Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales, a collection of short stories written from
1380, depict many short stories of various pilgrims who make their journey
to Canterbury to the shrine of Thomas Becket. Among the various pilgrims
featured in the Canterbury Tales, the Pardoner is one of the most fully realized
characters. Set in the Middle Ages in the 16th century this work reveals teachings
that help the reader learn more about a fictional side of all of the pilgrims
through short stories. Chaucer's pilgrim, the Pardoner, is described as being
greedy, selfish, and self-loathing. Chaucer's assertion is that the Pardoner is
not a moral man, but he nevertheless has a moral system to which he most
Geoffrey Chaucer was the preeminent English poet in the Middle
Ages. Chaucer was born in the early 1340s to middle-class family. His
father, John Chaucer, was a vintner and deputy to the king's butler. His family's
financial success came from work in the wine and leather businesses. Little
information exists about Chaucer's education, but his writings demonstrate
a close resemblence with a number of important books of his contemporaries
and of earlier times. Chaucer's interest in pilgrims derived from works of
Giovanni Boccaccio, a famous Italian poet. This shows how Chaucer came
to be known as a great poet. Chaucer first appears in public records in
1357 as a member of the house of Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster. In 1369
Chaucer composed his first important poem, The Book of Duchess, in memory
of John of Gaunt's wife, who died of the plague. Also, Chaucer was a well-
known governmet official who served under three kings-Edward III, Richard
II, and Henry IV. Chaucer faced many challenges through his life and struggled
Chaucer began writing the Canterbury Tales in 1387, during a few
years of unemployment when his patron was out of the country. His reason
in writin...