Nonne Preestes Tale

Nonne Preestes Tale-Introduction: Geoffrey Chaucer is the greatest English writer before Shakespear and the the earliest of the greatest moderns. “The Canterbury Tales” is his master piece. The “Nonne Preestes Tale” is one of the finest tales of the ‘Canterbury Tales’. It is the eleventh Tale among the twenty complete tales of Chaucer in his scheme of one hundred twenty four tales in ‘The Canterbury Tales’. It is preceded by “The Monk’s Tale” and is followed by the “Doctor’s Tale”of Appinius and Virginia. The ‘The Nonne Preestes Tale’ is not an isolated tale. It is brought well into the very scheme of Chaucer telling a light-hearted tale after a ‘heavy’ or serious. One to suit the moods and tastes of the pilgrims. “The Monk’s Tale” told immediately before it appears to be heavy, boring and dull. One request of the Host to tell a merry tale. The Priest Sir John tells the “Nun’s Priest’s Tale”
“ And right anon his tale he hath attamed
And thus he seyde unto us everichon,
This sweet Priest, this goodly man Sir John”
Date of Composition: It is not possible to say exactly when the poem was composed. In the tale there is a line.
“On a Friday fil all this mischance”. So it is supposed that the Nun’s Priest’s Tale was written on one Friday. But which Friday/ May 3rd fell on a Friday in 1385 and again in 1391 is considered to be a more welcome date. But many critics are against such a fixed of the composition of the poem. Accordingly to them Chaucer might not write a poem with his eyes fixed on calendar.
Nonne Preestes Tale:Source:
Like Shakespeare, the greatest dramatist of England Chaucer was not the inventor of the stories of his ‘Canterbury Tales’ and other works. He has borrowed his materials from various sources, mainly from the French and Latin originals. But in every case Chaucer has developed the idea in the own way. He has shown his genius in handling the readymade story, animating it and adding subtle touches which transform the raw-materials into a wonderful work of art. It is such a transformation that is seen in the “Nuns Priest’s Tale”.

Chaucer could have consulted a set of ‘Aesop’s Fable’ written in French by Maried de France of the thirteenth century, ‘the Roman de Renart’and Reinart Fuches for the main fable of the fox and the cock. His other sources are “Cecero’s De Divinatione”, Valerius Maximus’s “Fact et Dicta Memorabilia”. He might have consulted even Boccaccio, the first story-teller of the world. However it should be noted that the actual versions used by Chaucer have not been identified beyond doubts.

Whatever the sources may be, Chaucer has handled the raw-materials in his own-fashion. He has infused human interest in them, added humour and subtle characters in such an artistic manner that is no longer a beast fable of the Roman de Renart type. The difference between the original and the finished work is something like the difference between a medieval romance and a modern novel.