The Nun’s Priest’s Tale By Aaron, Cara, Esmerelda, Rosie, and Matt

Plot Brief description of widow and her lifestyle. Story of Chanticleer- rooster with seven wives, whose favorite is Pertelote. Chanticleer has a dream of his death. Pertelote sees it as a sign of weakness. One day, A fox sees Chanticleer singing; he flatters him to come over and snatches him away from the farm.

Plot Pertelote burns herself because she can’t cope with him being gone. Chanticleer tricks the fox back by telling him to tell the people chasing him that it is not worth it. While his mouth is open, Chanticleer escapes. The fox tries once more to coax Chanticleer into his mouth, but his flattery fails.

Social Commentary Revolves around the statement that you should not trust the people who try to flatter you. Imitates overblown descriptive style of romance stories through Chanticleer dreaming about his death and courting his love. Church hierarchy- hens at the farm are always being disposed of - in the church, lower status nuns were always moving in and out. Chanticleer’s dream of death is seen as sign of weakness by Pertelote- men at the time were not supposed to show feelings.

Interpretation/ Criticism Chanticleer represents the priest, Pertelote and the hens represent the nuns. That comparison sets up metaphors for clergy corruptness, such as nuns & priests breaking chastity vows The emphasis on the poor widow at the start is ironic, considering the clergy rarely lived the lives of poverty they preached.

Interpretation/ Criticism There are numerous references to Greek gods to tell the story, seeming to question the priest's knowledge of the Bible, which could be used to tell the tale. The Priest compares the hens to the wives of Roman Senators during Nero's burning of Rome. After the burning of Rome, Christians were persecuted by the Roman government, which is a very odd comparison for a clergyman to make. Boethius Burning of Rome

Teller VS. Tale Story characters Vs. Real characters Chanticleer= Priest Pertelote= Prioress Hens= Nuns/ whorehouse people Fox= rebeller against the church Old widow= Pope VS.

Teller VS. Tale Priest and Prioress did not follow clergy rules they set for themselves and others. In prayer that priest recites at end of the story, he uses the term "my lord" which refers to God. However, In Chaucer’s style, he uses “my lord” to refer to a relationship between two people that is a close and personal relationship. This suggests that the prioress and the priest's relationship was more than just being clergy people. Relates to the story b/c it said they were “married”, just like the priest and the prioress.

Teller VS. Tale The story was thought to be based on fables by Marie de France. Shows that Chaucer used other literary works to write his own stories, and the inspiration for this story came from an original source.

Morals! The morals of the story are: 1). Don’t let flattery mislead you. 2). Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.