Discuss the husband-wife relationship after 'The Nun's Priest's Tale'.
PremiumDiscuss the husband-wife relationship after 'The Nun's Priest's Tale'. [2021, 2019] ✪✪✪
Or, Discuss Chaunticleer and Pertelote as husband and wife. [2017]
Geoffrey Chaucer’s (1340-1400) “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” is a beautiful fable full of humour, wisdom, and domestic life. It tells the story of a proud cock named Chauntecleer and his beloved hen Pertelote. They live in a poor widow’s yard beside a green grove. Through their morning talk, quarrel, and love, Chaucer shows both affection and misunderstanding between husband and wife.
A Loving Couple in the Widow’s Yard: In the widow’s little cottage beside the grove, Chauntecleer and Pertelote live like a royal pair among seven hens. Chaucer rightly remarks about Chaunticleer,
They love each other deeply. Pertelote is beautiful, wise, and proud. Chauntecleer adores her and calls her,“His coomb was redder than the fyn coral.”
( His comb was redder than the fine coral.)
text-align: center;">“Madame Pertelote, my worldes blis.”(Madame Pertelote, my world's bliss.)
Their life seems full of joy and song. They wake together at dawn, sing happily, and share the peace of their simple world. Their love makes the poor yard feel like a palace.The Dream Disagreement: One morning, Chauntecleer wakes up in great fear after seeing a bad dream about a beast attacking him. Pertelote laughs at him and becomes angry that he feels afraid. She calls him,
She thinks dreams come from food or health problems, not from any real meaning. Chauntecleer, however, believes that dreams can warn of danger. This becomes their first serious disagreement as husband and wife. Pertelote shows a strong and logical mind, while Chauntecleer shows emotion and wisdom. Their quarrel looks very natural, like real married life. Here, love and argument often stay together. Chaucer shows through this scene that even in anger, their care and bond remain strong.“I kan nat love a coward.”
(I can not love a coward.)
The Argument: Pertelote tells her husband to take medicine and eat herbs to remove his fear. She says,
But Chauntecleer, proud and learned, answers with stories and examples. He tells about “two pilgrims,” “Saint Kenelm,” and “King Croesus” to prove that dreams can warn of danger. He says,“Taak som laxatyf.”
(Take some laxative.)
This debate shows how both love and ego live in marriage. Pertelote speaks with care, but Chauntecleer wants to prove his wisdom. Chaucer paints their talk as both comic and real. A wife giving health advice, and a husband arguing with logic.“A dreem ful soore is for to drede.”
(A dream is very greatly to be feared.)
Disobedience and Danger: In the end, Chauntecleer ignores his own dream. He follows his wife’s advice. He goes out proudly to the yard in the sunshine. There, he meets the sly fox, Daun Russell. Daun Russell flatters him and seizes him by the throat. This event shows that listening to a wife without thought can bring danger. Love can make one careless. Chaucer gently mocks both pride and blind obedience.
A Symbol of Human Marriage: After the fox catches him, Chauntecleer escapes by using his wit. He tells the fox to speak, and the fox opens his mouth to reply. The cock flies up to a tree. This final scene shows that wisdom comes after pain. Chauntecleer and Pertelote’s marriage becomes a symbol of human relationships. It is full of love, argument, pride, and forgiveness. Their bond remains strong even after mistakes. Chaucer uses them to mirror real husband-wife life, where affection and folly go hand in hand.
Chauntecleer and Pertelote are not just birds; they are like a real husband and wife. They love, argue, correct, and complete each other. Their story in the widow’s yard beside the grove shows Chaucer’s deep understanding of married life. Through them, Chaucer turns a simple fable into a mirror of human marriage.