- - - Explain the satire in The Prioress's Tale. Who or what is Chaucer satirizing, and how does he accomplish this? Use evidence from text to support.
- - - Based on item 1, and thinking back on how the Prioress was introduced during The General Prologue, does the Prioress tell a tale that you would have expected? Why or why not?
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- - Express what you learned by reading the tale and explain what that
looks like in the world at-large. The best responses to this item will
directly connect what you learned to a current issue.
In the prologue to her tale the Prioress offers a hymn of praise to the Virgin Mary. She praises Mary, the mother of Jesus and the whitest Lily-flower. The song acts as a preview of the tale to follow as not only does the prologue aptly fit the Prioress’ character and position, but the story itself is centered on another hymn “O Alma Redemptoris” which gives praise to the Virgin Mary as well. The hymn also acts as an invocation in which the Prioress prays for help in narrating the greatness of the “blissful Queen”. However, through the hymn Chaucer emphasizes a major flaw in the nun’s personality. She yearns for motherhood and the innocence of childhood, two things which as a nun she should not want. She shows motherly instincts in the way she cares for helpless animals and her protection of her boy in her tale.
ReplyDeleteYes she does. She talks about all of the things that a nun is not supposed to be in the eyes of the Christian church. The description talks about her and how she has the finest clothes and gems, but in reality, a nun is not supposed to be like this at all. It only seems fit that she would tell a story such as the one she did.
I learned that people still today are just as unforgiving as they were in the tale. People tend to assume a lot about someone just on one action just as the Jewish did in the prioress tale.
Chaucer is satirizing the prioress because he is giving her contradictions of how she is a nun but doesn't follow nun's rules all the time. The satire is in the showing of how much people trust Christ because as it is shown they have little faith in him or are completely against him. The way the people turn on the young boy proves this. Also this is a different type of thinking by a nun because it has a dark side to it about the lord to them.
ReplyDeleteNo she does not tell the tale i was expecting because in the prologue she uses a hymn that would be sung for churches which is very peaceful to the reader. I was thrown off quite a bit when i read that they had slit the boys throat because usually nuns are not dark; they see the good in everyone. This gives you a look into what the prioress's character is really like.
I learned that this story is showing that speaking up and it shows how words actually can hurt you. In today's world, some people have different views on things which leads to riots or fights. People sometimes believe if they speak out or do something that's "uncool" that they will be bullied for it which makes people afraid to do what they want or to actually speak their mind.
1. Chaucer is satirizing the Prioress(nun) in the prologue. He describes the nun as over weight, she wears a gold trinket that says "love conquers all", she gives her animals the finest food, and she sings through her nose. Nuns are not suppose to have any of these characteristics Chaucer describes for the Prioress, it was simply despicable for a Nun in those days to act the way the Prioress does. Chaucer also explains that after the little boy gets his throat slashed by the Jews he still can sing Alma Redemptoris which is preposterous rather than inspiring or credible.
ReplyDelete2.I didn't expect the tale of the little boy and the murderous Jews to be told at all by the Prioress, only because Chaucer describes her in such a negative fashion.
3.The tale is about how people who are looked upon as superior or have high standards put on them necessary don't live up to the expectations.They are only human, and "normal" people need to let go of the theory that humans should be idolized. A perfect example of this statement are celebrities. Celebrities are idolized and almost treated as if they aren't human, or as if they can do no wrong.
He is criticizes the Jews. He has Satan tell them what to do and they just go and hire someone to commit murder. Did they even consider it was a child they were having this done to? All they were told was that he was a disgrace. They care about their religion so much that anyone who defies them should die. Chaucer seems to criticize how strongly people believe in their religion.
ReplyDeleteYes, I did believe the Prioress would tell a story with religion being involved in some way. Did I expect that it would involve killing a young boy over a religious matter? No. However I would expect a Prioress, no matter how good or bad she is, to tell a religious story. I did keep in mind that she is telling this to strangers. Whether or not them being strangers to her played a part in her decision to tell this story is unknown.
I learned that Chaucer does not care much at all for the Jews or has some sort of prejudice towards them. He openly criticizes them because he does not care if people do not agree with him, it is his opinion. This still happens around the world today. The Palestinians do not hide their hate/mistrust for the Jews just like Chaucer.
