Chaucer's Canterbury Tales - The Nun’s Priest’s Tale

525 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Reflections on Reading Fables

The Nun’s Priest’s Tale

The tale told by the Nun’s Priest is a fable or story with animals as the main characters and usually ends with a moral of some sort. This tale takes place on the farm of and old, poor widow. All that she posses can be summed up in a few lines. It is among her possessions that we find the rooster Chanticleer, who’s crowing is more precise than any clock and a voice that was jollier than any church organ.

The tale is told from the point-of-view of Chanticleer. One night he has the dream of a fox pursuing him and killing him. When he wakes, his wife, Lady Pertelote tries to convince him that it was just a dream and that it has no meaning.

Chanticleer argues with Pertelote and produces a tale of his own. This is the tale of two young travelers who in search of lodging must separate. One of the travelers found a bed in a farmer’s barn, the other in a lodge of some type. In the night, one of the travelers hears his friend in a dream calling out for help. He says that he is to be murdered for his money and his body is to be hidden in a dung cart at the west end of town. In the morning, the man goes in search of is friend and discovers him dead in exact location that he learned from his dream. Chanticleer uses this story to try and prove to Pertelote that dream have meaning.

The fox enters the scene the next morning as the hens and Chanticleer come down from their roost to feed and relax in the sun. The fox waits and watches Chanticleer and the hen’s for a good bit of the day from a nearby cabbage patch. However, right before he is about to crow, Chanticleer catches a glimpse of the fox and silences himself. The fox sensing that his meal maybe lost quickly comes up with a new scheme to trick Chanticleer. He instantly claims to be friendly and means no harm towards Chanticleer. He then uses flattery on Chanticleer, convincing him that the fox came only to hear his beautiful voice and how he had been waiting so long to hear it, this tricks Chanticleer into lowering his guard, it is at that moment that the fox strikes and runs with the almost lifeless body of Chanticleer towards the woods.

Show More
Related

  • The Bonesetter’s Daughter

    2015 Words  | 5 Pages

    we are told that this story is about a girl or a woman and perhaps her

    Read More

  • Essay on Chaucer's Canterbury Tales - Sin in The Pardoner's Tale

    774 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are seven deadly sins that, once committed, diminish the prospect of eternal life and happiness in heaven. They are referred to as deadly because each sin is closely linked to another, leading to other greater sins.  The seven deadly sins are pride, envy, anger, sloth, gluttony, avarice, and lechery. Geoffrey Chaucer's masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, provided an excellent story about the deadly sins. Focusing mainly on the sins of pride, gluttony and greed, the characters found in The Canterbury Tales, particularly The Pardoner's Tale, were so overwhelmed by their earthly desires and ambitions that they failed to see the effects of their sinful actions, therefore depriving themselves of salvation.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of A Jury Of Her Peers

    786 Words  | 2 Pages

    Peters finds the bird cage, it is empty. This bird cage never actually had a bird in it. In paragraph 218, Mrs. Hale finds the canary has croaked: “‘There’s something wrapped up in this piece of silk,’ faltered Mrs. Hale. ‘This isn’t her scissors,’ said Mrs. Peters, in a shrinking voice. Her hand not steady, Mrs. Hale raised the piece of silk. ‘Oh, Mrs. Peters!’ she cried. ‘It’s—’ Mrs. Peters bent closer. ‘It’s the bird,’ she whispered. ‘But, Mrs. Peters!’ cried Mrs. Hale. ´Look at it! Its neck—look at its neck! It’s all—other side to.’”(Glaspell). Sadly, the bird was strangled, and I think that Mr. Wright did it. Mrs. Wright clearly loved her feathered friend. After it was killed, she wrapped it in a square of silk. Back then, silk was very expensive even for a little piece like that. Mrs. Hale explains how Millie loved to sing, and this bird must remind her of when she was happy. Mr. John Wright was not very happy with this bird. If he could stop his wife from singing and being happy, he could surely stop a little bird. So Wright goes into the room and snaps its neck, destroying his wife’s most prized

    Read More

  • The Monk and the Parson of The Canterbury Tales

    572 Words  | 2 Pages

    as brown as is a berry." (P 120 line 211)  This shows that the Monk spends

    Read More

  • Canterbury Tales Interpretive Essay

    628 Words  | 2 Pages

    Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales became one of the first ever works that began to approach the standards of modern literature. It was probably one of the first books to offer the readers entertainment, and not just another set of boring morals. However, the morals, cleverly disguised, are present in almost every story. Besides, the book offers the descriptions of the most common aspects of the human nature. The books points out both the good and the bad qualities of the people, however, the most obvious descriptions are those of the sinful flaws of humans, such as greed and lust.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of the Characters of The Canterbury Tales

    2545 Words  | 6 Pages

    An interesting aspect of the famous literary work, "The Canterbury Tales," is the contrast of realistic and exaggerated qualities that Chaucer entitles to each of his characters. When viewed more closely, one can determine whether each of the characters is convincing or questionable based on their personalities. This essay will analyze the characteristics and personalities of the Knight, Squire, Monk, Plowman, Miller, and Parson of Chaucer's tale.

    Read More

  • Les Liaisons Dangereuses

    736 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story begins with the Marquise de Merteuil corresponding with Vicomte de Valmont regarding a luscious new act of ‘revenge’, as she describes it, against the Comte de Gercourt. The young Cecile de Volanges has just come home from the convent and her marriage to Gercourt has been arranged. However, before he can wed the innocent child, Merteuil proposes Valmont ‘educate’ her, thus spoiling Gercourt’s fancy for untarnished convent girls. Valmont is uninterested in such an easy seduction and is far more aroused by the thought of lulling The Presidente’ de Tourvel, the very epitome of virtue, into submission. And so the tale unfolds.

