The Nun's Priest's Tale

1. What human characteristics are reflected in the portrait of Chanticleer? In the portrait of Lady Pertelote? How did you respond to these characterizations?
2. The Nun's Priest fills his tale with allusions to classical literature. Given the characters in his story, why are these classical allusions ironic?
3. How do the Host's comments reflect ironically on the teller of this tale? What do you think the tale reveals about the character of the Nun's Priest?
4. How would you state the moral in the tale of Chanticleer? Is the story serious, or is it told to poke fun at "the battle of the sexes"? Explain.

1. The human characteristics of Chanticleer are: happy, proud, arrogant, popular, good looking. Human characteristics of Lady Pertelote are: smart, friendly, courteous, loving. These are ideal characters for a story of courtly love.

2. Many characters use literary allusions from the Bible and classical mythology. These classical allusions are ironic because it is up to the reader to decide which satire and morals they should believe.

3. The Host is a jolly, lively tavern-keeper. The Host's character demonstrates that the main purpose of the pilgrimage lies not in the devout religious act but in the fun that tourists will have along the way. The Nun's Priest is an awkward storyteller. His story of Chanticleer is well crafted and suggests that he es a witty, self-effacing preacher.

4. One important moral is "not be so careless as to trust in flattery". During the tale, he wants to demonstrate that trust is a virtue that one should not give away too soon. The Nun's Priest Tale falls under the gender of beast fable with "moral stories". The Tale has an undoubtedly serious side with serious consequences and also some comic or ironic moments. You can also find a lot of double entendres and thinly veiled dirty jokes to portray lust.