1) Chaucer is satirizing the Jewish people in general in this poem. A deep division and hatred existed during Medieval times, between Christians and Jews. Chaucer satirizes the Jews in 3 connected ways: 1) he describes the Jews as having wealth and position, and deep haters of Christians (examples: line 490: "A Jewry that a local lord maintained" - a local lord was obviously one with money and power, line 492 describes the Jews as "hateful to Christ and to His company" Chaucer goes on to describe the Jews as "hateful" and "cursed" 2) Chaucer describes the local Christian community as smaller, poorer and weaker than the Jewish community (for example: line 495, "a LITTLE Christian school stood by this place" and line 512 describes: "a guiltless child learns quickly, seeing clear"). Chaucer goes on to describe the Christian devotion to Mary, and the mother of the son like "Rachel" who was thought in Medieval times to be a pre-figure of the Virgin Mary. 3) Chaucer satirizes inter-faith/community problems in such a way that the audience recognizes that nobody wins. The boy died, and the Jewish-hired murderers were hanged.
ReplyDelete2) The Prioress is described as a devout (but impure) nun. In the prologue, Chaucer describes her beautiful "guilded rosary" which alludes to her deep devotion to the Blessed Mother. In the prologue of "The Prioress's Tale," she descries her own devotion to Mary: "Oh blissful Queen, my learning is too weak/ to be declaring thy great worthiness..." The fact that this Marian devotion plays a central role in "The Prioress's Tale" isn't surprising.
3) From this story, I learned the inter-faith qualms cannot truly be SOLVED by violence. Ultimately, both the Jews and Christians in this story suffered, because of their lack of understanding. The way to solve inter-faith problems, such as the ISIS carnage in Iraq, is not through violence.
1. Chaucer is satirizing religion in the Prioress's Tale. He accomplishes this by again having a nun tell a story that mocks religion. Also, by having religions turn against each other and murder to "get even" furthers the satire. The Jews kill the innocent boy because of his Christian song then in return they are hanged for their wrongs.These events display how even though people claim to be religious, everyon has evils and sin.
ReplyDelete2. This is not the story I was expecting from the Prioress. Based on the General Prologue, I was expecting the story to be about the secret lavish lifestyles that people have. Since the Prioress was well dressed and gave away food to dogs, I expected the story to reflect the alternate lifestyles that "humble" people of the church claim to have.
3. I have learned from this tale that then and now people are hypocrites. Back then just like today there are religious hate crimes. The Jews killed the boy because he was displaying his Christian beliefs. Then in reciprocation, the Jews were hanged for their crimes. Today, people commit hate crimes against religions they do not agree with or in general beliefs that go against their own. The tale's satire applies to today because in a society that is supposed to be a melting pot to open beliefs and free speech there continues to be violence to hinder those diversities.
--- I think that Chaucer is trying to satirize the Jews. The third third and fourth line of the tale describes a Jewry "for venal lucre, foulest usury". Also, in line 559, the author describes Satan as having "his wasp's nest in the Jewish heart". Many other times throughout the poem give me the impression that Chaucer is using satire against the Jews. The feeling of the poem gives us the impression that the Jews are evil who commit murder against those who don't share the same faith.
ReplyDelete--- I was expecting a tale like this a little bit. Its a mixture for me because the Prioress is a nun, I was expecting a tale dealing with religion. Also, the prologue also describes how the Prioress would cry over the deaths of animals, I was expecting a sad story.
--- I think the conflict that is presented in the story can be related to the conflicts between the Shia and Sunni Muslims. Different beliefs and opinions of religion can fuel tension between two groups, like the Shias and Sunnis.
Chaucer is using satire to criticize religion. He is satirizing Jews as well as the actions of the believers (singing, memorizing songs). He satirizes Jews by showing how much hatred they have for others and their aggressive violence toward young children. This is an example of satire because Jesus himself was a Jew. Therefore displaying Jews as violent and having dislike to religion of others creates a derogatory outlook towards Jesus and the Jews. He also satirizes actions of the religious, using the actions of the boy for an example. The young boy does not know what the song he is singing is about nor does he know why he has to sing it. This shows how religion is forced upon the young. Because the child is harmed because he is singing, is Chaucer taking a shot at how he despises the push of religion.
ReplyDeleteThe prioress tale does tell what would be expected. The prioress is described as a contradiction; having wealth and being a nun. The Jews in the story are also a contradiction. Instead of trying to live how Jesus would, they are contradict the acts of Jesus by harming a boy for singing.