    Read More

  • The General Prologue Of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

    666 Words  | 2 Pages

    ​If one has ever read the General Prologue of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, they will find the attitude of Chaucer to be very opinionated and complex toward the members of the clergy. Some of the clergy consists of the Monk, the Prioress (also known as the nun), and the Friar. Chaucer has gone into depth of each one of these members in each section of the Prologue. From reading each section and analyzes his attitude towards each member, it is portrayed that Chaucer has a complex attitude of appreciation and dishonesty towards the members of the clergy.

    Read More

  • Canterbury Tales Essay: Immorality and the Friar

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is a sad commentary on the clergy that, in the Middle Ages, this class that was responsible for morality was often the class most marked by corruption. Few works of the times satirically highlight this phenomenon as well as The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer’s "General Prologue" introduces us to a cast of clergy, or "Second Estate" folk, who range in nature from pious to corrupt. The Friar seems to be an excellent example of the corrupt nature of many low-level clergymen of the times- while his activities were not heretical or heinous, his behavior is certainly not in accord with the selfless moral teachings he is supposed to espouse. According to the Narrator’s account, he is a snob, corrupted by greed, and acts in very un-Christian ways. It is clear that he is a man of low moral standards.

    Read More

  • Cunnigham's Death Scene Analysis

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    As the scene begins, Vanessa and her three children come to visit Virginia. While playing in the garden, the children find a dying bird on the ground. They decide to construct a bed of roses around the grass for the bird. Watching the children make the bed for the bird, Virginia notices the bird: “It seems to have wanted to make the smallest possible package of itself.” (Cunnigham, pg. 120). This shows that the bird fascinates Virginia; she wonders how the bird’s body becomes smaller and less important after it dies. Cunnigham also writes that “She would like to lie down on it herself” (Cunnigham, pg. 119). This shows that at this point, Virginia longs for death; she wants the same peace that the bird has been able to obtain through death; however, this longing changes once Vanessa and her children return to Charleston. When Virginia decides to take a walk, she passes the dead bird in the garden. She notices that the grave is “frightening but not entirely disagreeable, this cemetery feeling. It is real; it is all but overwhel...

    Read More

  • My Philosophy of Education

    686 Words  | 2 Pages

    Becoming a teacher was not something I always knew I wanted. As I approached an age where I really started considering what I would like to do for a career I only knew that I did not want to work in an office behind a desk all day. I wanted a job that would be interactive, challenging and exciting. I also knew I wanted a job that would be important and would somehow contribute to the world in an important way. I thought being a teacher; particularly a teacher in the primary levels would fulfill those hopes and goals assuming I dedicate myself to becoming an effective teacher who has a positive influence on the lives of my students.

    Read More

  • Which Philosophy Best Suits You?

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    Of all the philosophies that I have been taught and researched in my Education classes, I feel that I will probably use Essentialism, the most dominant and widely accepted philosophy currently in classrooms today. For example, I think that after a lesson is taught each student should have to take a test to evaluate how well they have understood the information, and hopefully, be able to demonstrate to me how well I have taught the information. Mastery of the material should be practiced in the classroom. The student may not go any further in a lesson until the proposed idea has been taught and mastered.

    Read More

  • Making a Difference in My Students’ Lives

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    Do you remember the teacher that inspired you to do your best? Or maybe the teacher who believed in you when the rest of the world had turned against you? Teachers have a way of touching students’ lives, whether in a large or very minute way. I can think of numerous times that a teacher made a difference in my life. I am so appreciative of them, and I want to do for other students what many of my teachers have done for me. That is why, after I obtain, both, my Bachelor and Master degrees, I plan to enter the teaching profession.

    Read More

  • Beauty And The Beast

    1453 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story starts out simply enough. There was a merchant who had three daughters and was going to the market. He asked each daughter, “what they wanted from the market.” The two older daughters were very vain and each wanted material things. Beauty, who was the sweetest of the three asked for a rose that was picked for her by her father. The man gets stuck in a storm and finds himself at a castle where he spends the night. The0re seems to be no one around but there is a wonderful dinner set upon the table. The merchant looks around the house and when he finds no one, he eats the meal. Then since he is weary from his trip he spends the night in the house, the next morning he is served breakfast but again no one shows. So he leaves the castle. On his way out he passed a garden filled with roses and he went to pick one, this is when the beast appeared. He said that the merchant was ungrateful because not only did the beast give him shelter, he gave him food. The Beast condemns the merchant to death. When the merchant explains why he was picking the rose the Beast agreed to let him go, under the condition that, he bring his daughter to serve his time. When the merchant gets home he tells this story to his three daughters and Beauty being the generous person that she is agrees to go to the castle for her father. Over time Beauty gets to know the Beast and learns to become friends with him. It is through this friendship that many of the lessons in the story are taught.

    Read More

  • Narrative Essay On Becoming A Teacher

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    Becoming a teacher has been the ultimate aspiration for myself since the first day I walked into kindergarten. As a very timid student, it was a difficult task transitioning from being with my mother everyday, to being part of a classroom environment full of strangers. However, my kindergarten teacher helped me through this transition smoothly, and adequately. I very quickly learned to love school. Soon after, I knew I would aspire to become a teacher. I would spend countless hours at home with a blackboard, acting as a teacher to my imaginary students throughout my elementary school years.

    Read More

More about Chaucer's Canterbury Tales - The Nun’s Priest’s Tale

Open Document