A Review of The Canterbury Tales: The Prioress's Tale

 

1. The Tale

Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales are full of colorful figures and dark comical imagery. The fact that Chaucer was able to wield his pen and write of so many different types of stories puts him in rivalry only to Shakespeare. The Canterbury Tales teach theology, morals, and humour. It is unfortunate that Chaucer never got to finish these stories. With all the impact that The Canterbury Tales has had on English literature, imagine its influence if Chaucer had completed it. 

We come today to The Prioress's Tale. This Canterbury tale is more controversial as it portrays its Jewish characters as violent and oppressive towards Christians. Was Chaucer ant-Semitic? Scholars debate the outcome and meaning of the story. Some see the Prioress's Tale as reflecting Chaucer's bigotry towards the Jews. Others, however, insist that Chaucer was not anti-Semitic. Rather, scholars representing the latter view, see the story as satirizing common views about Jews that were popular in Chaucer's day. 

Chaucer's The Prioress's Tale starts off straight to the point. The tale avoids no time in portraying the Jews as being hateful to Christ and Christians in its opening words:  

Ther was in Asie, in a greet citee, 

Amonges Christen folk, a Jewerye,

Sustened by a lord of that contree

For foul usure and lucre of vilanye,

Hateful to Crist and to his companye;

And thurgh the strete men mighte ryde or wende,

For it was free, and open at either end. 

The story goes on to describe how at a local school Christian children were being taught. A young boy there always made frequent devotion to the virgin Mary. His mother, a widow, had raised him in this devotion. 

The boy, being so young, was not fluent in all the Latin liturgy at his school. The story depicts his lack of fluency in the Latin tongue: *

Noghte wiste he what this Latin was to seye, 

For he so yong and tendre was of age;

But on a day his felaw gan he preye

T'expounden him this song in language, 

Or tell him why this song was in usage;

This preyde he him to construe and declare

Ful ofte tyme upon his knowes bare. 

The young lad intends to learn Alma redemptoris (a Latin prayer) before Christmas. He is certain of his intention to honour the virgin Mary. 

The boy was taught by an older adolescent from the same school how to pray this prayer. Every day, the young lad piously invocating Mary, Mother of God. 

The story then describes how Satan rested in the hearts of Jews. Likewise, the devil urged them to persecute the boy as he passed by them praying Alma redemptoris. 

In reaction to the devil's command, the Jews hire a murderer that kidnaps the boy and slices his throat. Afterwards, the boy's body was thrown into a pit. 

Meanwhile, the poor widow had waited all night for her son to return. After waiting so long, she began looking for him. She cried out to the virgin Mary as she searched for her son in the Jewish ghettoes. The Jews falsely tell her that they have not seen her son. The Lord Jesus, however, reveals the location of her son's body. 

The mother came to find her son. Somehow, he was still alive and taken to the abbey. Later, it is found from the boy's lips that he should have died but that Christ preserved him anyways. 

In response to their wicked deeds, the magistrate has the Jews punished by torture, and then by execution. 

The boy reveals to his mother how the blessed virgin had been with him during his trial. He also reveals that when he sang to Mary, that she had placed a seed on his tongue. 

The monks bury the boy's body after weeping as they heard his story. This seems to indicate that it was the boy's ghost that had formerly appeared to his mother and those at the abbey. 

The story ends with describing the Jews as cursed and asking God for mercy while giving reverence to Mary. 

*Why does Chaucer mention this point? Is there a point in mentioning this besides the obvious of the boy's young age? Is Chaucer pointing towards the fact that many lay people in England were not as fluent in Latin as were the nobility and church hierarchy? Is Chaucer demonstrating a greater purpose hear? Does this reflect any Lollard tendency on his part? Does Chaucer support the scriptures being in the vernacular as did John Wycliffe? These are all questions that need to be addressed. 

2: Final Thoughts

This is an interesting story about the role of Jews and Christians during the Middle Ages. I can certainly see why this is a controversial story today. Nevertheless, whatever we think about it, it does reveal the tension between many Jews and Christians from many Medieval Times. For this reason alone, it is important for historical, religious, and literary discussions of the Middle Ages.