Carlton Greene
Ms. Morris
English 12- 3rd Period
7 December 2016
Why The Pardoner and The Summoner Are Worse Than The Skipper
The Canterbury Tales is a masterpiece written by Geoffrey Chaucer that introduce many characters in order to create an estates satire. Chaucer also writes about newer classes at the time and the corruption of the church. The Skipper is a pirate who steals and murders without a thought for law or conscience, but his deeds are not as bad as The Pardoner and The Summoner. The Pardoner and The Summoner are a duo of corrupt church officials with a considerable amount of power and skill in what they do. The Canterbury Tales’ Pardoner and Summoner are worse than The Skipper for their corruption, con-artistry, and the exploitation of people’s belief compared to the Skipper’s piracy. First, there is The Summoner’s acceptance of bribes. The Summoner’s willingness to accept bribes such that “He would allow-just for a quart of wine-/ Any good lad to keep a concubine” (Chaucer lines 667-668) which is definitely not something an
…show more content…
The Summoner “could bring duress/ On any young fellow in the diocese. / He knew their secrets, they did what he said” (Chaucer lines 681-683) and would use the threat of excommunication against them. The Pardoner would use his fake holy relics to get quick cash and made sure people paid for pardons. The Summoner does well in using blackmail and extortion in order to get money and afford all the wine that he drinks. The Pardoner also uses his sermons to deliver the hypocritical message of greed being the root of all evil to bolster “his phony showmanship as a Christian” (Sparkes) and gain more money. Both of them do not care about exploiting other people’s beliefs in order to acquire monetary gain and both “represent the wider extent and abuse of ecclesiastical power and influence” (Thompson), which most characters in The Canterbury Tales