Analysis of “The Nun’s Priest” The Nun’s Priest is an awkward story-teller who is used to suitors chasing him. On the journey, he tells a story about his vain rooster. In this story, Chanticleer has a dream that a fox-like beast was chasing him. His wife, Pertelote, tells him that dreams don’t hold any merit and that he just needs a laxative. That day, a fox convinces Chanticleer not to run from him by appealing to his vain nature, and captures him. Everyone begins to chase after the fox, who is running around the farm. Chanticleer convinces the fox to open his mouth and release him by telling him to yell insults at his pursuers. This tale is a fable that comments on the Middle Ages, uses satire to get its point across, and has a moral that is applicable to life in the twenty-first century. …show more content…
“The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” opens up with by first using animals to portray people and by placing the tale of courtly love in the setting of a barnyard. The plot of the tale analyzes the compelling battle among farm creatures to the Jack Straw Rebellion (a peasant’s revolt in England in 1831). The fox and the rooster’s story reveals the conflict between the nobility and the peasants. Chaucer uses animals to illustrate humans because he believes humans behave like animals. There is no question that “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” was written in a satirical manner. Chaucer writes the passage in the model of a Homeric epic, but he fills it with the squawking and pecking of simple birds. The rooster, Chanticleer, appears to be a simple animal that is hilariously vain and self-absorbed. By using the chickens as his main characters, Chaucer is effectively comparing man and beast. By writing in such a humorous style, Chaucer shows that man is no better than a rooster, vain and full of
In each of these selected pieces, the woman’s position is dependant in some form to the male figure. Each work deals with conflicting views of the female protagonist and the expectations of their male counter-character, though each has a differing outcome that correlates to the woman’s reaction to this male supremacy. “A New England Nun” features Louisa and Joe Dagget, who come to a mutual agreement to call of their engagement. This ending follows closely with realism, as there is a healthy development and closure to the conflict. Then, Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” has possibility of development, however, the loose end does not establish any sort of progress. This piece ends with the American asking if Jig is alright, to which she smiles and states she’s fine (. Despite the fact that there is no closure to this particular ending, there is a chance that Jig does defy the American’s wishes. Lastly, Brooks’s poem “A Bronzeville Mother Loiters in Mississippi. Meanwhile, a Mississippi Mother Burns Bacon” follows the chaos and self-conscious characteristics of postmodernism, as the white woman’s thoughts of the “Fine Prince” evolve from submissive denial to hatred, over the course of the piece. Although these pieces end quite differently, each portrays a woman that is submissive in some way or another at a point in the story.
Independence is an empowering state where one feels no need to rely on another. In the short story “A New England Nun,” Mary E. Wilkins Freeman demonstrates the internal struggle of a woman accustomed to being solitary that she feels confined by her upcoming marriage. The author presents the characterizations effectively through Louisa’s internal independence, the comfort she has with her household, the relationship she built with her fiancé and the connection she has with her late brother’s dog.
Many pilgrims in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales held a religious position. Some of these people’s personal ideas have caused debates and criticism over Chaucer’s opinion of the Catholic Church. Critics have discussed the ideas that were presented both subtly and openly. Two of the pilgrims and their tales will be discussed: the Prioress and the Pardoner. Both of these tales offer points of criticism in the Catholic Church.
“The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” primarily revolves around Chanticleer’s dream. However, the importance of the story was not in the dream but rather in his actual encounter with the fox. Chanticleer notices the fox while watching a butterfly, and the fox confronts him with dissimulating courtesy, telling the rooster not to be afraid. “Sir! Wither so fast away? / Are you afraid of me, that I am your friend?” (227). As a way to trap Chanticleer the fox praises him on his magnificent voice. “Truly I came to do no other thing/ Than just to lie and listen to you sing. / You have as merry a voice as God has given/ To any angel in the courts of Heaven” (227). Chanticleer relishes the fox's flattery of his singing. He beats his wings with pride, stands on his toes, stretches his neck, closes his eyes, and crows loudly. The fox reaches out
I feel that this comment is extremely justified. Chaucer with the use of a beast fable has helped to elevate what would be considered a conventionally boring set of animals, and turn them into portrayals of human beings. As a cock he may have came from the same batch of eggs as his hens, but as poultry it would not matter whether chauntecleer mates with his sisters. However some critics suggest the introduction of the human concept of love, allows Chaucer to make an indiscriminate joke about the behaviour of chickens and the impropriety of such behaviour among people. This suggests that the farmyard is a microcosm of society, which leaves in no doubt that Pertelote
In the “General Prologue”, the Nun exposes the hypocrisy and manipulation of the Church through her actions. Nuns are supposed to devote their lives to Christianity while portraying a positive Christian figure. Chaucer describes the Nun’s actions toward being well mannered.
