The Canterbury Tales

by

Geoffrey Chaucer

The Prioress Character Analysis

The Prioress attempts to be dainty and well-bred, and Chaucer makes fun of her by describing how she speaks French with a terrible accent and sings the liturgy straight through her nose. Although the Prioress should be devoted to Christ, she is more concerned with worldly matters: her clothes are richly bedecked, and her coral rosary that says “Love conquers all” serves as a decorative piece rather than a religious article.

The Prioress Quotes in The Canterbury Tales

The The Canterbury Tales quotes below are all either spoken by The Prioress or refer to The Prioress. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Social Satire Theme Icon
).
The General Prologue Quotes

Ful weel she soong the service dyvyne
Entuned in hir nose ful seemly,
And Frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly,
After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe,
For Frenssh of Parys was to hir unknowe.

Related Characters: Chaucer (speaker), The Prioress
Related Symbols: Clothing and Appearance
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The Prioress Quotes in The Canterbury Tales

The The Canterbury Tales quotes below are all either spoken by The Prioress or refer to The Prioress. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Social Satire Theme Icon
).
The General Prologue Quotes

Ful weel she soong the service dyvyne
Entuned in hir nose ful seemly,
And Frenssh she spak ful faire and fetisly,
After the scole of Stratford atte Bowe,
For Frenssh of Parys was to hir unknowe.

Related Characters: Chaucer (speaker), The Prioress
Related Symbols: Clothing and Appearance