Often times literature can be used as a historical reference providing the reader with an illustration of a culture through stories set in a particular time period. The Canterbury Tales is no exception. Although the stories are fabricated, they show common social issues and provide a view of the life in author Geoffrey Chaucer's time. Many of his tales have similarities in theme. One of the many recurring points depicted is corruption in the church. When thinking of church in Medieval Europe that first thought likely to come to one's mine would be something of a conservative, strict and virtuous clergy. The Pardoner's tale is a depiction of religious fraudulence. It provides and intimate portrayal of a highly respected religious figure who reveals his selfish deceitful and hypocritical nature. It shocks the reader to find that the Pardoner whom people trust to pray for their sin is recklessly sinful himself.
In terms of the Pardoner's position in society, his job as a consists of selling relics, absolving sins, and collecting donations on behalf of the church. His true personality becomes evident when he begins to reveal secrets about his job to the pilgrims. The Pardoner's Tale is preceded by a prologue in which the he repeats a phrase stating that avarice is the root of all evil (128). But, immediately after he utters this sermon about the dangers of greed, he begins to sell relics. The Pardoner admits that these are powerless, miscellaneous items he has gathered, yet he still scandalously tries to sell them. He claims, however, that these relics are blessed by saints and sells these to the pilgrims for his own financial gain. "Then I bring all my long glass bottles out crammed full of bones and ragged bits of clout. Relics they are, at least for such are know" (126). When it is his turn to tell a tale, the Pardoner first goes on a tangent and reveals more characteristics about himself which makes the tale he tells that much more contradictory.