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 Medieval Period in history brought along scores of fables about everything from knights engaging in courtly love to corruption in the Catholic Church. The Canterbury Tales written by Geoffrey Chaucer expertly encapsulates many of the great motifs of the era. The Tales are a series of stories and descriptions of characters of all social classes that were composed in the late 1300’s. Chaucer utilizes a multitude of literary techniques to convey his personal views of people, and ultimately, what they represent in society. The author uses such devices when depicting two morally contrasting characters, the Parson and the Summoner, that are documented in the Prologue.
Robert Henryson’s work is often compared to Geoffrey Chaucer’s and while he did not encounter the same fame, he does mirror Chaucer’s characteristics. Parallels between The Nun’s Priest’s Tale and The Cock and The Fox include style, themes, and character development. These tales are told in mock-heroic, which takes a trivial event and elevates it into something of greater importance. It treats a trivial event as if it were inspirational. Chaucer uses elevated language to describe a fox catching a rooster in a barnyard a far cry from the classic epics. When the fox, runs off with Chaunticleer in his jaws, the chase that ensues involves every creature in the barnyard, and the entire scene is narrated in the elevated language found in the great epics where language was used to enhance the deeds of epic heroes. The twist on a classical tragic style gives room for comedic and dramatic passages such as the near death scenes from each
The Monk in The Canterbury Tales is very contradictory to this common view. The man refutes his quiet reserved code to explore the modern world for answers. As opposed to taking care of normal duties he hunts and rides horses, which is against the code. The Monk ignores these rules. Chaucer asserts, "He did not rate that text at a plucked hen"(Chaucer 106). Chaucer is emphasizing in the prior line how the sacred texts the monk swore to live by are meaningless to him. Reasoning behind the Monk’s repulsion of the rules is because the rules are against what he is passionate about. Acosta agrees the clergyman may desire his title however does not favor the life of a monk, and in order to be a genuine monk he must quit hunting and begin the tasks of ordinary monks. Clerics like the Nun and the Monk initiate the questionable sanctity of Catholicism. Malfeasance
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.
Judith A. Weise puts forth one of the more shocking theories concerning the Second Nun's Tale in her essay Chaucer's Tell-Tale Lexicon: Romancing Seinte Cecyle. Weise argues that Chaucer's purpose for writing the saint's tale as a self-imposed literary penance for the "raptus" of Cecilia Chaumpaigne. She posits:
The Canterbury Tales, the most famous and revolutionary work of Geoffrey Chaucer, is a collection of twenty-four tales presented in the form of a story-telling contest by pilgrims who are traveling from London to Canterbury. In my viewpoint, The Canterbury Tales can be understood as a representation of the English society at Chaucer's time as it documents several of the social tensions of life in the late Middle Age. The choice of setting the tales as part of a pilgrimage allowed the author to cover a wide range of social roles with varying hierarchical positions and occupations. Therefore, the tales depict a number of the evolving themes by that time in many segments of the society, such as the ones presented in The Wife of Bath tale: the
The Nun’s Priest’s Tale is an allegory that uses animals with human characteristics in order to portray the moral of the story. The story centers on a rooster named Chanticleer, who possesses many human qualities, such as speaking, singing, and the ability to dream. Partlet, a hen, is described as “polite, discreet, debonair, and companionable” (153). These are characteristics not typically associated with animals, which strengthens the message that the animals are representative of humans. Furthermore, Chanticleer and the other animals display human emotions, such as Chanticleer’s fear of his dream, Partlet’s disgust of Chanticleer’s fear, and the love that Chanticleer and Partlet feel for one another. Furthermore, the fox, Sir Russell, also
The aim of any true satirical work is to poke fun at a certain aspect of society, while also inspiring reform to that very same aspect in one way or another. In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Chaucer satirizes the Medieval Church and those associated with the church. Medieval society was centered largely around the Church. Ideally, the people were expected to understand that earthly possessions were meaningless when compared to the prospect of closeness with God. Man was expected to work until he died, at which time he would receive eternal salvation. This eternal salvation was achieved by obeying God's commandments. This theory, however, was becoming progressively corrupted as hypocrisy began to pollute the Church, particularly at the higher