I learned that religions persecute one another with no concrete reason. Today, Muslim extremists are murdering innocent people because they believe that the other religions are not sufficient and that their religion should be the one and only. This persecution is shown with the group ISIS. They have killed many because they want to establish a Sunni Muslim state. Those Americans, Iranians and Syrians killed were not of the Muslim faith and would not convert. Their refusal to convert their faith had them killed. This shows how the extreme Muslim religion will prosecute to the point of murder if one will not convert.
1. Satire is used in The Prioress's Tale by complementing her, but revealing her flaws at the same time. Chaucer starts the tale off with a hymn praising the Virgin Mary. The nun is supposed to be praising the Virgin Mary, however the hymn suggests a wrong doing on her part. It alludes to her urning for a child and to have a child to care for. The tale goes on and her mother-like instincts come out. The general prologue says she enjoys feeding the stray animals, while her own tale shows her care and concern for the little boy. Nun's are not supposed to urn for children or even have these mother like qualities about them. Their entire lives are devoted to the church and christianity. Chaucer is satirizing the Prioress and her failure at being a nun.
ReplyDelete2. The Prioress does not tell a tale that I would have expected. In the general prologue, she is described as anything but the holy woman that she is supposed to be. Chaucer introduces her as a nun, but describes her as not having the typical lifestyle of a nun. She lives a life with excess money that she is able to help feed the dogs with, while also being draped with jewelry. Her life would be looked at as a life full of sin from a nun and Christians point of view. She then goes on to tell her tale of the Christian boy and how the jewish killed him. Her tale is suggesting that being a strong Christian is the only way of life and all other ways of life, in this case the Jewish, are full of Satan and his ways. Her life is full of Satan because of the way she lives her life when she is supposed to be a faithful Christian. Her tale is very ironic and full of the satire that Chaucer fills it with.
3. From The Prioress's Tale, it was learned that stereotypes existed long ago as well as today. The tale stereotypes Jewish people as evil and easily tempted by satan while the Christians were portrayed as very God-like. The Jewish people kill the little christian boy, however the christians create an even bigger problem by going after and killing all of the jewish people. They are stereotyped as God-like, but they are no better than the Jewish because they kill people as well. This is in the world today with the continuing competition between the races. African American people are stereotyped as being worth less and treating people poorly. This stereotype has been present for much of American history and still doesn't change. The ghettos are often associated with people of the African American decent, along with the violence that occurs in these neighborhoods. However, white people can treat people just was bad or even worse than African Americans. The white population also has forms of ghettos and can be just as violent as people of a different race. The stereotype of the Jewish people of medieval times can be closely related with the African American stereotype that has existed and unfortunately still exists in today's world.
1. In the Prioress’s Tale, Chaucer is satirizing the Prioress, the nun. Chaucer gives the nun qualities that we do not expect in the behavior of nuns. In the prologue, Chaucer praises characteristics that are not represented of nuns. Thinking of nuns, we tend to think of women that are faithful to god and poverty. Instead of praising the characteristics that we think of, the narrator praises that she sings through her nose and speaks French however she lived in Paris. In line 147 of the prologue, the narrator says “with roasted meat or milk and fine white bread” showing that she feeds her animals the finest foods and even though she is a nun, she is rather large, considering nuns should not have luxury items. She also has a rosary around her wrist “hung from a brooch of golden sheen” (line 160), something else that she should not have, being a nun. Chaucer uses satire once again to ridicule the prioress in a way that is so exaggerated that he is exposing her qualities that nuns do not and should not have. The Prioress’s Tale is a marvel story that is just a huge hyperbole showing her unacceptance for differences and her biased thinking. The Jews are evil and the miracle is so unusual being that the little boy tries to continue to sing the song praising the Virgin Mary even after they kill him.
ReplyDelete2. The Prioress tells a tale that I would have expected based on my answer in number one. From the General Prologue, the nun is revealed in a way that shows the satire Chaucer uses. She is publicized in a way that is not of how the nuns are shown usually. The prioress shows her qualities through the way she feeds the dogs’ extravagance food displaying that instead of feeding the hungry, she is feeding her dogs and she is overweight presenting that she eats well. Chaucer creates a vulgar image of her and in the general prologue where she has a luxury nun life out of the norm.
