The Hidden Meaning of The Nuns Priests Tale Essay

The Hidden Meaning of The Nuns Priests Tale It has been suggested that a Chaucer tale exploits the nature of its genre but also 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 generally brief cautionary anecdotes that use the obvious resemblances between man and animals to point a moral or push a proverb home entertainingly3.†¦show more content†¦Beast fables offer the most closed system of stereotypes available to a storyteller.4 But stereotypes, by their nature, are biased, exclusive, overblown representations of humanity - perhaps not useful for gaining a better understanding of a working system of morality. Certainly once Chaucer has introduced a level of non-stereotypical complexity to the tale, one simple, obvious moral is no longer possible, which raises a significant doubt about how useful it is to try and make moral points through such tales. Life is, after all, never one dimensional. It is for this reason that I think Chaucer is drawing attention to two types of biases and exclusions in The Nuns Priests Tale. He examines those within popular medieval traditions through the introduction of sub-genres which conflict with the apparent simplicity of the tale. By doing this he also exposes those of the beast fable form, which are largely made apparent through the multiplicity of (often conflicting) morals that the introduction of the sub-genres create. In this essay I will explore how these two ideas intersect. The Sub-genres: Popular Medieval Traditions It has been suggested that the Nuns Priests Tale does not so much make true and solemn assertions about life as it tests truths and solemnities5. In my opinion there are three main sub-genres that Chaucer tests in the tale. The Romance, with its emphasis on nobility andShow MoreRelatedConflict In Anglo-Saxon And Medieval Literature1476 Words   |  6 Pagesboth Anglo-Saxon and Medieval literature reflect the culture of the people and the time they are living in. Both of their literature heavily reflects the culture of knighthood and courtly love in the stories: â€Å"The Wanderer,† â€Å"Beowulf,† â€Å"The Nun’s Priest’s Tale,† â€Å"Sir Orfeo,† and â€Å"Lanval.† Conflict in these stories is not only used to provide reference of the culture but as well to drive the plot, provide tension and excitement, and to develop the characters in the story. Such conflicts found in the