Free Prioress Essays and Papers

Summary and Analysis of The Prioress' Tale (The Canterbury Tales) The Prioress' Tale: The Prioress tells a tale set in an Asian town dominated by the Jewry in which usury and other things hateful to Christ occurred. The Christian minority in the town opened a school for their children in this city. Among these children was a widow's son, an angelic seven year old who was, even at his young age, deeply devoted to his faith. At school he learned a song in Latin, the Alma redemptoris, and asked

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

The Canterbury Tales  - The Nun Prioress In the reading "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer, there is a detailed description about the nun Prioress in the "General Prologue". Chaucer uses physical and spiritual relationships to show the characteristics of a person. When we see the nun in relationship to other characters, for example the Knight, Chaucer makes the reader see two types of people. On one hand, the nun who gives much importance to minor things. On the other hand, the

of the manners and behaviours of women and expressed it strongly in The Canterbury Tales. In his collection of tales, he portrayed two extremes in his prospect of women. The Wife of Bath represented the extravagant and lusty woman where as the Prioress represented the admirable and devoted followers of church. Chaucer delineated the two characters contrastingly in their appearances, general manners, education and most evidently in their behaviour towards men. Yet, in the midst of disparities

stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer. Each individual story is told by a pilgrim from the voyage to Canterbury. “The Prioress’ Tale” was a Miracle of the Virgin story, told by the Prioress. Another tale is “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” which is a Beast Fable. Then there is “The Pardoner’s Tale”, which is an Exemplum. The genres of The Canterbury Tales help shape the entire story. In “The Prioress’ Tale”, the Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus, miraculously aids a follower in the time of need, which is also known

retains his witticism in his narrator. The narrator devotes many a line to the vivid portrayals of the Prioress and the Frere. Through the actions of these two members of the clergy, it is seen that the lust for material goods, the need for flaunting one’s estate, and the development of hypocrisy all contribute to the shaking of the Church’s foundations. Enfolded in the coils of luxury, the Prioress and the Frere can hardly recall their missions as part of the clergy. Is not gluttony evil in the

civil servant who dealt frequently with people from all walks of life, seem to have had great influence on the writing he did at night when he returned home from the office” (Chaucer xxxv). The Prioress tells an anti-Semitic tale, which reflects her position among the clergy. The genre of “The Prioress” tale is Miracle of the Virgin which the Virgin Mary miraculously aids a follower in time of need. Chaucer gets his many sources of stories from earlier writers. “Like Shakespeare, Chaucer felt

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 Prioress introduces herself as being like a child who does not know many words. She is going to try to tell a tale as best as she can. This child-like language can be seen through the whole tale. The Prioress speaks her tale in a fluent, sweet tone. Her innocence, like a child’s, can be seen as she

fought in the Crusades. With him is a Squire, the son of the Knight and a 'lusty bachelor' of twenty. The Knight has a second servant, a Yeoman. There is also a Prioress, shy and polite. She is prim and proper, sympathetic and well-mannered. The Prioress wears a broach with the inscription "All things are subject unto love." With the Prioress is her secretary (the Second Nun) and a Monk. The monk is a robust and masculine man who loves to hunt. The Friar, Hubert, is an immoral man more concerned with

like the prim and proper Prioress represents the argument for virginity, whereas the Wife upholds the state of marriage. Women were very much perceived as second-class citizens in the Fourteenth Century, they were rarely educated and had little status in society. In contrast, the two female characters in the book are from areas of society where it was possible for women to have influence probably as these characters would hold more interest for his readership. The prioress was undoubtedly the most

