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Prioress

            
             (A) O Lord, Our Lord, thy works how marvelous are given as gifts through Geoffrey Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales. For not alone thy praise so glorious is given by several characters traveling to the Cathedral at Canterbury. Wherefore in praise, as best he can or may, Chaucer tries to tell over one-hundred of these tales. O Mother-Maid! O Maiden-Mother free! Chaucer's bush has burnt and he has died before finishing twenty-four tales. His virtue, which was thy soul's delight, conceived in Thee the Father's wise essence. Help the Prioress, the top nun on the journey, to speak now with all reverence. Guide her unto Thy Son so dear. The Prioress does so pray to Thee to guide her tale and so she is close to the Lord and still afar. Amen.
             (B) A medieval nun was to be devoted to the Lord. Nuns were supposed to center their lives on Christian principles. Chaucer's nun was a Prioress and was ranked high in the ecclesiastical system. She was so devoted to the Lord that her tale even began with a prayer. The Prioress says prayers and helps people in their way of life in hopes to lead them to the Lord and heaven. .
             (C)(D) Chaucer not only shows his amazement in her devotion, but also in how prim and proper she is through out the journey. Her respectable manners are viewed by Chaucer as "no morsel from her lips did she let fall" and "she would wipe her upper lip so clean that not a trace of greaser was to be seen upon the cup when she had drunk." He describes these manners so much that they appear to be a show the Prioress sets up to make herself more appealing to men. Another trait that Chaucer describes is how sentimental she is: "As for her sympathies and tender feelings, she was so charitably solicitous". Her high religious morals are seen by the brooch she wears with the inscription "All things are subject unto love" and by the string of green beads for counting prayers. These good qualities are then contrasted by sly wit when Chaucer says the Prioress speaks, "After the school of Stratford-atte-Bowe," which implies that since she did not know the Parisian French then she spoke a rather crude language.


Essays Related to Prioress

1. Chaucer

He writes, "Ther was also a Nonne, a Prioress; That of hir smiling was ful simple and coy. ... The Prioress's pretentiousness is demonstrated in her attempt to imitate refinement. ... The Prioress would like the other travelers to think she is worldly and sophisticated. ... Therefore, in the eyes of the church and the reader, the Prioress would be despicable. ... In comparison to the Prioress, Chaucer describes his male Knight most favorably. ...

  • Word Count: 1599
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Canterbury Tales

The Prioress is a peculiar character. ... Some of the Prioress' faults can perhaps be forgiven when taken in context of medievalsociety. ... Ridley's The Prioress and the Critics. ... Religious issues bring up another interesting contrast between the Wife of Bath and the Prioress: while the Wife of Bath embodies empirical knowledge of facts, the Prioress embodies blind religious faith. ... Does this lack of biographical facts suggest that the Prioress is a lifeless, unreal being? ...

  • Word Count: 1688
  • Approx Pages: 7

3. WOMEN IN THE GENERAL PROLOGUE OF CANTERBURY TALES

There are 29 pilgrims in all, and only two are women-the Prioress and the Wife of Bath. ... The Prioress strives to be polite and proper, and is described as "very cheerful, most pleasant, and amiable in bearing-(Page 9, line 138). ... The Wife of Bath will not act subservient towards anybody, again contrasting with the meek Prioress and ideals of medieval society. ... The Prioress abides by the societal principles and presents herself in an acceptable and extremely proper manner. ... However, the Prioress and the Wife of Bath seem to be atypical in at least one way-the Prioress, though typi...

  • Word Count: 1279
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

4. General Prologue

In the "General Prologue" of the Canterbury Tales, the Prioress, Monk, and Friar are specifically used to represent the clergy of Chaucer's time. ... The first of the three portraits portrays the Prioress. ... A rosary was not seen as an awful thing for a prioress to have, but hanging the phrase "Love conquers all" from it changed everything. ... That would be unacceptable for a prioress since it was seen as something for the common people and not for members of the clergy. ... Chaucer first introduces this concept with the Prioress, followed by the Monk, and finally the Friar. ...

  • Word Count: 797
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Canterbury Tales

Chaucer portrays two extremes of female conduct during this period through the characters of the Prioress and the Wife of Bath. ... On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Prioress, who is a better example of womanhood in the medieval ages. ... The Prioress also known as the Nun represents a proper and feminine woman of the medieval period. ... Chaucer paint this picture of the Prioress in the " General Prologue" , when he states, She wolde weepe if that she saw a mous Caught in a trapppe, if it were deed of bleede. ... The poise, manners, behaviors, physical characteristics and s...

  • Word Count: 1384
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Chaucer' s Women

Chaucer portrays two extremes of female conduct during this period through the characters of the Prioress and the Wife of Bath. ... On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Prioress, who is a better example of womanhood in the medieval ages. ... The Prioress also known as the Nun represents a proper and feminine woman of the medieval period. ... Chaucer paint this picture of the Prioress in the " General Prologue" , when he states, She wolde weepe if that she saw a mous Caught in a trapppe, if it were deed of bleede. ... The poise, manners, behaviors, physical characteristics and s...

  • Word Count: 1384
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Chaucer

Chaucer portrays two extremes of female conduct during this period through the characters of the Prioress and the Wife of Bath. ... On the other end of the spectrum, we have the Prioress, who is a better example of womanhood in the medieval ages. ... The Prioress also known as the Nun represents a proper and feminine woman of the medieval period. ... Chaucer paint this picture of the Prioress in the General Prologue? ... Prioress. ...

  • Word Count: 1389
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Chaucer

Three of the wayward characteristics shown in The Canterbury Tales are: sexual immorality (the Friar), gluttony (the Prioress), and lastly there is hypocrisy (the Yeoman.) ... This is because they are, like the Prioress, obsessed with food. ... If they read the paragraph about the Abney 2 Prioress and how she eats so well, when she took a vow to remain poor and serve God, then they would give up on eating to the point of unhealthiness. ... They would not want to be compared to the Friar, Prioress, or the Yeoman. ...

  • Word Count: 724
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Examine the Presentation of the Ecclesiastical Characters in Chaucer's General Prologue

Continuing on the theme of misplaced interests, the Prioress is described, without supposedly realising the importance, as a lady obsessed not with her religious duties, as one in charge of a nunnery should be, but with looking and acting as a fashionable courtly lady. Even from the first description of the Prioress, which unexpectedly, is her face, one learns that it is "ful simple", suggesting a lackadaisical, careless attitude, as opposed to a more sombre-looking face that is expected of someone in her position.. Her name, Madame Eglentine, is the name of a wild rose, but it was customary ...

  • Word Count: 1850
  • Approx Pages: 7

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