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The Character of the Prioress in The Canterbury Tales
In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer writes a prologue in which characters are given at face value. Then, he writes tales that are spoken by these characters. Perhaps Chaucer is commenting that people should not judge others by their outward appearance because the differences in the outward character of Chaucer’s travelers are often greatly different than the personality that is shown through their tales.
The Prioress is one character that appears differently than her tale reveals. The Prioress’s tale is about the brutal murder of a young Jewish boy. It is a tale of deep-seeded anti-Semitic hatred and fierce violence. In the general prologue, the narrator has a very different surface impression of the Prioress. Perhaps it is simply because the presumed male narrator is so taken by the Prioress’s beauty that he failed to see any cues given that may have led him to see the Prioress’s true identity. However, the Prioress is portrayed as being beautiful and refined, feminine and sensitive, innocent and sweet.
One of the first things that the narrator mentions in the prologue about the Prioress is that she is seemingly educated. He says, “She sang the divine service well, entuning it in her nose in a most seemly way.” This means that she was probably at least educated in the ways of the church, if not at a school. He goes on to mention that “she spoke French well and properly, after the school of Stratford-at-Bow—” She knew how to speak French but he goes on to say that “the French of Paris was unknown to her,” so while she was very book educated, she was not worldly.
In the ta...
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...ch that she may have led a much happier life in Germany in the 1940’s. What is it that has made this seemingly polite, caring woman hate a group of people she most likely has never met? We never find out in the tale or the prologue, but we can suspect that Chaucer wants us to believe that the evil church has poisoned this innocent mind with hatred towards Jews, amongst other things.
The Prioress is just one example of the many flip-flop characters in Chaucer’s tales. On the outside, the Prioress appears to be someone who your parent’s wish you were like. However, once you get to know the Prioress through her tale, you wonder if she should instead join Hell’s Angels. Her thirst for the death of the young Jewish boy makes her frightening, if not almost evil, but at least she wipes her mouth neatly with a napkin.
"Inquisition." In New Catholic Encyclopedia, edited by Berard L. Marthaler, 485-491. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2003.
"Library." Roman Catholic Origins, Roman Catholic History, Roman Catholic Beliefs. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2014. .
In “The Pardoner’s Tale,” Geoffrey Chaucer masterfully frames an informal homily. Through the use of verbal and situational irony, Chaucer is able to accentuate the moral characteristics of the Pardoner. The essence of the story is exemplified by the blatant discrepancy between the character of the storyteller and the message of his story. By analyzing this contrast, the reader can place himself in the mind of the Pardoner in order to account for his psychology.
Chaucer first begins his sly jab at the Church’s motives through the description of the Pardoner’s physical appearance and attitude in his “Canterbury Tales.” Chaucer uses the Pardoner as a representation of the Church as a whole, and by describing the Pardoner and his defects, is able to show what he thinks of the Roman Catholic Church. All people present in the “Canterbury Tales” must tell a tale as a part of story-telling contest, and the pilgrim Chaucer, the character in the story Chaucer uses to portray himself, writes down the tales as they are told, as well as the story teller. The description of the Pardoner hints at the relationship and similarity between the Pardoner and the Church as a whole, as well as marks the beginning of the irony to be observed throughout the “Pardoner’s Prologue and Tale.” The narrator describes the Pardoner as an extremely over confident, arrogant, and unattractive man, noting that his hair is “as yellow as wex,” lying thin and fl...
Blanche’s developmental history or character development points to her diagnosis. Blanche comes to New Orleans to stay with her sister Stella after being fired from her job as a schoolteacher due to having an inappropriate affair with a teenage student. When she arrives to see her sister, she is consumed with insecurities regarding her appearance and is condescending to her sister’s humble lifestyle. Stella’s husband Stanley immediately has distrust and dislike for Blanche and treats her
In The Canterbury Tales, written by Geoffrey Chaucer, the stereotypes and roles in society are reexamined and made new through the characters in the book. Chaucer discusses different stereotypes and separates his characters from the social norm by giving them highly ironic and/or unusual characteristics. Specifically, in the stories of The Wife of Bath and The Miller’s Tale, Chaucer examines stereotypes of women and men and attempts to define their basic wants and needs.
