Genre type and description
By Natalie
The genre of The Pardoner's Tale is an extended exemplum, a story that shows a character's true morality. The Pardoner chose this tale in order to use it as a sermon. He goes on this journey with an intent to gain gold from people for his false pardons. Chaucer thinks of this as a serious crime and finds nothing to be humorous about the Pardoner’s actions. His actions exemplify the corruption within the church because he had previously revealed his poor intentions to the group and then continued to ask them to buy his relics and pardons. Clearly, the Pardoner did not uphold his estate because in no way did he demonstrate the means of holiness, but rather sin. With the use of the extended exemplum, Chaucer shows the horrible morals of the Pardoner and publicly criticizes the Catholic Church.