Canterbury Tales Nun Quotes

P. 686- The nurse’s personality is cheerful. Nurse has been through alot with the death of her daughter and husband. She seems to lot a lot more of Juliet and acts like a mom to her too.

Chaucer creates a multitude of female characters that are used to critique the current social order of his time some subtly and some overtly. He presents the audience with female Christian figures some of which represent a passive attitude and a meek demeanor to allow themselves to be used by the patriarchal dominated society; some Christian individuals who speak out against the authority that is placed upon the men in fourteenth century England whether or not they accept the idea of being subservient to men

Chaucer describes his grandiose opinion of himself, the friar is pompous and crooked. He surmises that a man of his “status” should not be seen with the lowly and poor, which is ironic because those are exactly the people he is meant to help. Chaucer as discloses the lengths he is willing to go for even the smallest person gain saying. “His brethren did no poaching where he went./For though a widow mightn’t have a shoe,/So pleasant was his holy how-d’ye-do/He got his/farthing from her just the same/Before he left, and so his income came” (“General Prologue”, 256-262). The friar is willing to take from the people who need it most in the community, the widow’s economic class and living conditions are used further show the reprehensible behavior of the religious characters. Friars, like several other religious orders are supposed to take a vow of poverty in order the become closer to Christ. The Friar in Canterbury Tales does the exact opposite. Both his greed and unscrupulous behavior of another religious character further substantiate the idea that the religious characters are used to reflect the corruption in the church.

However, in determining its importance, we must first define the word nunnery in order to decipher what it represents within the context of its usage.   A nunnery by definition is a haven where woman enter to become nuns.  It can be measured as the purest form of sacrifice since the end is to serve God.   So, we could discern that to be in a nunnery would surely deliver us from any possible contamination with evil; because a nunnery represents a place that is pure and virtuous.

The Nun cares too much about her appearance and how other people think of her. Her desire to be well-mannered is not something a child of God is supposed to worry about during her time as a nun. Instead, the Nun should be spreading the words of God and inspiring other people to follow Christianity.Not only is the Nun obsessed with her appearance, she

The Canterbury Tales features a character called The Nun (The Prioress). Chaucer describe her as a friendly and charitable Nun with a big heart, but also makes fun of her actions and looks. For example, “And she spoke daintily in French, extremely, after the school of Stratford-atte-Bowe, French in the Paris style she did not know.” (128-130). In addition to the blatant negativity he mentions “She was very entertaining” (141). He makes fun of her then mentions she is very entertaining as if she is entertainment to him. Her flaws and attitude are seen very clearly through the passage such as her bad french and table manners. This being said the Nun is told to be lower on social ranking. “To counterfeit a courtly kind of grace a stately

       The characters introduced in the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales each represent a stereotype of a kind of person that Chaucer would have been familiar with in 14th Century England. Each character is unique, yet embodies many physical and behavioral traits that would have been common for someone in their profession. In preparing the reader for the tales, Chaucer first sets the mood by providing an overall idea of the type of character who is telling the tale, then allows that character to introduce themselves through a personal prologue and finally, the pilgrim tells their tale. Through providing the reader with insight about the physical and personal traits of

There are three women in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the prioress, the wife of Bath and the prostitute in the Shipman’s Tale. The prioress and the wife of Bath are the only ones of the three that have a fully developed part of the overall work. They are equal to the male characterizations; the prostitute is only minor player. Women are rarely mentioned in the other pilgrim’s tales. The wife of Bath and the Prioress are examples of strong medieval women. As Chaucer depicts them, they are a departure from the typical sinful daughters of Eve with the exception of the prostitute. The wife Dame Alisoun, and the prioress are both pious, successful females but they are still under the domain of men. Chaucer’s women are still part of the patriarchal world of the late middle ages.

In Chaucer’s “Merciles Beautee”, feminine beauty is represented as a superficial threat, “merciless” lust is the sole weapon of the female against man in the fin

The Nun is not viewed in the same light, and as a result she wishes to gain the respect of others. The Nun is described as “a counterfeit of a courtly kind of grace” (Chaucer 148.143). The author views her as a fraud of courtliness because although she possesses a low position in society as a nun, she tries to act in a worldly fashion. Chaucer uses both of these pilgrims to contribute to the overall theme of one’s need to be liked by others by showing how the Nun goes out of her way to look sophisticated to gain others’ respect and fondness of her.

In the 21st century, many women have been successful because of feminism. Women empowerment in our current time is a lot strong than in the Medieval period, but it is still weak. In “The Canterbury Tales” by Chaucer it represents strong feminist characters in, “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale”. The characters such as a Wife of Bath, an old hag, and also a Queen from “Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale,” play a feminist character in the male-dominated society during that time. Through these three characters, we see strong examples of feminism.

Count treated his wife as a beautiful woman throughout the story. He was least concerned about her feelings and emotional requirements. It was clear on many occasions. First, in the beginning when Countess was very angry with her husband even at that situation Count found her very beautiful. He did not try to find out why his wife is upset. Even in the end when Countess revealed that she has never been unfaithful to him, he immediately starts feeling the same without the least concern about the fact that what made his religious wife to lie even at the altar of Christ. Thus proving that for a man, it is lust that is of utmost importance in their relationship with woman. Noble emotions are used as facades to dignify their ignoble

Chaucer admired and made use of the medieval "courtly love" romance tradition, although he did not fully "buy into it." The "courtly love" code is based on the woman as the center of attention. The medieval knight suffers greatly for his love, who is often someone else's wife. He will do anything to protect and honor her, remaining faithful at all costs. Adultery and secrecy characterize these relationships. The knight views a woman and experiences true love. The knight fears that he will never be accepted by his love; therefore, she is worshiped at a distance.

      Yet not all of Chaucer's religious characters are failures in spirituality. His description of the Second Nun is of a truly pious woman who spends her life in the service of

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a collection of very well written stories with very complex characters. The most interesting characters are the female characters on their way to Canterbury with the rest of pilgrims as well as the women in the stories that the other pilgrims tell. Among these women, the most notable are Emily from the Knight’s Tale and The Wife of Bath. Both of these women, however different, appear to be strong, capable and self-ruling. In both cases, these women’s stories show Chaucer’s view on relationships with the opposite sex- that they will always be imbalanced, and that women are merely trophies to be won and displayed for all to see and, lastly, that subservience is equal to love.