Canterbury Tales Sin Quotes

He hadde maad ful many a mariage Of yonge wommen at his owene cost - Friar in The Canterbury Tales

He hadde maad ful many a mariage
Of yonge wommen at his owene cost.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue. On first reading, it might appear that the Friar is a generous fellow, as this passage says that he has made many a marriage of young women at his own cost. But far from it! What is implied here that he arranges marriages for these young women because they are his mistresses and are pregnant, so breaking his vow of chastity. So much for the life of piety he is supposed to be leading!

Ful swetely herde he confessioun,
And plesaunt was his absolucioun:
He was an esy man to yeve penaunce,
Ther as he wiste to have a good pitaunce.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue. God’s forgiveness does not come free, it seems. The Friar offers a friendly ear in confession to penitants…but at a price. This corrupt and despicable character uses confessions as his course of income. Selling forgiveness is subverting the sacrament of penance and God’s forgiveness, which is supposed to be given freely to the true penitant. Friar Hubert is religious in name only, he’s the one who should go to confession and seek forgiveness for his sins.

For unto a povre ordre for to yive
Is signe that a man is wel yshryve;
For if he yaf, he dorste make avaunt,
He wiste that a man was repentaunt.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue. In the Friar’s Alice in Wonderland version of Christianity, a sinner makes a true confession and shows repentance by giving him a donation! After all the Friar is a member of a "povre ordre" (poor order), isn’t he? So much for remorse, showing true sorrow for your sins and acts of restitution – which is what confession is meant to be about! But greedy Hubert has turned the sacrament into a nice earner for himself.

For many a man so hard is of his herte,
He may nat wepe, althogh hym soore smerte.
Therfore in stede of wepynge and preyeres
Men moote yeve silver to the povre freres.
His typet was ay farsed ful of knyves.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue. This is a comical, hilarious and ironic description of the life of Friar Hubert. His pockets are lined with silver, as sinners in the confessional are urged to spare the tears and prayers for their wrongdoings, and give silver instead. Chaucer is superbly ironic in his reference to "to povre freres." But no poverty for this Friar!

He wolde techen him to have noon awe
In swich caas of the ercedekenes curs,
But if a mannes soule were in his purs;
For in his purs he sholde ypunysshed be.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue. The Summoner has created a nice little earner for himself when dealing with people accused of violating Church law before the ecclestiastical court. A person faced with excommunication for some infraction can simply have the threat removed if he offers the Summoner a bribe. What does the Bible say about the wages of sin?

For in his male he hadde a pilwe-beer,
Which that he seyde was Oure Lady veyl:
He seyde he hadde a gobet of the seyl
That Seint Peter hadde, whan that he wente
Upon the see, til Jhesu Crist hym hente.
He hadde a croys of latoun ful of stones,
And in a glas he hadde pigges bones.
But with thise relikes, whan that he fond
A povre person dwellynge upon lond,
Upon a day he gat hym moore moneye
Than that the person gat in monthes tweye;
And thus, with feyned flaterye and japes,
He made the person and the peple his apes.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue. Though representing the Church, the Pardoner is quite simply a conman and hypocrite who exploits other people’s fears and faith for his own profit. In this passage he takes from the poor. He has a pillowcase full of fake relics and crosses that he charges people to view. He fools a poor parson and his parishioners with these, managing to earn more money in a day than the parson earns in a month. If ever there was a sinner in need of a Pardoner, it’s the Pardoner!

"Shewe forth thyn ers, and lat the frere se
Where is the nest of freres in this place!"
And er that half a furlong wey of space,
Right so as bees out swarmen from an hyve,
Out of the develes ers ther gonne dryve
Twenty thousand freres on a route.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Summoner’s Prologue. In hell the angel asks Satan to lift up his tail and show the friar where the nest of friars is, the Summoner says. Suddenly twenty thousand friars swarm out of Satan’s backside like bees out of a hive, he adds, using a vivid simile. Far from the image of holiness and devotion to God usually associated with friars, here they are savagely satirized and portrayed as mortal sinners destined for hell.

The frere ariseth up ful curteisly,
And hire embraceth in his armes narwe,
And kiste hire sweete, and chirketh as a sparwe
With his lyppes: "Dame," quod he, "right weel,
As he that is youre servant every deel,
Thanked be God, that yow yaf soule and lyf!
Yet saugh I nat this day so fair a wyf
In al the chirche, God so save me!"

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Summoner’s Tale. The Friar embraces Thomas’s wife tightly in his arms, kisses her sweetly and flirts with her. Using a simile, we are told how the Friar chirps like a sparrow to her that he how he had not seen so fair a wife in all the church that day. There is a hint here of the Friar’s sexual interest in Thomas’s wife, forbidden and sinful territory to a churchman who had taken a vow of celibacy.

Goode men and wommen, o thyng warne I yow:
If any wight be in this chirche now
That hath doon synne horrible, that he
Dar nat, for shame, of it yshryven be,
Or any womman, be she yong or old,
That hath ymaked hir housbonde cokewold,
Swich folk shal have no power ne no grace
To offren to my relikes in this place.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Prologue. This neat sales pitch has to win Salesman and Marketer of the Year Award for the Pardoner! He uses it when trying to sell his fake "relics" to church congregations. He tells them that anyone who is guilty of a serious sin will have no power to purchase his relics. He specifically mentions wives who have committed adultery – are women his best customers? Boy, you can see them queuing up after that, purses out, to prove that they are without sin!

