Madam Eglantyne In Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales
When someone thinks of a nun they think of the stereotypical nun who is either compliant and is always proper or a nun that is very disciplinary that is extremely mean and rude to everyone. However there are some nuns who fit among the in between spaces of those stereotypes, such as the nuns that work at schools who are very warm, caring, and funny and they genuinely love being who they are. Despite the stereotypes, all nuns are not the same; every single person has a different personality including nuns, in The Canterbury Tales Prologue Chaucer describes all the pilgrims in a very ironic way including how he wrote about how the Prioress wasn’t exactly acting like one would think or expect. All nuns do not act the same or have the same
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Chaucer says “She certainly was very entertaining, Pleasant and friendly in her ways, and straining to counterfeit a courtly kind of grace,..” (Chaucer) what he means by this is that Madam Eglantyne is the stereotypical nice good nun but in her own way. Chaucer also hints at the fact that Madam Eglantyne might be trying too hard to be act the way she is “supposed” to act. When Chaucer is giving his description of how Madam Eglantyne looks he talks about how her face essentially looks normal, and there is nothing abnormal about her physically. On the other hand Chaucer talks about how Madam Eglantyne has a “…coral trinket on her arm… whence hung a golden brooch of brightest sheen…”(Chaucer) which is odd because most nuns do not have a lot of jewelry on except for the occasional cross necklace. At this point in reading Chaucer’s description one would think that it is not normal for a nun to have that much jewelry on at one time. Which brings us back to the point of is Madame Eglantyne trying that hard on your appearance okay when you become a nun or is it just based on the nuns personality and if they enjoy wearing those things. In The Canterbury Tales Prologue Chaucer writes about the Prioress in a way that seems that he is being honest but what Chaucer is actually trying to say is not that clear to all readers, he is being very ironic in his descriptions. When Eileen Power says that “ they found Chaucer’s Prioress smiling full simple and coy, fair forehead, well-pinched wimple, necklace, little dogs, and all…”(Power) she is using a different interpretation of what Chaucer wrote then what some people may
Chaucer says “She certainly was very entertaining, Pleasant and friendly in her ways, and straining to counterfeit a courtly kind of grace,..” (Chaucer) what he means by this is that Madam Eglantyne is the stereotypical nice good nun but in her own way. Chaucer also hints at the fact that Madam Eglantyne might be trying too hard to be act the way she is “supposed” to act. When Chaucer is giving his description of how Madam Eglantyne looks he talks about how her face essentially looks normal, and there is nothing abnormal about her physically. On the other hand Chaucer talks about how Madam Eglantyne has a “…coral trinket on her arm… whence hung a golden brooch of brightest sheen…”(Chaucer) which is odd because most nuns do not have a lot of jewelry on except for the occasional cross necklace. At this point in reading Chaucer’s description one would think that it is not normal for a nun to have that much jewelry on at one time. Which brings us back to the point of is Madame Eglantyne trying that hard on your appearance okay when you become a nun or is it just based on the nuns personality and if they enjoy wearing those things. In The Canterbury Tales Prologue Chaucer writes about the Prioress in a way that seems that he is being honest but what Chaucer is actually trying to say is not that clear to all readers, he is being very ironic in his descriptions. When Eileen Power says that “ they found Chaucer’s Prioress smiling full simple and coy, fair forehead, well-pinched wimple, necklace, little dogs, and all…”(Power) she is using a different interpretation of what Chaucer wrote then what some people may