3. With reading the tale, the prioress is an example of how someone says they are one thing but are actually the complete opposite. The nun says she is a perfect nun and is very religious however she does not act as a nun should. The current issue today in Washington of the boy who just recently shot 5 innocent victims is an example of how the tale relates to the real world. The boy was categorized to be such a happy person and he was never upset or angry. He was freshman homecoming prince just a week before this happened. Even though this is an extreme issue, his words said one thing and his actions said another. This idea can be from how Chaucer satires characters to expose their inner selves or to show that people are not always who they say they are.
1.In the prologue, Chaucer satirizes the prioress by praising characteristics that are the complete opposite of what a nun should be. Nuns are women who have taken vows of chastity, poverty, and faithfulness to god. Chaucer, however, makes the prioress a walking contradiction. She is wealthy, but she is a nun. She can speak French, but she is from a school in England. She is charitable, but for animals. She is living a lush life instead of doing what she is supposed to. She is supposed to be feeding the hungry but she is overweight and feeding animals finer foods such as roasted meat and fine white bread. Her golden sheen that reads, “love conquers all” also seems very uncharacteristic of a nun. Chaucer satirizes the prioress by praising her in such a feeble way that it is obvious he does not really respect her. It appears that he is praising the nun's qualities, however he is actually exposing her lack of obligation to her religious responsibilities and vows that she has taken. The Prioress’s tale is just as baring. It is an exaggerated miracle about a little boy that continues to sing a hymn after he has been murdered. In her story the Jews are portrayed as evil and the miracle is completely absurd. Her tale shows how intolerant she is of beliefs and how biased her mind is.
ReplyDelete2.The way that the Nun in interpreted in her tale was completely expected after how she was described in the prologue. She is a religious figure that should be all kinds of evident things, but she obviously isn’t. In the prologue, her priorities are completely uncharacteristic of a woman in her position. She is only a nun however she manages to somehow have a classy pleat and feed animals delicacy meals. Chaucer often makes vulgar references about her that indicate she may have a questionable past. I did not expect anything less from the prioress in her tale.
3.The prioress is a perfect example of someone who says they are one thing, but their actions are completely different. In today’s society, politicians are built up on a perfect platform. They are usually represented as these perfect men that are all about their families and home life. However, it usually turns out that these loyal husbands have mistresses. They claim themselves as what they want to be perceived as, not what they actually are. For the prioress, she was embarrassed and satirized by Chaucer. For all of those unfaithful politicians, they lost an amazing opportunity. This tale taught me that you should always be yourself. If you hide who you truly are it could eventually come back around.
In "The Prioress's Tale", Chaucer uses satire to show how these different characters undergo a depressing situation. When the widow is introduced in the poem, Chaucer describes her as "poor" and "Her face grown pale with dread and worried thought". As he describes the widow with dark descriptions it shows that the women has lost hope in finding her son alive and well again. The jews who took her son are shown as "curse'd" to show the hatred that Chaucer feels towards them. When using satire the positive outlook on the poem would be the son but it doesn't last forever as the son soon becomes corrupted from innocence.
ReplyDeleteWhen The General Prologue introduced the Prioress, i could expect to see the poem being introduced with a prayer to the Virgin Mary. In the time the poem had taken place christianity was highly valued as many would look up to their beloved god. By Chaucer opening up with the Virgin Mary prayer it foreshadows a time in the poem where christ is needed because of a dark time a character is experiencing. When the prayer says "To guide my song that i shall sing of thee" relates to when the widow was guided by the song of Alma to show the path to her son.
From this tale i've learned that faith can guide you through any situation no matter how tough it is. In Niger there were 300 young girls kinapped by an islamic terriorist group that were recently discovered. The girls during the kidnapping looked up to their faith and kept positive thoughts that faith could guide them to freedom once again. As they looked up to faith, it helped them in a time of need.
The satire in the poem is religion is blinding. He uses the story to tell that people rely too heavily on the church for the guidance of their lives. Their ideas of good and evil are defined by if you believe in the Christian Church then you are good and everyone else was evil. This is shown in the poem with the Jews. The Jews are persuaded by the devil to hire someone to kill the Catholic child for singing a song about Mary. The Jews are portrayed as evil because they have a different opinions then the Catholic Church. He uses the satire to show the bigotry of the people in his time.