We are appalled by the facts presented and we think that it’s not right anymore. The author wants us to see the truth behind the working conditions and feel like they are unacceptable. I feel as though we should protest the laws in place now that enable the dangerous conditions of these workplaces. As mentioned before, the “OSHA Reform Act” should be repealed because it prohibits OSHA from being able to inspect the factories. I think this is unacceptable and unethical because the act was put in place so factories do not lose money. Also, the rules in place at fast food restaurants, such as being trained before starting the job, should be more brutally enforced to ensure the workers’ safety. When I worked at a restaurant, the manager sometimes slacked on executing the rules so I didn’t know much about the job. I worked in a pizza restaurant that used cornmeal on the pans so the dough didn’t stick. When the cook took the pizza out of the oven, the cornmeal would fall on the floor making it slippery, but the manager never explained how to clean this up. Because of this, I would always slip on the piles of cornmeal while getting a pizza. Instead of owners and managers of fast food restaurants being worried about getting workers on the job more quickly, I think they should take their time explaining the job more carefully to prevent injury in the long
Literature is defined as written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit. For a textbook definition, this suffices. However, literature is much more than that, it’s a form of expression. In Sherman Alexie’s The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, we are able to see native communities in a different way than what we read about in articles or research papers. We’re given a different perspective on them which can help us understand these communities better. The first chapter, though it is early in the book, is able to support this idea.
The imagery of the blue eye is vital for the story, which reminds the narrator of a vulture. This symbolism can be portrayed as a foreseeable death, because in the nature of vultures they sweep in on already dead prey and feast. This can present a foreseeable act, in which he commits the murder of the old man because of his lack of sanity. As the story proceeds, the narrator is cautious and meticulous in his plan of murder. This gives the narrator a false sense of sanity, because he believes if he is careful and scrupulous, then he is sane and in control of his situation. For Poe to use this satire that the narrator is sane and believes he is in control is vital to the building of this tale. As he constructs his murder plan, he watches and stalks the old man, who he has deemed as innocent, and eventually commits the murder on the old man. When stalking the old man in the middle of the night he is startled when the old man awakens from
To begin with, the definition of domestic violence is “the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another” (“What Is Domestic Violence”). Ranging from grown women to young children, many are victims to abuse. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States” (“Statistics”). Just by calculating, that is 28,800 people who are abused in just ONE DAY! The scary part is that this number does not even account for the numerous cases that are not even told. Many victims are threatened or even hurt so bad that they must keep their mouth shut in fear of even worse abuse to come. Of
The essential conflict of the story is between Blanche, and her brother in-law Stanley. Stanley investigates Blanche’s life to find the truth of her promiscuity, ruining her relationships with Stella, and her possible future husband Mitch, which successfully obtain his goal of getting Blanche out of his house. Blanche attempts to convince Stella that she should leave Stanley because she witnessed a fight between the two. Despite these instances, there is an essence of sexual tension between the two, leading to a suspected rape scene in which one of their arguments ends with Stanley leading Blanche to the bed. Branching from that, Stella has an inner conflict because she does not know whether to side with her husband or her sister in each situation. Blanche and Mitch ha...
Gonzalez, Justo L. 1984. The early church to the dawn of the Reformation. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Church History in Plain Language is written by Bruce L. Shelley. This work focuses on the history of Christianity from 6 B.C. to the current period. It covers some of Christianity’s greatest events, theologians, and the various subsection of Christianity. Other than the events leading up to the death of Jesus, I had very little knowledge of Christianity’s history. After reading through the book, I have gained understanding on the Christian Councils, scholasticism, Christendom, and modern trends of Christianity.
Bainvel, Jean. The New Catholic Encyclopedia. New York City: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15006b.htm (accessed September 23, 2011).
Pollen, John Hungerford. "The Jesuits During the Interim (1773-1814)." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 23 Mar. 2014 .