Geoffrey Chaucer: The Nun's Priest's Tale - Write About The Ways In Which Chaucer Presents Chauntecleer's Dream?

University Degree Linguistics, Classics and related subjects

Domenico Clores

English Homework

Mrs. Best – Essay

Geoffrey Chaucer: The Nun’s Priest’s Tale

Write About The Ways In Which Chaucer Presents Chauntecleer’s Dream?

In the Nun’s priest’s tale, the denizens of the widow’s barnyard, in particular Chauntecleer and Pertelote are used to poke fun at very human sorts of behavior. The rooster's dream is significant as it and the discussion that follows takes up much of the tale itself. The focus is not on the action (Chauntecleer's capture by the fox) but on who is correct. Is Chauntecleer's position on dreams correct or is Pertelote's? The extensive discussion of the dream steers the story away from the "moral" of Chauntecleer's vanity.

Chaucer uses numerous diverse techniques in-order to present chauntecleer’s dream to the audience; I feel that he presents his dreams very successfully. For instance in the opening line, the use of a discourse marker is extremely effective, ‘and so bifel’, it immediately catches the readers attention. ‘Bifel’, meaning ‘it happened’, and so the audience ask themselves, ‘what happened?’ Furthermore, in line 5 and 6, the use of alliteration helps empathize that chauntecleer is somewhat distressed, slightly troubled. For example, ‘gan gronen’ and followed, ‘ dreem is drecched’.

Several times in the passage, Chaucer refers to religion; he uses the word, ‘God’, as part of his sentence or in order to explain something. This highlights that they are significant points in which he is trying to get across. ‘For by that God above’, almost means that God is watching at all times. Further down Chaucer creates a sense of imagery, implying that he was almost captured, held in captivity. He does this by involving the words, ‘prisoun’ and ‘beest’ sequentially to generate tension. When describing what the fox looked like on lines 20-25, you also notice ...

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Once more, Chaucer includes the technique alliteration, when describing the animal, this in a sense signifies his power. ‘Tipped was his tayl’ and ‘Snowte Smal’. On the same line, line 24, Chaucer describes the animal in great detail, very insignificant aspects are included. Again a sense of imagery is created for the audience, ‘Glowynge eyen tweye’, this is talking about the eyes of the animal. The use of discourse markers on line 27 and 28 brings the passage to a climax as Pertelote implies that Chauntecleer is a coward. ‘Avoy’, which is followed by, how could you? You heartless coward! Beneath, is followed by, ‘Allas’, in order to take the tension away from the point just brought up. The way Chaucer prevails his dream allows Pertelote to think differently of him, note that Pertelote's indignation at the thought that Chauntecleer might be a coward (and thus unworthy of her love); Chauntecleer's gallant compliments to his "lady" and statements concerning the effect of her beauty upon him; his references to the physical side of their passion.

All the way through the tale Chaucer perceives the chickens as humans, and he continues to do this in his description of the dream. ‘To han housbondes hardy, wise and free’. This is basically indicating that they are husband and wife almost. But in fact they are just rooster and hen, which are made out to be more than that. In a sense mock-heroic by where Chaucer is exaggerating extensively. When talking about the fox, Chaucer uses the technique, rhetoric, which is the clever use of language which I have already touched upon, for example when describing his eyes the use of language is so complicated yet it is describing something very simple.

Overall I feel that Chaucer have been very effective in presenting Chauntecleer’s dream to the audience, this is only been helped in the techniques that he has included. Personally he interacts very well with the audience because of the way he makes out the two to be elderly humans instead of a rooster and a hen.