ReplyDeleteIn the General Prologue, the Prioress is described as being the opposite of a true nun. She lives in excess and luxury. She had enough food that she could waste meat and feed it to the dogs. She also wore a gold broach that says love conquers all. This is not the way a nun is suppose to live her life. After learning this about the Prioress, this is the story I would expect. The satire of the poem is to show how the people are blind with religion. She is going against the Catholic church in her story which is what she does in her actual life.
This conflict with religion induced blindness is still relevant in the world today. There are still people that have radical religious beliefs that believe their way of life is the only correct way to live. This has been shown with radical Muslims. They go so far as to perform terroristic attacks to kill people who do not follow their religious beliefs. This is the same situation that occurs in the Prioress's Tale when the Jews kill the Christian boy. Religion bigotry was common in Chaucer's time and is still relevant today.
In the Prioress's Tale, the moral codes of religion are heavily satirized. To accomplish this, Chaucer uses irony as he describes the first character, the Prioress. We know based on the General Prologue that she is far from correctly following the ideals that come with being a nun. She values her possessions and is caught up in mortal entities that she should not be. Feeding dogs valued food, the beautiful cloak, and the precious rosary she wears are just a few of her hypocritical actions. The second character used is the young boy that the Jews brutally murder. The boy's death and the resulting execution of the Jews is a direct contradiction to Judaism and Christianity's inherent value of life. Both of these directly exemplify satire toward religious properties through the use of situational irony.
ReplyDeleteThe General Prologue does not precede a tale that is close to what the reader would initially imagine, however it provides back-story and direct characterization of the Prioress. The General Prologue initially depicts the Prioress as a nun that has not properly followed the ways of Christianity. The actual tale provides the reader with multiple characters that are used to develop several large themes found in the context of religion. The story of the child, the Jews, and several other key elements could not possibly be determined without reading the full tale. While a general outcome similar to the glorification of the Virgin Mary could be predicted, the specific ideas touched upon could not possibly be determined by the General Prologue.
From reading the story, I have learned that certain abstract concepts such as religion will always remain a controversial topic. Furthermore, in the conflict between multiple religions, people are willing to kill others today just as they had when this tale was written. I have also learned an item that I have mentioned above, that people naturally stereotype and group others. In the Prioress's Tale, the Jews are seen as "evil", even enough to work with the devil himself. It is important to note that this element of anti-Semitism may have been acceptable in medieval society, but after catastrophic events such as the Holocaust, the use of this stereotype is no longer appropriate. Today, many profiles are established that are frequently applied whether it is by race, social status, gender, religious practice, or even age. Issues such as these continue to threaten the values and rights of the individual.
Chaucer satirizes religion and bigotry of the time period. The Jews of the town were not thrilled when a Christian school opened up at the end of the street, and they were bothered by a young boy who at only seven years old was deeply committed to his faith. One day when walking home from school and singing a famous Christian tune, the boy is killed by an murderer who was hired by the Jews. After the boy began to sing even after being killed, The Christians of the town rejoice and call it a miracle, while cursing the Jews, and a new bigotry formed around them. Chaucer accomplishes this satire by having the Christians being hated by Jews, but then quickly changing into the Christians hating the Jews for their actions.
ReplyDeleteThe General Prologue sort of gave me an idea of what was going to happen. By calling on the Virgin Mary, this shows that she will be relevant in one way shape of form.
The Prioress's Tale closely relates to what is happening in the Middle East. The US is at war with terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda. This group despises the Jews for heinous acts they supposedly committed hundreds of years ago such as the boy being murdered, and they will stop at nothing to destroy them. They also despise their beliefs, and constantly criticize them for worshiping a different god. One of their targets is Israel, and terrorist groups are constantly fighting the Jews because of their deep hatred towards them. The US is at war because they support Israel and they are allies, so the US is a prime target for Al Qaeda.
1. The Prioress's tale satirizes faith. The very religious boy gets killed by Jews. He is then dumped into a ditch. His mother finds him, and the boy has a proper funeral, where he is revived, before dying again. It is satire on the end of Jesus's life, as both Jesus and the boy are killed by Jews, and then later are revived, before going away to heaven.
ReplyDelete2. I did expect the tale to be like this. The Prioress is a nun, and likewise, is very religious. The tale tells of a religious boy who was killed due to his beliefs, and in a manner not unlike how Jesus was shown to have been killed, with both being killed by Jews, coming alive again, and ascending to heaven. It therefore seems like something that would be told.
