A Look at the Pardoner: the Genius of Chaucer The Canterbury Tales is a literary masterpiece in which the brilliant author Geoffrey Chaucer sought out to accomplish various goals. Chaucer wrote his tales during the late 1300’s. This puts him right at the beginning of the decline of the Middle Ages. Historically, we know that a middle class was just starting to take shape at this time, due to the emerging commerce industry. Chaucer was …showed first 75 words of 1950 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1950 total…straight-forwardness and physiognomy, as well as the events that took place at the conclusion of “The Pardoner’s Tale.” Breaking through the surface value of this entertaining piece into the more complex aspects of Chaucer’s writings also gives credit to his greatness. However, it was the way in which Chaucer sought to raise questions concerning the church’s practices, almost as propaganda, that Chaucer showed himself to be a writer ahead of his time.