The Nun's Priest

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.

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

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.

Chaucer's "The Nun's Priest's Tale" is at once a fable, a tale of courtly love, and a satire mocking fables and courtly love traditions. To this end, Chaucer makes use of several stylistic techniques involving both framing and content. The tale begins and ends with "a poor widwe somdeel stape in age" (line 1), but the majority of the content involves not the widow but the animals on her farm, in particular an arrogant rooster name Chauntecleer. The first mention of the main character does not come until the twenty-ninth line, after twenty-eight lines of minute description of the widow and the farm. The donation of large amounts of time to detail slows down the plot of the story; this plot is even further drawn out by the Nun's Priest's

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.

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

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.

Three of Chaucer’s tales are written with a central Christian theme, the Prioress’s Tale, the Second Nun’s Tale, and the Parson’s Tale. The Prioress’s Tale is said to be about a miracle of the Virgin Mary, the Second Nun’s Tale is a biography of Saint Cecilia, and the Parson’s Tale is considered a sermon. Just as The Canterbury Tales shows a theme of Christianity, it also shows a theme of religious corruption. In the tales of the Friar, Prioress, Pardoner, and Monk, corruption of the church is shown and influences each character in a different way. In the Friar, the focus is on money, horses, and the responsibility of his monastery. But, the Friar also seduces women and provide them with a spouse to stay out of trouble. In the tale of Prioress, Chaucer describes her as too busy being a court lady to take care of her nunnery. In the Pardoner, he takes advantage of others by taking money for giving pardons for the sins of others, even going as far as selling relics. The Monk takes money for forgiveness, refuses to help the poor, and pays other beggars to leave so he can attain all of the money from that area. He does all of this while he is supposed to be pledging his life to poverty and those less fortunate. Chaucer shows a theme of Christianity just as he shows a theme of religious corruption. As

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

“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

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.

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

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.

      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 “General Prologue” provides us with no evidence as to the character of the Nun’s Priest. Only in the prologue to his tale do we finally get a glimpse of who he might be, albeit rather obtusely. As Harry Bailey rather disparagingly remarks: “Telle us swich thyng as may oure hertes glade./Be blithe, though thou ryde upon a jade” (p.235, ll2811-2812). I say this cautiously because much criticism has surrounded the supposed character of the Nun’s Priest, his role in the tale, and his relationship to the Canterbury Tales as a whole. One example, in my opinion, of an unsatisfactory reading is exemplified by Arthur Broes’s 1963 article “Chaucer’s Disgruntled Cleric: The Nun’s Priest’s Tale.” Broes argues that the Nun’s Priest is an “erudite