3. The tale tells of strife based on religious views. Jews that are angered by another faith go to the length of killing a boy to try to reinforce their views, much like in the world today, where there is religious strife worldwide due to the differing views. ISIS kills non-Muslims due to their beliefs that non-Muslims do not deserve to live due to different views. ISIS therefore acts much like how the Jews act in The Prioress Tale.
1.)Chaucer satirizes the prioress for stating characteristics that you would not usually use to describe nuns. Nuns are almost always devoted to god, and honest pure women. The narrator states none of the qualities. She has no problem feeding her hounds flesh and she wears a golden trinket that says "Love conquers all' thus showing once again she a nun or woman of god is not fully devoted to god.
ReplyDelete2.)No She seems very devoted to god and proper in the general prologue but once the prioress starts to tell her tale we realize she is nothing as described earlier.We also learn she is not very truthful in her tale telling multiple lies that do not connect her story to the truth. It states that she is "Tender heart right to quick" but later tells us that she has no problem feeding animals to her hounds.
3.) A title can easily cover up how we see people and how they should display themselves. By honoring a certain title you are required to or thought to be required to act and dress a certain way that may not coincide with their own personality. This has been shown in both tales we have read in the Canterbury Tale's as Chaucer satirizes how people can easily break their own code to please their own selfs.
A prevalent issue in the Prioress’ tale is Christian’s hatred for Jews, or anti-Semitism. However, I personally do not believe that Chaucer’s main satirization is toward anti-Semitist views. Chaucer points out a tragic human flaw, turning the Prioress’ ethics and morals into a complete mockery. The Prioress claims to be this morally upright woman who finds the little things sentimental. She shows deep compassion over the death of a mouse, and expresses her love for the Lord. However, she shows no mercy towards the Jews and supports the massacre of Jews. She sees no issue with their brutal slaughter because she was so invested in the child. Her behavior contrasts it’s own self in reference to the Jews and the child. She even goes as far as saying, “The serpent known as Satan Who has his wasp’s nest in the Jewish heart.” This quote shows that the Prioress believes that the Jews have satanic qualities in their hearts. Chaucer effectively makes the woman appear hypocritical and corrupt. He points out these flaws to reflect the decaying morality in the common man.
ReplyDeleteChaucer explicitly described the Prioress throughout The General Prologue. He alludes to her “special talents” that she performs for/to men. This reflects the idea that her morals and ethics are substandard, however, I was expecting a scandalous tale of her sexual services. I was pleasantly surprised when I did not read a vulgar tale, and Chaucer most likely veered from telling such a tale because the Prioress is too cowardly to speak about herself in such a way. Instead, Chaucer adequately portrays this decline in human morality by showing a complete lack of compassion for the slaughtered Jews when she claims to live by the word of the Virgin Mary. Her behavior is not shocking even though it is not synonymous with The General Prologue.
This tale is a perfect example of the questionable morals and ethics that exist in today’s society. People are quick to make verbal claims of their righteousness, which usually do not reflect the actions of a person. Chaucer utilizes the Prioress’ tale to appeal to the public by including the fact that someone was murdered, because the public found that interesting and knew that it would get people to listen. Television channels succeed through ratings and must appeal to the general public. News stations advertise fires and murders to get people to pay attention. The murderer makes headlines and a story about that person makes others interested. Viewers are more concerned with the crimes and disasters rather than the every day heroes. I can personally say that a news report about a school stabbing is going to keep my attention longer than a Boy Scout helping an elderly woman across the street would. I can make any claim regarding the fact that I believe I have good morals, but something as simple as what grabs my attention truthfully reflects my character. This could be true for any person in any situation. Ethical and moral decavity is a commonplace in today’s society because these principles are no longer appreciated by the public.
One of the most important parts of the Prioress to be introduced in the Prologue is her name. She was cleped madame Eglentyne,a name that symbolizes the Virgin Mary, as the englentine, a flower, was describing Mary. This naming of the Prioress by Chaucer after the flower symbolizes Mary is ironic, because Mary is the model of love and mercy, two things that the Prioress shows, in her tale, that she does not value that much. This in itself is satire because Chaucer chose a name for his Prioress that was different than her actual character.
ReplyDeleteIn today's society celebrities are looked upon as prefect humans. Just as it was back when this story was taking place kings and queens were on a higher pedestal then others. It taught me that there is always a pyramid of power in every society.
