Justify “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” as a beast fable.
The Nun's Priest's Tale is a notable literary work by Geoffrey Chaucer. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of The Nun's Priest's Tale.
Answer
Justify “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” as a beast fable.
“Beast Fable” is a literary genre that shows the weakness of human behaviour through animal characters. Like others, including Aesop (620-564 BCE) from Greece, Vishnu Sharma from India, Phaedrus (15 BC–c. 50 AD) from Italy, Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400) produced numerous beast fables. He adopted a new artistic style rather than the traditional custom of making the tales. “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” is a remarkable English beast fable centering the entrapped and escaping story of Chanticleer from the clever fox.
Animal Characters: The primal feature of a beast fable is the presence of animal characters. “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” abounds with animal characters. In the story, we find a widow of advanced age. All she has is some animals and birds. Here is a quotation from the text to know her possessions.
A yard she had, enclosed all roundabout…
And in the yard a cock called Chanticleer.
… … … … … … …
This noble cock had in his governance
Seven hens to give him pride and all pleasance,
This excerpt shows her cock and hens. Besides, we notice the appearance of a fox as the story advances. Chanticleer, the cock, dreams that a fox is killing him and reveals it to her beloved, Pertelote, who scolds him for her disbelief in the meaning of dreams. Finally, a fox appears and entraps the cock but in vain.
Dressing Animals in Clothing: The next point dealt with in a beast fable is anthropomorphism. This term means attributing human characteristics to animals. Chaucer successfully does this in his poem. His characters are animals but exhibit human-like qualities, emotions, and behaviours. These qualities allow readers to relate to them as if they were human. The following line is a part of the conversation between Chanticleer and Pertelote after his dream.
I cannot love a coward, by my faith.
Pertelote personifies Chanticleer as a coward. She says that only cowards believe in dreams. She rebukes him and warns him that she does not want to love a coward.
Satirical or Humorous Touch: “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” is humorous, creating fun of things from start to end. One comic part is when Pertelote blames Chauntecleer’s bad dream for his overeating. It is also humorous when Chauntecleer praises Pertelote like a knight would applaud his sweetheart. It is comical when the hens cry over Chauntecleer getting taken by the fox. The scene where Chauntecleer runs from the fox is hilarious. Chauntecleer tries to flatter his way out of the fox’s mouth, making a comical scene. Then, the fox tries to trick him again with more flattery. These incidents make the tale even better.
Symbolism: Symbolism means representing something to symbolize an idea or quality. In “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale,” each animal contains certain human traits or characteristics. For example, Chauntecleer represents pride and vanity, and the fox symbolizes deceit and cunning. Besides, Chanticleer’s scaredness is apparent in how he describes the awful image of the beast.
His snout was small, and gleaming was each eye.
Remembering how he looked, almost I die.
This awful depiction of Chaunticleer’s encounter with the fox helps the audience relate to the fear and warning of how the rooster feels.
Moral Lesson: Like the traditional beast fables, “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” bears a moral lesson. In this case, it warns against the dangers of flattery and pride through Chauntecleer’s misfortunes. It teaches us not to fall for flattery or believe a flatterer. Chaucer tells his audience to follow the moral lesson at the end of this poem. He states,
Yet do not miss the moral, my good men.
In termination, “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” is justified as a beast fable as it fills all the requirements of such a kind story. All the characters in the poem show human qualities and bear moral lessons. Through its satirical narrative, the story explores the human fall for flattery. Chaucer’s artistic style has made this literary topic a timeless, remarkable fable in the history of storytelling.