The Canterbury Tales is one of the most well known British literature works of all times. It is a work of great complexity and great skill. Each story represents another type or style of story telling, and there are messages all around for every social class and job profession. Many of Geoffrey Chaucer’s personal opinions are reflected in The Canterbury Tales through much satire. Posing as a rosy eyed pilgrim, Chaucer relates a description of all the pilgrims. In a clever way Chaucer shows his dislike for some of the religious figures of the times, mainly the Pardoners. In the “General Prologue” of The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses organization and imagery to contrast one of the most noble of humans, the Knight, and one of the lowest of humans, the Pardoner.

The use of organization in a literary text can tell the reader many things. The fact that Chaucer the Pilgrim is telling his observations and opinions of the other pilgrims can reveal two things: what is most noticeable about the person and what the pilgrim’s priorities are in the eyes of Chaucer the Pilgrim. The Knight is the first pilgrim to be described in the “General Prologue”. He could be first in the line of pilgrims or he could be first in the eyes of Chaucer the Pilgrim. Being first in the eyes of Chaucer the Pilgrim seems more likely because of the way the Knight is described. The first thing mentioned about the Knight is how wonderful he is, just like a knight of King Arthur’s round table. From lines 43-50, Chaucer the Pilgrim praises the worthiness of the Knight. Being a worthy and perfect knight would seem to be a very important priority if one were a knight. In contrast the Pardoner is placed at the end of the line. Being last is not always a compliment or a desired thing, especially if you were a Pardoner who should be first because you are “saving souls.” Appearances are what Chaucer the Pilgrim sees first of the Pardoner yet last of the Knight, this would also reflect the two characters’ priorty on looks. His description of the Pardoner’s looks were not very complimentary but went into great detail. A good portion of the Pardoner’s introduction into the group is on appearance while the “array” of the Knight is only five lines long and reveals little in his looks (“Gen. Prologue”, line 73). As a Pardoner, one would want something like his holiness or his honesty to be the most noticeable attribute. After the countenance of the Pardoner is revealed, the rest of his introduction is about his work at trickery of the poor and selling fake relics all in the name of God (“Gen. Prologue”, lines 694-716). After the great praise of the Knight, a reference to each magnificent battle he had taken part of was listed to glorify and give example as to how “worthy was he in his lordes” (“Gen. Prologue”, line 47). The Knight is first praised then glorified while the Pardoner is visually described and revealed as a con-artist. The Knight obviously gets the better end of the deal and the Pardoner got the last bit in the bucket.

The scrapings of the bucket seem to be what Chaucer was trying to bring to mind when it came to the imagery of the Pardoner while at the same time creating the best for the Knight. Appearances can bring out some revealing facts about a character. Like the Knight dressed in a tunic “al bismotered with his haubergeoun” (“Gen. Prologue”, line 76). Some could say he is an unclean sort, though the imagery of a shirt that has been stained by a shirt of chain mail brings to mind a hard working warrior of a man. It could also imply that he has just come from the crusades and had wanted to complete a pilgrimage before he fully returned to his home. The Pardoner, however, is described as having “glaring yen...a vois...as hath a goot” and “no beerd” (“Gen. Prologue”, lines 686, 690-691). This image of the Pardoner is not one a man would really appreciate. Glaring eyes brings to mind a vision of a rat or a person overcome with bottled rage or jealousy. A voice of a goat is like the voice of an old woman who just chatters along, something a man would surely not like to be compared to. The fact that the Pardoner has no beard can create two images: one is he is only a young man who has not yet reached puberty or he is simply not a manly man. In the context of the rest of the description of the Pardoner it is near impossible to believe that he is a young boy simply because he is so skilled in his trickery and has seemed to be well versed in his job which would not be the case if he was young. Chaucer further degrades the Pardoner’s by stating, “I trowe he were a gelding or a mare,” completely castrating his masculinity all together (“Gen. Prologue”, line 693). The image of a man who is not quite a man is defiantly insulting to the accused because in the fourteenth century being a man was your ticket in life and to not fully be a man put you down with the women who were nothing and insignificant. Being a manly man certainly is not a problem for the magnificent Knight. He has been to so many wars and tournaments and crusades that “therto hadde he riden, no man ferre” (“Gen. Prologue”, line 48). Fighting around the world in the name of Christianity was one of the greatest things a man could do for God. The implied fact that there is no man who had ridden farther than the Knight means that there is no man more worthy of God’s praise and people’s worship. With all this glory and stardom one would think that the Knight would boast like the great Beowulf, yet “he was a verray, parfit, gentil knight” like Sir Gawain of King Arthur’s round table. The Knight is perfect in Chaucer the Pilgrim’s eyes. To be true, perfect, and noble is quite a feat, and the image of such a Knight brings to mind what a true knight should be -- more perfect than perfect could be. The Pardoner is no where near perfect or true because of his lust for coin and his skill at selling fake relics as he uses “feined flaterye and japes” to make all “the peple his apes” (“Gen. Prologue”, lines 707-708). False flattery and trickery brings back that image of the rat or the personification of a rat -- a true conniver. To make people his apes is almost like making them puppets where you jerk a string here and pull one there and they do as you please. Another image of an ape-like person is very useless and stupid unless they are told what to do. They would not talk back, and they dance to their master’s every tune.

Chaucer’s imagery of the Pardoner and the Knight were very truthful to their characters, and indeed in real life. The use of organizing the prologue in such a way that the Knight came about first and was described as the best a man could possibly be and ending with the Pardoner who is degraded and revealed for his villainy is very clever. Chaucer used a lot of artistry in creating the tales of common pilgrims that in turn gave morals and lessons to all who listened. There are many different ways Chaucer could have written the tales, based on how society views its other parts. How would The Canterbury Tales have been different if Pardoners were truly trying to save souls with genuine relics and the knights were pillaging and plundering Christian lands for personal gain under the pretense of serving God?