--- Chaucer is using satire against the Jews. The Jews are portrayed as evil beings for working with the devil and killing a little Christian boy. This works because during the time this was written it was in a heavy Christian society, which means they did not like the Jewish religion.
ReplyDelete--- In the introduction the prioress is described as a nun. So its not a surprise the story was about religion. But the story seem very violent for a nun to be telling. She is a nun who gives food to animals to keep them alive yet she has no problem telling a story about a little boy being murdered.
--- I learned that religion causes more problems then it causes good. In todays society, we see it in the middle east all the time now. The whole reason the U.S. has troops over there right now is because of this "Holy" War. Militant Muslims attacked the U.S. just because they believe their beliefs. (Same as the Jews did to the little boy.)
1. Chaucer is satirizing the nun. Chaucer gives the nun qualities that we would not expect from a nun. Thinking of nuns we think of women that are faithful to God and poverty. She sings through her nose and speaks French even though she never lived in Paris. The narrator says "with roasted meat or milk and fine white bread", showing that she feeds her animals the finest foods even though she is a nun. Chaucer is satirizing that fact that the nun is living very different than we believe they normally live.
ReplyDelete2. The Prioress tells a tale that i would have expected based on answer number 1. The Prologue shows the satire that Chaucer will use. She is publicized in a way that nuns are not normally considered. She is feeding her dogs and she is overweight which means she eats very well. Chaucer creates an image of her and how she has a luxury nun life which is out of the norm.
3. The tale is an example of how someones says that they are one thing but they are really the complete opposite. The nun says she is perfect but really acts in ways that a nun should not. The incident in Washington connects to this tale. The boy in Washington was said to be very happy and never angry , but his actions showed that that was not the case. This idea can be shown by how Chaucer satires characters and how people are not always who they say they are.
The tale is about a nun. Her portrait suggests she has a very religious life with her given manners to her attire. She keeps lap dogs that she privileges over other people, a fancy rosary and brooch inscribed with "Amor vincit omnia" which means love concours all. This is a sin for a nun who is suppose to love god and not have a partner. She has riches that nuns do not and feeds her dog very valued food. Chaucer is poking fun at the idea of the church.
ReplyDeleteNo it does not surprise me. She is very religious. Maybe not in all aspects of a nun, but she does highly value the christian faith.
We learn that faiths back than were also highly valued. If you were against a religion, you could be hurt by others. We see this in the world today with the Taiban. They do not believe in our values morally and religiously. If someone is against their religion, they will kill. That reflects back to the story in the tale.
Based on evidence from the text, it seems that Chaucer could be satirizing the church, and how it tends to focus more materialisticly and personally than religiously. Lines such as, "our dear and blissful Lady to revere," for example, make it seem as though there is more worship and praise to the lady that speaks the word rather than the Lord himself. Perhaps also he is simply writing an allegory to the behavior of nuns and the contradictions of themselves and what they dedicate their lives to being. Although the Prioress represents the Virgin Mary, she is far from her in her mortal values.
ReplyDeleteThis answers the second prompt, as this story is very fitting for how she is described in the Prologue. She is described as a nun, but suspiciously so with unknown backgrounds and details. She is also described with attractive details, also centering a possible satirization. Her image relies in that of the Virgin Mary that is described, which is important in introducing the tale and what it will be about. So it is an expected tale in that it would be focuses on religion, but also on suspicion with who murdered the child, and searching for him amid lies.
What is learned molds the image of a problem sti present in today's world surrounding the contention between religons. Take the middle east, for example, in which the jews and muslims have fought for years. Even the issue back then of the crusades would have been relevent in describing the hatred between different religious groups, such as christians and jews. What is learned is a warning to this, told warily through the satire.
The satire in the Prioress's Tale is being critical towards the relevance of religion in the texts of Chaucer's time. The Prioress tells a story of young boy who is devoted to the Virgin Mary. The boy in her story is brutally murdered by a group of Jews. This is ironic because the Jewish community is known to have a devotion to Jesus. Since the Prioress herself is an avid follower of the Virgin Mary and the christian religion, Chaucer found the opportunity to write about the bad people within this religion. Jews follow Christ and are supposed to follow his ways. In the time of Chaucer no writer wrote this way towards religion. It truly was a major writing for the time.
