- - - Explain the satire in The Prioress's Tale. Who or what is Chaucer satirizing, and how does he accomplish this? Use evidence from text to support.
- - - Express what you learned by reading the tale and explain what that looks like in the world at-large. The best responses to this item will directly connect what you learned to a current issue.
The Prioress tells a tale set in an Asian town dominated by the Jewry in which usury and other things hateful to Christ occurred. The Christian minority in the town opened a school for their children in this city. Among these children was a widow's son, an angelic seven year old who was, even at his young age, deeply devoted to his faith. At school he learned a song in Latin, the Alma redemptoris, and asked the meaning of it. According to an older student, this song was meant to praise the Virgin Mary. As he was walking home from school one day singing this song, he provoked the anger of the Jews of the city, whose hearts were possessed by Satan. They hired a murderer who slit the boys' throat and threw the body into a cesspool. The widow searched for her missing child, begging the Jews to tell her where her child might be found, but they refuse to help. When she found him, although his throat was slit, he began to sing the Alma redemptoris. The other Christians of the city rushed to the child and carried him to the abbey. The local provost cursed the Jews who knew of this murder and ordered their death by hanging. Before the child was buried, he began to speak. The Virgin Mary had placed a pearl on his tongue that allowed him to speak, despite his fatal wound, but when the pearl was removed he would finally pass on to heaven. The story ends with a lament for the young child and a curse on the Jews who perpetrated this crime.
ReplyDelete-- The Prioress has many funny habits. She for one connects to the reader by saying she is class clown of the group. in fact she sings threw her nose. She tries to be daintly. Using satire to mock the french culture as she mispronounces most french terms. Chaucer over all is mocking the culture to a tee.
ReplyDelete-- I feel like she is being compared in a modern day setting to the group, ISIS. Both of the groups are trying way to hard to be too hard to be perceived a certain way, and how ridiculous that looks.
1. In The Prioress' Tale, the use of satire is used throughout the tale, but it is mostly used with the way he views the religious views of the people of that town during that time period. He makes us believe that in one part of the tale, Satan comes to the Jews of the town, and tells them about the Christian boy who is singing the Jewish song, and that he should be killed. He also tells us that Jesus Himself came to the mother of the boy, and led her to the place of where he was killed, and where he is buried. I believe he is mocking the religions by saying that Jesus and Satan can come to the Earth, and help the Jews and the boy's mother find the body of the son. By doing this, he shows his certain views of the Jews and the Christians during his time period, and how he tells us what they believe could happen during that time.
ReplyDelete2. I believe that this tale shows us the never ending battle that seems to be occurring between religions. The tale tells us about a boy who was born in a Christian enviroment, but because he would walk home a certain way every day, and heard a song that he enjoyed, the Jews thought that he was sinning against their religion, and they were told to kill the boy. And of course, the family of the boy, and the members of the church of the family were upset about the situation, and it seemed to cause a large disagreement between the two. The disagreement between religions, wether it is with these two religions, or others, we seem to be in a constant battle between religions, and it often times could as bad as it did this time.
1. He uses satire to show her flaws and poke fun of them in the poem. He accomplishes this by being highly sarcastic, and overtly polite. Chaucer is in a more slight way of attacking the Prioress’s over-exaggerated sentimentality and sensibility.
ReplyDelete2. It represents the world at large by showing us about different cultures and how they do things differently. The Jewish kids pray to the virgin mary and how jews in some countries are viewed differently. It also shows that the world isn't as safe as it used to be and we need to be careful nowadays.
The satire in The Prioress's Tale is that she is a nun with a questionable past, and Chaucer is satirizing women in general that, no matter what they look like or their profession is, any girl could have a questionable past, and not be ashamed of it. She may look meek and shy, but that doesnt effect her personality.
ReplyDeleteI've learned that women of all types could possibly had a bad history or even currently bad, but that judging them how they appear and come is not what is ideal. I would compare this to current day with women and how they are judged in every day society.
1.) The satire in the prioress's tale is to the christian faith. Back then people thought that all other religions besides christianity were works of satan. Also these people thought if you followed God's way that everything will be good. However in the tale a little boy who was said to be perfect had hes perfectness mock the thought of christianity. The boy was coming home from school singing the song O Alma which upseted the jews enough for them to hire a murderer in which slit the boys throat. After hes throat was slit his body was thrown away. This shows that chaucer was making fun of how people back than that thought nothing bad could happen to the perfect religion of christianity and this proves that bad things can happen to them too.
ReplyDelete2.) Due to this tale i have learned that differences in social living, such as religion, cause alot of conflicts. In the tale told the Jews and Christians hate each other alot. This anger causes the jews to kill the little christian boy for singing a song after school. This conflict between the christians and jews is the same to the Iran and Isreal conflict. Its the same because it is two nations fighting over religious beliefs do to the differences. The social differences are not being stopped and are causing violence.
The satire in The Prioress's Tale is that she is a nun with a questionable past, and Chaucer is satirizing women in general that, no matter what they look like or their profession is, any girl could have a questionable past, and not be ashamed of it. She may look meek and shy, but that doesnt effect her personality.
ReplyDeleteI've learned that women of all types could possibly had a bad history or even currently bad, but that judging them how they appear and come is not what is ideal. I would compare this to current day with women and how they are judged in every day society.