult the Host back, though. He suffers in silence. This suggests that he is a Christ figure, and maybe his more hopeful attitude towards sinners wins out in the end. The Pardoner is pretty unapologetic about his life of crime. He is as corrupt as others in his profession. He cheats people by selling them fake relics and absolving their sins for a price. He loves money and brags about his amoral lifestyle. His tone does change. Beneath his bravado, there is a sense that he feels bad about his actions. Perhaps this is because his boasts are so over the top. He attempts to see the good in people by his rather weak attempt to cover up his own selfishness: “But that is nat my principal entente; / I preche nothyng but for coveitise.” His tone changes periodically to chastise himself but he quickly returns in showing the travellers his delight in his lies and deceit.