Use Of Satire In The Pardoner's Tale

Satire in the Pardoner’s Tale The pardoner in The Canterbury Tales, preaches against greed. His motto being, "Money is the root of all evil," but, he himself is greedy and puts his financial desires above others and God. His tale is about the From the Pardoner's perspective, the Physician told a cheaply pious story and the Host, a sanctimonious fool, reacts to the tale with what seems high praise. Then, after praising the Physician, the Host turns to the Pardoner and asks for a merry tale or jokes ("som myrthe or japes"), even though preaching is the Pardoner's profession. The Pardoner agrees by mockingly echoing the same oath the Host has just used — "By Saint Ronyon." The echo of the Host indicates, if anything at all, the Pardoner's irritation at hearing the Physician praised as being "like a Prelate" ("lyk a prelat"). The Pardoner is further insulted when some members of the company
However, one of the two, the Pardoner, possesses enough self-knowledge to know what he is; the other, the Physician, being self-satisfied and affected, does not. The function of a pardoner in Chaucer's time was to collect moneys for charitable purposes and to be the Pope's special agent in dispensing or rewarding contributors with certain pardons as a remission for sins. By canon law, a pardoner was required to remain in a certain area; within this area, he could visit churches, receive contributions, and, in the Pope's name, dispense indulgences. An honest pardoner was entitled to a percentage of the take; however, most pardoners were dishonest and took much more than their share and, in many cases, would take all the contributions. Thus, as he boasts, Chaucer's Pardoner belongs to the latter class — that is, he speaks of how much he collects by refusing to give indulgences to anyone except the very good