And whoso fyndeth hym out of swich blame,
He wol come up and offre a Goddes name,
And I assoille him by the auctoritee
Which that by bulle ygraunted was to me.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Prologue. After telling the church congegration that no one guilty of serious sin can buy his fake relics, the Pardoner cleverly offers them an alternative. Buy one of his papal pardons, he suggests, and he will absolve them by the authority that has been granted to him by papal bull! The Pardoner is one shrewd salesman who doesn’t miss a trick.

By this gaude have I wonne, yeer by yeer,
An hundred mark sith I was pardoner.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Prologue. The Pardoner boasts that he makes a good living from his different con tricks, including selling fake relics, sheep bones with miraculous powers and magic mittens. Chaucer pains a very satirical and cynical portrait of the licensed seller of indulgences – ecclesiastical pardons of sins – who himself repeatedly commits the cardinal sin of greed.

I stonde lyk a clerk in my pulpet,
And whan the lewed peple is doun yset,
I preche so as ye han herd bifoore
And telle an hundred false japes moore.
Thanne peyne I me to strecche forth the nekke,
And est and west upon the peple I bekke,
As dooth a dowve sittynge on a berne.
Myne handes and my tonge goon so yerne
That it is joye to se my bisynesse.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Prologue. The cynical Pardoner prides himself on his theatrical air that he employs to preach his false stories to the uneducated people. Using a simile, he likens himself to a dove sitting atop a barn, stretching forth his neck to peer down at the people, hands and tongue working so quickly that it’s a joy to see him in action. You nearly admire how skilled this conman is at suckering money out of the faithful – in the name of religion! As well as greed, he is guilty of another of the Seven Deadly Sins here – pride!

Of avarice and of swich cursednesse
Is al my prechyng, for to make hem free
To yeven hir pens, and namely unto me.
For myn entente is nat but for to wynne,
And nothyng for correccioun of synne.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Prologue. The Pardoner confesses that he is in the indulgences business not for the correction of sin, but to make profit for himself. He preaches against avarice so that people will be generous and give money offerings, which he unashamedly pockets to support his lifestyle. This Church representative has found the perfect con – and cover! At least he is honest enough to admit his hypocrisy.

Thus kan I preche agayn that same vice
Which that I use, and that is avarice.
But though myself be gilty in that synne,
Yet kan I maken oother folk to twynne
From avarice and soore to repente.
But that is nat my principal entente;
I preche nothyng but for coveitise.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Prologue. As avarice is a sin practised by the Pardoner himself, he believes that he is in the ideal position to preach against it to others. Though himself guilty of that sin, he is convinced that he can make other folk turn away from it and repent. Sounds like the perverted logic of a clever hypocrite. However in the final two lines of the passage, the Pardoner reveals the true intention of his preaching – I preach nothing but for greed, he admits. At least he knows he’s a hypocrite.

What, trowe ye, that whiles I may preche,
And wynne gold and silver for I teche,
That I wol lyve in poverte wilfully?
Nay, nay, I thoghte it nevere, trewely!

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Prologue. The canny Church representative knows that he has a gift for preaching and winning gold and silver from his audiences by teaching. So he asks the pilgrims: why would you think that I would volunteer to live in poverty? And he answers his own question: I never thought it, truly, he says.

For I wol preche and begge in sondry landes;
I wol nat do no labour with myne handes,
Ne make baskettes and lyve therby,
By cause I wol nat beggen ydelly.
I wol noon of the apostles countrefete.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Prologue. In the Pardoner’s lengthy confession of sin, he admits that he will preach for money in various lands. But will not labor with his hands, make baskets for a living or imitate the apostles, he says. Clearly a mugs game to him and nowhere near as profitable as cashing in on his preaching talent! Mind you, there’s no confusing the hypocritical Pardoner with the saintly apostles.

I wol have moneie, wolle, chese, and whete,
Al were it yeven of the povereste page,
Or of the povereste wydwe in a village,
Al sholde hir children sterve for famyne.
Nay, I wol drynke licour of the vyne
And have a joly wenche in every toun.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Prologue. Dismissing the life of poverty of the apostles, the Pardoner says he will have money, wool, cheese and wheat. And he doesn’t care if it comes from the poorest servant boy or the poorest widow in a village, even though her children would die of hunger. He will feed his lifestyle of wine drinking and lechery with a jolly wench in every town! The corrupt Pardoner’s greed – one of the Seven Deadly Sins – knows no bounds.

But herkneth, lordynges, in conclusioun:
Youre likyng is that I shal telle a tale.
Now have I dronke a draughte of corny ale,
By God, I hope I shal yow telle a thyng
That shal by reson been at youre likyng.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Prologue. Confessing to another of the Seven Deadly Sins, gluttony, the Pardoner says he has drank a draft of strong ale as he is about to launch into his story. The fact that his tale will warn against the evil of drunkenness only enhances his reputation as the most hypocritical character in The Canterbury Tales. The irony won’t escape his listeners.

For though myself be a ful vicious man,
A moral tale yet I yow telle kan,
Which I am wont to preche for to wynne.
Now hoold youre pees! My tale I wol bigynne.

– Geoffrey Chaucer

The Canterbury Tales, The Pardoner’s Prologue. There is a great irony in a Pardoner who admits that he is a very wicked and sinful man offering to tell the pilgrims a moral tale – in this case against greed. And without charge, for he is accustomed to preaching such tales for profit, he says, unashamedly admitting that he earns money from the proceeds of sin.
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