Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Article Critique Example

Within the context of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, the Prioress’s tale is an example of popular stores of the period called miracles of the virgin.  The story commences with a prayer to the Virgin Mary and then establishes the plot in Asia where a community of jews dwell in a Christian City.  A 7 year old boy, the son of a widow, has been raised to worship the Virgin Mary.  The boy learns the first verse, of the then popular hymn, ‘Alma Redemptoris Mater’ a Latin title meaning ‘ nurturing mother of the redeemer’.  Although the boy cannot translate or understand the meaning of the Latin words, his classmates tell him it’s a hymn about the Virgin Mary.  The boy takes up the song and sings it every day he walks through the Jewish quarters.

The jews felt this to be deeply insulting and set about to murder the boy.  This they eventually did and tossed his body on a dung heap.  The mother of the boy searches for him and ultimately finds his body.  The body miraculously sings the ‘Alma Redemptoris’.  As a results of the boys murder the Christians call in the Provost of the City and the jews are caught and subsequently arrested.  The jews are then executed by being drawn by wild horses and then hanged.  The boy continued singing throughout the burial service for the jews.  The attending Abbot asks the boy why he can still sing.  The boy responds by saying that despite his throat being cut he had a vision of Mary laying a grain on his tongue and that he will continue to sing until it is removed.  The Abbot subsequently removed the grain and the boy died. The tale concludes with a mention of Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln who suffered a similar fate at the hands of the jews.

The tale is clearly anti semetic and common of blood libel stories told during this period. The fact that the jews were banned from England in 1290 ( some 100 years before this tale was composed ) indicates why the setting was moved from England to Asia.  The stance of this tale would be symbolic of the Church’s attitude at that time, however the motives of Chaucer are somewhat a mystery.  The accent of the Prioress is distinctly French and indicative of social climbing. Critics have said that Chaucer was mocking the prioress. Because of Jewish alienation in English society they become an easy target of hatred and useful for the church to describe them as satanic or evil.

The wording is very interesting in the depiction of the jews by the Christian Church at that time   ‘Our first foe, the serpent Satan, who has his wasp’s nest in the Jewish heart, swelled up and said, “O Hebrew people, alas, is this honorable to you that such a boy shall walk at will in spite of you and sing of such matter as is against the reverence due your faith?’  The association of a wasps nest being in the Jewish heart and the analogy of this with Satan describing jews as the anti-Christ of the Christian church.  The concept of jews hiring a murder to destroy an innocent boy, doing this in a clandestine fashion in a secret ally and then the ultimate act of defecating on his body was the analogy of the jews defecating on the Christian faith the boy representing the body of Christian faith.  ‘ O cursed race of modern Herods, what good is your evil intent? Murder will be revealed, truly it will not fail, and chiefly where it touches the honor of God. Blood cries out on your cursed deed. O martyr made strong in virginity (the Prioress cried), now may you sing, following always the white celestial Lamb. St. John, the great evangelist, wrote of you in Patmos, and said that they, those who never knew women in the flesh, go before the Lamb and sing an ever-new song.’ [1]

The tale also depicts the persecution of the jews at that time.  A time when Christianity felt threatened and the jews presented an easy scapegoat.  ‘The magistrate ordered each one of the Jews who knew of this murder to be murdered in torment and by a shameful death, and immediately. No such cursedness would he tolerate. He who deserves evil shall have evil. Therefore he had them drawn with wild horses and after that hung them, according to the law.’  It was not actually the murderer who was put too this terrible death but the conspirators themselves, the jews were being branded as a race apart from that of the true believers the Christians.  ‘ My throat is cut to my neck-bone,” said this child, “and in the course of nature I should have died, yes, long ago. But as you will find in books, Jesus Christ will have His glory remain and be remembered. Therefore, in honor of His dear mother, I still may sing loud and clear O alma’  This is a reference to the resurrection of Christ and his death and persecution by the Jews.  The resurrection of the redeemer and the glory of Christ being enduring to the faithful.

The boy ultimately became a martyr of his faith ‘ The convent as well lay weeping upon the pavement, blessing Christ’s dear mother. At length they rose and went forth and took this martyr from his bier, and enclosed his little sweet body in a tomb of pure marble-stones. He is there now, God grant that we may all see him’.  Further reference to the murder of Christ at the hands of the jews and the important concept or pillar of the Christian faith the resurrection.

[1] Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, The Prioress’s Tale