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Unit 17: The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales (Non-detailed Study): Discussion and Analysis-IX

previous to and separate from the Canterbury project, and only adapted it to fit within the Tales later. Notes
The Second Nun tells the story of Saint Cecilia in a dry, sanctimonious fashion that exalts her suffering
and patient adherence to her faith, and, in a fashion that might be compared to the Prioress’ and the
Clerk’s tales, stresses the patent inhumanity and saintliness of Cecilia from the first moment.

Self Assessment

Short Answer Type Questions:
1. In what genre is the Nun’s Priest’s tale written?
2. What is the obvious moral theme?
3. What is the more subtle theme of the story?
4. What is Chanticleer’s great fault?
5. Against what is the Monk warning the listeners?
6. Why must the listners not trust in these things?
7. For what specific refusal is Cecilia condemned to death?
8. Why doesn’t the raging fire burn the young wife?
Like the “litel clergeoun” of the Prioress’ tale, Cecilia transcends the horrors of the mortal world:
she stands against paganism, against false idols, and even against death, and is rewarded by being
translated into a saint at the end of the tale. Some critics have recently begun to compare this tale to
the Canon Yeoman’s tale which follows it, wondering whether Cecilia herself might undergo some
sort of transformational alchemical process: though she, unlike the false Canon’s trick-coals, is entirely
unchanged when heated up.
The tale points to the mythological nature of medieval Christianity. The metaphor of the angelic
floral coronets, which only Christians can see, for example, is a physical manifestation of the idea
that Christians belong to a City of God, a distinct community with shared values that exists within
a secular and often hostile environment. There is perhaps also an interesting thought lurking in the
tale about the problematic contradiction (highlighted by the Host in his words to the Monk and the
Nun’s Priest) that human ministers of God are not allowed to be sexual beings: Cecilia, of course,
sets herself apart from the earthlier women of the Tales (the Wife of Bath is the key example) by,
right at the start of the tale, professing her distaste for sex.

17.4 Summary
• The Monk’s tale is a collection of tragedies, designed to advise men not to trust in blind pros-
perity but be aware that Fortune is fickle and ever-changing.
• The story is that Samson slew one thousand men with an ass’s jawbone, then prayed for God
to quench his thirst.
• The Monk next tells of Antiochus Epiphanes, who was punished by God for attacks on the
Jews.
• The “hound’s” colour was somewhere between yellow and red, and his tail and both his ears
were tipped with black.
• The lily might represent the chasteness of Cecilia, or indeed, her white honesty.
• Cecilia, the prologue concludes, was swift and busy forever in doing good works.

17.5 Keywords

Injunction : An authoritative warning.
Swift : Happening quickly or promptly.

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