Chaucer attacks almost all of the pilgrims who are officials of the Church. For example, in “The General Prologue,” the Prioress is “so charitable and so pitous” that she feeds her lapdogs “With rosted flessh, or milk and wastelbreed” (143, 147). However, considering the impoverished condition of many people during the Middle Ages, would it not be more charitable for the Prioress to give meat, milk and bread to the poor, instead of to her dogs? Furthermore, the Friar breaks the Franciscan vows of

to buy some clothes. So, she gets away with a crime that would have dealt her a far greater punishment. This outcome, while it certainly wasn't perfect for the wife, was much less than she deserved. The Prioress steps in with the next tale, and takes a much different view. The Prioress herself is a very humble and well-mannered woman, as she is described in the General Prologue. She is also extremely compassionate towards all of God's creatures. Her tale is a tribute to the greatest woman

noble and often displeasing. The Canterbury Tales, written by Chaucer, is about a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Along with the narrator (Chaucer), there are 29 other Canterbury pilgrims. Not surprisingly, only three of them are women: the Prioress, the associate of the Prioress, and the Wife of Bath. Each traveler is to tell two tales to make the journey to Canterbury and back more enjoyable. The Host, Harry Bailey, is in charge of the group and will decide what is in the best interest of them all. Thus,

contradicting personalities that are intricately described by Chaucer. Among these twenty-nine excursionists are two women. One of them is the coquettish Prioress while the other one is the partially deaf Wife at Bath. Although both women possess discernable similarities, both possess divergent personalities and experiences. The Prioress, known as Madam Eglantyne, has an elegant nose, a Lilliputian, soft, and red mouth, a big-forehead, and a glass gray mouth. She wears a cloak, a set of

characters. Each of the storytellers have an entertaining yet very ironic tale that hold a very subtle but intriguing set of themes that Mr Chaucer has set forth in them. The characters that I find the most intriguing are The Wife of Bath and The Prioress Due to the fact that both these women are polar opposites in the sense that they both live completely different lives and see the world in very ways. The Wife of Bath is a very interesting women because of her past and how Chaucer goes into deep

characters are similar yet completely antithetical. The Wife of Bath and The Prioress are introduced in the prologue as complete opposite end of each other. The Wife of Bath fully takes advantage of her sexuality in order to get authority in a dominating patriarchy. She is sexually liberated, married five times and fully expresses herself through her actions and her physical appearance. On the other end of the spectrum, the Prioress represses her sexual needs in order to maintain her ascendancy in the Church

or the Prioress s In the Canterbury Tales, there are 29 people who makes a pilgrimage to a religious site in Canterbury. There are many individual stories that are told through Chaucer, one of them being the Prioress, or also known as Madam Eglantyne. The Prioress’s personality can be deceiving but has good intentions. The Prioress is described as someone who’s helpful and pleasant, as she should be for she is a nun, and yet she tries really hard to portray as someone else. The Prioress tries

to interpret basic human nature from different viewpoints is exemplified in the characters he created. I have selected two stories, The Prioress Tale and The Knights Tale, within the Canterbury Tales that manifest the strengths and weaknesses of human character. Than I will compare Chaucer’s pilgrims to figures portrayed by Dante in the Divine Comedy. The Prioress' Tale is originates in a small Christian town in Asia beginning in a school for young Christian children. The school is located at the

that of hir smiling was ful simple and coy” (Chaucer 7). The Prioress “soong the service divine” and “Frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly” (Chaucer 7). The nun, very proper, only swears by “Seinte Loy” or in other words, she rarely curses. She strives to maintain her manners at the dinner table, letting “no morsal from hir lippes falle,” (Chaucer 7). In the General Prologue, Chaucer gives a fairly appealing portrait of the Prioress, explaining her love for animals, even saying that “she wolde

matched their stereotype of that time but most do not. The Prioress, Madame Eglentyne, and Wife of Bath, Allison, are two characters that do not fit their stereotype of the Middle Ages. Geoffrey Chaucer demonstrates a reflection of change in The Canterbury Tales by comparing their appearances, actions, and morals. The Prioress and Wife of Bath do not match the typical appearance of their character in the Middle Ages. Chaucer gives the Prioress abnormal pieces of clothing that do not suit that of a head