The Prioress - onlineCORTESclassroom

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Text Bank
The Prioress
Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales (ca 1387–1400)
General Prologue, lines 122–1
In the General Prologue to his Canterbury Tales Chaucer provides descriptions of some of the
pilgrims. The following text is given in a modern English version since Chaucer’s language is quite
difficult to understand for contemporary readers of English. The text below presents the readers
with the first woman pilgrim of the whole party, a Nun.
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There also was a Nun1, a Prioress,
Her way of smiling very simple and coy2.
Her greatest oath3 was only ‘By St Loy!’4
And she was known as Madam Eglantyne.
And well she sang a service, with a fine
Intoning through her nose, as was most seemly5,
And she spoke daintily6 in French, extremely,
After the school of Stratford-atte-Bowe7;
French in the Paris style she did not know.
At meat her manners were well taught withal8;
No morsel9 from her lips did she let fall,
Nor dipped10 her fingers in the sauce too deep;
But she could carry a morsel up and keep
The smallest drop from falling on her breast.
For courtliness she had a special zest11,
And she would wipe her upper lip so clean
That not a trace of grease was to be seen
Upon the cup when she had drunk; to eat,
She reached a hand sedately12 for the meat.
She certainly was very entertaining,
Pleasant and friendly in her ways, and straining
To counterfeit13 a courtly kind of grace,
A stately bearing fitting to her place,
And to seem dignified in all her dealings14.
As for her sympathies and tender feelings,
She was so charitably solicitous
She used to weep if she but saw a mouse
Caught in a trap, if it were dead or bleeding15.
And she had little dogs she would be feeding
With roasted flesh, or milk, or fine white bread.
And bitterly she wept16 if one were dead
Or someone took a stick and made it smart17;
She was all sentiment and tender heart.
Her veil was gathered in a seemly way,
Her nose was elegant, her eyes glass-grey;
Her mouth was very small, but soft and red,
Her forehead, certainly, was fair of spread18,
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Nun. Suora.
coy. Timida.
oath. Imprecazione.
By St Loy! Per
Sant’Eligio (patrono
degli orefici).
seemly. Conveniente,
decoroso, elegante.
daintily. Raffinatamente.
Stratford-atte-Bow.
Stratford Bow, sobborgo
di Londra dove si trovava
un celebre convento
(Chaucer intende
dire che non parlava
il francese come lo si
parlava in Francia).
At meat ... withal.
A tavola i suoi modi
erano educati in tutto.
morsel. Boccone.
dipped. Intingeva.
zest. Gusto, piacere.
sedately.
Compostamente.
straining to counterfeit.
Si sforzava di simulare.
dealings. Modi.
bleeding. Sanguinante.
bitterly she wept.
Piangeva amaramente.
made it smart. Gli
faceva del male.
fair of spread. Spaziosa.
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Almost a span across the brows, I own19;
She was indeed by no means undergrown20.
Her cloak, I noticed, had a graceful charm.
She wore a coral trinket21 on her arm,
A set of beads22, the gaudies tricked in green23,
Whence24 hung a golden brooch of brightest sheen
On which there first was graven25 a crowned A,
And lower, Amor vincit omnia26.
COMPREHENSION
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READ the passage and fill in the missing information.
Name
Profession
Education
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MAKE notes about the appearance of the Prioress in the table below.
Nose
Eyes
Mouth
Forehead
Height
What is the Prioress like? Provide a list of adjectives.
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FOCUS on the clothes of the Prioress.
1 The monastic rules forbade to uncover the forehead. Did the Prioress respect them
in the way she wore her veil?
2 Focus on the rosary.
A What is it like?
B What hung and what should have hung from it?
C What is the meaning of the Latin phrase written on the brooch?
ANALYSIS
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FOCUS on the rhyme scheme and write it down.
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FOCUS on the Prioress’s behaviour. Fill in the table below.
Does Chaucer insist on outward behaviour or inward behaviour?
Behaviours expected of a Nun
The Prioress’s behaviour
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I own. Lo ammetto, lo riconosco.
by no means undergrown. E non
era per niente bassa di statura.
coral trinket. Braccialetto di corallo.
A set of beads. Un rosario.
the gaudies tricked in green. I
grani più grossi colorati di verde.
Whence. Da cui.
graven. Incisa.
Amor vincit omnia. Lat.: L’amore
vince tutto.
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CONSIDER her personality.
Chaucer emphasises some qualities such as shyness, charity and elegance. Do you get the
impression he actually admires the Prioress? Quote from the text to support your answer.
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FOCUS on the portrait of the pilgrims. The tone of the author changes according
to the character he is dealing with. He uses:
• humour to describe good qualities or human weaknesses;
• irony to make the reader aware of the faults and defects he doesn’t approve of;
• satire to attack vices and corruption openly.
How would you define Chaucer’s tone in describing the Prioress?

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