ReplyDeleteI did not expect this story to take the turn that it did. In the Prioress's prologue she is introduced as a lover of the Virgin Mary. In her story she is talking about a boy who has the same devotion but ends up getting killed. I would have expected a nice story about religion due to her prologue. However, Chaucer never fails to do the unexpected in his writings during his time.
This tale can relate to the times today as if Chaucer was talking about the people who always attend church but still sin. The jews in the story committed the largest sin of murder. Murder in today's world is not uncommon. Everyday on the news you can hear a story of someone getting killed.
One satirical device used to describe the Prioress is mock-heroic. Example of this are "shes neat and tidy, wouldn't let a crumb fall from her mouth and she's devoted to the virgin marry, wears all sorts of rosary. The difference in his manner of introduction to the Prioress’s tale compared with the Nun’s Priest’s tale in which he ridicules their tales by saying “Your tales are boring all of us to death, and all this talk is a waste of breath”. Chaucer is in a more subtle way attacking the Prioress’s over-exaggerated sentimentality and sensibility.
ReplyDeleteIn the tale, the Prioress sets up an opposition between Jews, whose concern is solely with the power of this world — especially money — and between the Christians, whose concerns are otherworldly. She insists from the start on the physical vulnerability of the Christian position. For example, the Christian school is small "litel", and the children are repeatedly called small or little (smale or litel); even the book the scholar in the tale reads is also "litel." His mother is a widow and, by implication, poor and defenseless. But the seeming power of the Jews, who can accumulate money and kill little children, is overwhelmed by the Virgin's miracle of restoring the boy's singing voice and also by treasures of the spirit symbolically represented by the pearl on the dead child's tongue. This all explains a lot about the prioress and it is the tale that she would be expected to tell.
I learned that people time and time again will continue to assume thing about others. In the story they accused the Jewish child of mockery against the Christian faith and went to the extreme of killing him. Now this may have been extreme but it compares with how people continue to accuse others today of things and sometimes people don't even know or understand the accusation they are making.
Religion is saterized by chauncer in the prioresss tale. He does this by having a nun, who is supposed to be a example of perfect religion, doing something that contridicts the values and rules of it. He again does this by the telling of different religions killing each other and them convincing themselves that it is okay.
ReplyDeleteThe tale went somewhat as expected. I expected chauncer to saterize and demine the church and/or religion. He ended up doing this but not in the way that I expected.
The tale is about how people shouldn't be idolized. Many people are idolized who have bad morals and don't live up to expectations. I learned to not hold people to untraceable standards.
1. Chaucer satirises religion in the Prioress's Tale. First, the Prioress represents the Virgin Mary, but she does not embody Her in the slightest with her actions. He could also be writing an allegory to the individual clergy of the day, such as nuns and priests, who he believes are out for monetary gain more than anything else.
ReplyDelete2. I believe the Prioress herself was expected, but not her story. She is laid out akin to the Virgin Mary in the Prologue, and then we get the details of her story of a young boy who is murdered. She is kind of an unexpected blow to the audience of the time who were expecting a much different story from a close incarnation of the Virgin Mary, and instead get the sad tale of taken life. This could be a poke at the people of the time and how god-fearing Medieval Europe was, especially during Chaucer's time.
3. I learned that religions are something that still take massive hold of people and ideologies, even to this day. The Middle East is a great example of this; sectarian governments oppressing religious and other sectarian minority and sometimes even majority groups, giving rise to extremists who can terrorize the world and make a region of amazing history and exceptional culture full of unbelievably hospitable people one of the most dangerous places in the world .
- I believe that Chaucer is satarizing the nun by giving her an image that would not be typically assumed. The nun in the prioresses tale goes against what she is supposed to believe. The nun believes that love conquers all, meanwhile, she is supposed to believe that God conquers all. It is also made not that she has dogs that she cares more for than actual people.
ReplyDelete- I was suprised. I did not think the nun telling the tale would tell of one that did not reflect the behavior of a nun in the typical sense. She told the story of a nun that went against what the regular nun thought and believed. It could be assumed that she would tell a story of a nun that was close to his/her values, but she told of one that went against what other nuns did.
- I believe the tale taught me more about how religion plays a large part of conflict in society. In the tale, a Christian boy was killed by a bunch of Jews. This shows how religion played such a conflict at times even as far back as this. Today, we see different stories of feuds based over religion and how they affect people.