The Hidden Meaning of The Nuns Priests Tale Essay -- Nun’s Priest’s

The Hidden Meaning of The Nuns Priests Tale It has been suggested that a Chaucer tale exploits the nature of its writing style but alike draws attention to the ideological biases and exclusions inherent in the genre2. In my opinion The Nuns Priests Tale is a wonderful example of Chaucer testing the bounds of his chosen genre - in this case the beast fable. What is a beast fable? Obviously a tale about animals, but one where animals are used as embodiments or caricatures of human virtues, vices, prudences, and follies ... and the other typical qualities of mankind. They are gener in ally brief cautionary anecdotes that use the obvious resemblances between man and animals to point a deterrent example or push a proverb home entertainingly3. Chaucer can be seen to exploit the nature of the beast fable fully in The Nuns Priests Tale. It contains all of the traditional elements mentioned above the central characters are the chickens Chauntecleer and Pertelote, and Russell the fox th e culpability, gullibility, guile and boastfulness of the characters are examined the tale is brief, approximately 650 lines and several morals are offered. The tale is too entertaining, but not only because of its caricatures of human traits. The tale contains numerous sub-genres such as the romance, rhetorical debate, and Christian misogyny, and it is the interplay of these sub-genres with the framing beast fable that creates much of the humour. In The Nuns Priests Tale Chaucer shows up some of the worst excesses of these popular medieval traditions by putting them into context with his animal characters. The incongruity of a chicken taking office in a debate on the significance of dreams, for example, is inherently comic, but does not just... ...9), 251-270. This from p. 266. 8. F. Anne Payne, Foreknowledge and Free Will Three Theories in the Nuns Priests Tale The Chaucer check out 10 (1975), 201-219. This from p. 208 9. Ian Bishop, The Nuns Priests Tale and the Liberal Ar ts, Review of English Studies NS30 (1979), 257-267. This from p. 17. 10. Payne, p. 205. 11. Walter Scheps, Chaucers Anti-fable Reductio ad absurdum in the Nuns Priests Tale, Leeds Studies in English 4 (l970), 1-10. This from p. 7. 12. Bishop, p. 266. 13. Payne. p. 218. 14. Payne. p. 210. 15. Payne. p. 211. 16. 0wen, p. 267 17. Jill Mann, The Speculum Stultorum and the Nuns Priests Tale, The Chaucer Review 9 (1975), 262-282. This from p. 275. 18. Friedman. p. 253. 19. 0erlemans, p. 318. 20. Scheps. p. 8. 21. Payne, p. 214. 22. Mann, p. 277.