English

MiddleReading
about
Poetry
Literature for Life

Learning
Section 2
From the Beginnings to the 1700s

Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales

NOTEBOOK
Knowledge 1. What do you already know about Geoffrey
base Chaucer? Refer to your notebook.

First reading 2. You are going to read a description from

the General Prologue of the pilgrim called
The Prioress.
a. What is a prioress? Where would she live
and work? What kind of person do you
expect her to be? Choose from these
adjectives:
 a. rich
 b. fashionable
 c. religious
 d. modest
 e. humble
 f. passionate
 g. self-indulgent

 Portrait of Geoffrey Chaucer in Thomas

Hoccleve’s De regimine principum, early
15th century.

MP3 29
b. Listen to and read the text (lines 118-162), in a modern English translation. Take
notes under the following headings:
a. Name and social status ______________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

b. Physical appearance ____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

c. Clothes / style of dressing _____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

d. Education and manners ______________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

e. Experience of life ______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Section 2 From the Beginnings to the 1700s

Geoffrey Chaucer 1

T 38
Geoffrey Chaucer
The Canterbury Tales (1386?-95?)
from The General Prologue — The Prioress
There was also a nun, a prioress,
Whose smile was unaffected and demure;
Her greatest oath was just, ‘By St Eloi!’1
And she was known as Madame Eglantine.
5 She sang the divine service prettily,
And through the nose, becomingly intoned;
And she spoke French well and elegantly
As she’d been taught it at Stratford-at-Bow,2
For French of Paris was to her unknown.
10 Good table manners she had learnt as well:
She never let a crumb from her mouth fall;
She never soiled her fingers, dipping deep
Into the sauce; when lifting to her lips
Some morsel, she was careful not to spill
15 So much as one small drop upon her breast.
Her greatest pleasure was in etiquette.
She used to wipe her upper lip so clean,
No print of grease inside her cup was seen,
Not the least speck, when she had drunk from it.
20 Most daintily she’d reach for what she ate.
No question, she possessed the greatest charm,
Her demeanour was so pleasant, and so warm;
Though at pains to ape the manners of the court,
And be dignified, in order to be thought
25 A person well deserving of esteem.
But, speaking of her sensibility,
She was so full of charity and pity
That if she saw a mouse caught in a trap,
And it was dead or bleeding, she would weep.
30 She kept some little dogs3, and these she fed
On roast meat, or on milk and fine white bread.
But how she’d weep if one of them were dead,
Or if somebody took a stick to it!
She was all sensitivity and tender heart.
35 Her veil was pleated most becomingly;
Her nose well-shaped; eyes blue-grey, of great beauty;
And her mouth tender, very small, and red.
And there’s no doubt she had a fine forehead,
Almost a span in breadth, I’d swear it was,
40 For certainly she was not undersized.
1. ‘By St Eloi!’: a mild form of 2. Stratford-at-Bow: the English convent
exclamation (‘Per Sant’Eligio’). where the Prioress had studied
French.
Section 2 From the Beginnings to the 1700s
English
MiddleReading
about
Poetry
Learning
Della PRIORA vi comincio a dire
che, semplice sorriso e cuor contento,
faceva a sant’Eligio giuramento.
Madre Eglentina, essa era chiamata,
e sempre all’intonar sacra cantata
la voce sua nasale dispiegava.
Passabile francese essa parlava,
così come si studia nei conventi,
che quello di Parigi non lo senti.
In tavola poneva ogni attenzione
a misurare sempre il suo boccone
senza affondare in salsa le sue dita.
Ella prendeva il cibo sì compita
che mai goccia sul petto le cadeva,
modi cortesi sempre ella teneva
e le sue labbra tanto si nettava
che, sulla coppa, certo non lasciava
ombra dell’unto, dopo aver bevuto.
Gran portamento aveva, e mantenuto
ha sempre un fare amabile ed aperto,
gradevole persona era di certo.
In nobili maniere si atteggiava
e, come a corte, compassata stava
nell’accettar dovuta riverenza.
Era, per dire della sua coscienza,
di carità pervasa e sì pietosa
da lacrime versar per poca cosa,
pur fosse un topo in trappola finito.
Ai suoi cagnetti, buon cibo condito
e latte dava, e avrebbe pianto molto
se morte uno dei cani avesse colto,
o bastonato appena fosse quello,
davvero aveva cuore tenerello!
Soggòlo pieghettato essa portava,
e con begli occhi grigi ti guardava;
di bocca rossa, piccola e carnosa,
bel naso e fronte bellamente ariosa
che d’ampiezza una spanna superava
e alla statura sua ben si accordava.
3. little dogs: she kept dogs against
church law which forbade nuns to
keep dogs.
Geoffrey Chaucer 2
 English
MiddleReading
about
Poetry
Her cloak, I noticed, was most elegant. Tonaca elegante aveva indosso
A coral rosary with gauds of green e un bel rosario di corallo rosso
She carried on her arm; and from it hung e pietre verdi, il polso le cingeva.

