Finally, the Prioress desperately wants the world to consider her as pious, devout and worthy of respect and dignity. However, she exudes an amount of prejudice and anger not befitting a lady who is devoted to love and mercy. To assess the character of the Prioress is quite difficult indeed; her character, as presented by Chaucer, is much like that of most ordinary humans. The prioress has some admirable and endearing virtues that many wish to emulate and some character defects that prevent her from being of maximum service to god and her fellow men and women.
Works Cited
Ames, Ruth M. God's Plenty: Chaucer's Christian Humanism. Chicago: Loyola
University Press, 1984.
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales: The Prioress'...
Chaucer's "Retraction" and Its Meaning within the Context of the Canterbury Tales The "Retraction," a fragment that follows the last of the Tales in Chaucer's masterpiece, has attracted much critical attention, as students of Chaucer attempt to divine whether it implies a renunciation on the author's part of his work, or is intended ironically. Benson comments that "the authenticity of the Retraction has been challenged" (Benson, 2000), and certainly it is possible
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