Chaucer's CANTERBURY TALES (General Prologue)

One of Chaucer's great character descriptions is of the Pardoner:

a.) What image suggests his lack of manliness and his effeminacy? Why do you think Chaucer would portray the Pardoner this way?

The Pardoner makes his living in an unmanly way, through wit and guile rather than true trade. The pardoner is described as a gelding or a mare, like an animal that cannot reproduce.

b.) A goat is usually considered a lecherous animal. What image associates the Pardoner with a goat? Why does Chaucer depict him thusly?

The Pardoner's goat-like beard, eyes, and hair suggest a man who is still driven by desire, but by a perverted rather than a healthy form of sexual desire -- in the Pardoner's case he is driven by a desire for money and physical satisfactions of good and drink as a replacement for sexuality.

c.) What images does...
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