Page 145 - DENG405_BRITISH_POETRY

British Poetry

Notes Analysis

The Prioress’ Tale is overtly a “Miracle of the Virgin”, a reasonably common Christian genre of literature
which represents a tale centered around Christian principles and a devotion to the Virgin Mary, but
within the warm affection that the Prioress shows for her Christian faith is a disquieting anti-Semitism
immediately obvious to the modern reader in our post-Holocaust times.
The tale is an unabashed celebration of motherhood, and an unapologetic argument for the virtue
of Christianity over Judaism, and in most critics’ readings, it partly serves as a grim reminder that
anti-Semitism by no means began with Hitler in the Second World War. The guiding figure of the
tale is the Virgin Mary, addressed directly in its prologue, who serves both as the exemplar for
Christian values and as the intervening spirit who sustains the murdered child before he passes on
to heaven. Her mortal parallel is the mother of the murdered boy, who dearly loves her son and
struggles to find the boy when he is lost.
The Tale itself, as Seth Lerer has pointed out is “a nightmare of performance...” which “dramatizes
just what happens when a performer faces a hostile audience”. The little clergeoun of the tale (the
child) is an unsuspecting victim, murdered solely because of his eagerness to sing: one of many
tales which seems to take as its theme the danger of speaking, the potential danger of words and
language, and a warning about what happens to people who open their mouths at the wrong moment
(other such tales include those of the Manciple and the Nun’s Priest).

What miraculous circumstance attends the findings of the murdered boy?

Self Assessment

Short Answer Type Questions:
1. Who is the central character in the Prioress’s tale?
2. What is his special mark of devotion to the Virgin Mary?
3. Describe the grim nature of the boy murder.
4. How do the catholics interpret the child amazing singing?
5. What happen to the Jews in the Prioress’s tale?
Despite its interest in song and performance, the key question still seems to be whether we are to
read the tale as an outdated example of anti-Semitism, acceptable to a medieval audience but
acceptable no longer or whether there is another option. If there is, it probably lies in the sentimental
presentation of the Prioress’ Tale, and the juxtaposition of the extremely angelic singing seven year
old, and the extremely cruel and horrible Jews (who even go to the lengths of throwing the child’s
corpse into a cesspit). If we remember that the Prioress is a woman so sentimental that she even
cries over a dead mouse, it’s quite a contrast in her personality that she expends such vitriol over
the Jews. Perhaps there is some sort of contrast; perhaps the Prioress is intended to be held at arm’s
length from Chaucer. The bottom line with this tale is that it entirely depends on your reading of
the details.

16.2 Chaucer’s Tale of Sir Thopas

16.2.1 Prologue to the Sir Thopas
When the Prioress’ Tale was done, every man in the company looks serious, having heard of the
miracle she described. Until the Host, beginning to joke, turns to Chaucer himself (“he looked
upon me”) and asks him what sort of man he is, as he is always looking at the ground. “Looke up
murily”, the Host tells Chaucer, calling him a doll (“popet”) and describing him as elvish-faced.

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