Abstract

Of all the pilgrims in Geoffrey Chaucer’s epic poem “The Canterbury Tales,” it is the Prioress who has been the subject of the most critical analysis, and it is her tale that has caused the greatest angst among both critics and casual readers of the Tales. We study the literature devoted to the nun and her tale and conclude that Madame Eglantine is a hypocrite, posing as a passionate follower of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth while violating the spirit of those teachings and the vows she took: vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Her clothing and her manners are less those of a humble nun and more those of the noblewoman of her past. If her condition has changed, her attitudes and behavior have not. The tale she tells bespeaks of the hatred she has for the Jewish people even while she regularly—ironically and in public—worships Jesus and Mary, both Jews. As we search for the elements of the character of the Prioress, we discover that she is a hybrid woman, having left the worldly life of the nobility and not yet accommodated herself to the severely cloistered life demanded of her by strict monastic rules.