Learning
A brooch of shining gold; inscribed thereon E una spilla pur da lì pendeva
45 Was, first of all, a crowned ‘A,’ con una A coronata e con il motto
And under, Amor vincit omnia4. Amor vincit omnia, inciso sotto.
(modern English translation by Richard Wright) (Italian translation by Vincenzo La Gioia)

4. Amor vincit omnia: Latin for ‘Love conquers all’ (L’amore vince
ogni cosa).

In more detail
Content 3. What do the following facts suggest about the Prioress?
a. she keeps two dogs against church rules ____________________________________________________
b. she wears a golden brooch with a motto about love ______________________________________

4. Describe the Prioress’s personality. Use words from the text and make inferences
from what the poet says about them.

Language 5. Look at the choice of words and details used in the description. Is the description
and tone realistic or idealised? Support your answer with quotations.

6. The poet’s tone of voice in the two descriptions is gently ironic. Which of the
following devices does Chaucer use to convey his irony? Give examples from the text.
 a. He says something about the object of irony while he means quite a different
thing. _______________________________________________________________________________________________

 d. He uses hyperbole, that is, he points out exaggerated attributes or details of the
object of irony. ___________________________________________________________________________________

 c. He points out some aspects which are different from what one would expect in
reality. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusions 7. Which of these typical Chaucerian themes can you recognise in the description of
the Prioress? Circle your choices and give evidence.

 a. magic: __________________________________________________________________________
 b. sensual love: __________________________________________________________________
 c. class pride: ____________________________________________________________________
 d. anti-feminism: ________________________________________________________________
 e. platonic love: _________________________________________________________________
 f. avarice: ________________________________________________________________________
 g. feminism: ______________________________________________________________________
 h. hypocrisy: _____________________________________________________________________

 The Prioress as portrayed at the beginning

of her tale in the Ellesmere manuscript, 15th
century (Huntington Library and Art Gallery,
San Marino, CA, US).

Section 2 From the Beginnings to the 1700s

Geoffrey Chaucer 3
RESEARCH DOCUMENTS

Investigating
Geoffrey Chaucer

NOTEBOOK
Take notes and make a presentation.
a. Work as a class or cooperate in groups to investigate these questions about the poem,
Geoffrey Chaucer and his times. Consult the following Documents, the reference sections
(Context and Glossary of Literary Terms), and your Italian literature books and teacher.
b. Report back to the class or in new groups about what you have learned.

Question You know that the pilgrims in Chaucer’s Tales

are headed for Canterbury Cathedral and the tomb of the
“blessed martyr” Thomas Becket. But who was Thomas
Becket and how and why did he become
a martyr?

