The Beast Fable and Romance in the Nuns Priests Tale Essay -- Nuns Pri

The Beast Fable and Romance in the Nun's Priest Tale Chaucer utilized many literary forms when composing his Canterbury Tales. Among these forms he utilized were the beast fable and romance. We find elements of both of these forms in the Nun's Priest's Tale. Yet Chaucer was a decidingly original poet. When he took these forms he made them his. He often diverged from the accepted norms to come up with stories that were familiar to the fourteenth century reader yet also original. First let us look at the use of beast fable and how Chaucer diverged from tradition. One significant difference is that there is almost no human interaction with the animals. We have a brief description of the human inhabitants of the farm and then they disappear until the end. The true "humans" are the animals themselves as they possess almost total human qualities. For example, Chauntecleer and Pertelote are a "married" couple and bicker as humans. They also "love" each other. "He loved hir so that wel was him terwith" (VII. 2876). Most striking is the logical analysis both chickens are capable...