D4
Here you will find who was in Normandy, is reported to
information on the have shouted “Will no one rid me of this
death of Thomas troublesome priest?” Whether he meant
Becket.
this as an order of execution or not, four
knights travelled to Canterbury and,
finding Becket at prayer in the cathedral,
Becket’s drew their swords.
This is an eye witness account from
murder Edward Grim, a monk who saw the
in the murder from his hiding place near the
altar.
Cathedral
Then he received a second blow on
the head but still stood firm. At the

T homas Becket was appointed

Archbishop in 1162 by King Henry II.
They had been old friends and Thomas
had previously been Henry’s Chancellor,
one of the King’s closest advisors. Henry
believed that Thomas would support him
in his attempt to restrict the
independence of the Church and widen
monarchical powers but, unexpectedly,
Thomas took up a firm stand against the
Monarchy. When he was charged with
contempt of royal authority he fled to
France, under the protection of Louis VII.
In 1170, with the population of England
under threat of excommunication, Henry
and Becket appeared to reach a
compromise but, on his return to
England, Becket undertook to punish all
those who had taken the King’s side
during his exile. Hearing of this, Henry,
third blow he fell on his knees and
elbows, offering himself a living vic-
tim, and saying in a low voice, “For
the Name of Jesus and the protection
of the Church I am ready to embrace
death.”
Then the third knight inflicted a terri-
ble wound as he lay […]. The fourth
knight prevented any from interfering
so that the others might freely perpe-
trate the murder.
As to the fifth, no knight but that
clerk who had entered with the kni-
ghts, that a fifth blow might not be
wanting to the martyr who was in
other things like to Christ, he put his
foot on the neck of the holy priest and
precious martyr, and, horrible to say,
scattered his brains and blood over
 Memorial of St Thomas Becket,
15th century, miniature (London, British
Library).
the pavement, calling out to the
others, “Let us away, knights; he will
rise no more.”
Becket’s murder sent shockwaves
through Europe and Canterbury Cathedral
became a place of pilgrimage for those
who believed Becket was a martyr. In
1173, Thomas Becket was made a saint
and King Henry walked to Canterbury
barefoot to the place where Becket had
been killed in a sign of public atonement.

Section 2 From the Beginnings to the 1700s

Geoffrey Chaucer 4
SAY IT RIGHT

Say it Right
NOTEBOOK
Check what you know and how to say it. You are going to use your literature notebook to verify your knowledge
about Chaucer and his works, and learn how to express what you know.
a. Copy and complete the text in your notebook, check your answers with your teacher.
b. In groups, use the completed and corrected texts to write questions and quiz your classmates.

Geoffrey Chaucer’s pilgrims in admiration he makes the reader aware that her charity is mainly
The Canterbury Tales are human types defects directed to her own (9) and the motto engraved
well-known to popular as well as to
dogs on her brooch does not seem to refer to spiritual
hypocrisy
literary tradition: for example, the (10) only.
irony
honourable knight, the (1) prioress, Italian The tales are both a means to illustrate aspects of the
the libertine friar, the domineering (2) . ladylike tellers’ (11) and to explore some recurrent
However, they are not depicted as Latin themes. For example, the Prioress’s tale is on a
(3) ; they are human beings with love conventional (12) subject — a miracle connected
an irresistible vitality besides their
nun to the murder of a child — appropriate to her role and
personality
qualities and (4) . They come to life status. A dominant theme of the tales is (13)
realistic
first in the poet’s descriptions in the religious which is hinted at in the figure of the Prioress who
General Prologue, especially through serious looks and behaves much more like a fashionable lady
(5) detail, and then in their tales. stereotypes than a (14) . Chaucer draws inspiration for his themes
The ladylike Prioress has the elegant upper from various sources: the English popular and literary
manners of the (6) class and a
wife tradition, (15) classics (especially Ovid) and the
charming appearance which is that of (16) contemporaries Petrarch and Boccaccio.
a heroine of romance. The poet shows His tone of voice varies in the tales: it may be ironical
great (7) for her accomplishments; still, and mocking, or (17) and thoughtful.
he makes her the object of gentle (8) when

Section 2 From the Beginnings to the 1700s

Geoffrey Chaucer 5