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Unveil the prioress ’ ornament

Unveil the prioress ’ ornament. 揭开修女饰品的神秘面纱. Introduction. Portrayal style: quiet irony of behaviors The image of the prioress --- a sanctimonious hypocrite （自命清高的伪君子）. The text. Of coral small about her arm she ’ d bear A string of beads, gauded all round with green;

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Unveil the prioress ’ ornament

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  1. Unveil the prioress’ ornament 揭开修女饰品的神秘面纱

  2. Introduction • Portrayal style: quiet irony of behaviors • The image of the prioress --- a sanctimonious hypocrite （自命清高的伪君子）

  3. The text • Of coral small about her arm she’d bear • A string ofbeads, gaudedall round with green; • And from there hung a brooch of golden sheen • On which there was first written a crowned “A,” • And under, Amor VincitOmnia.

  4. Question • Why did Chaucer describe her ornament in the end?

  5. Interpretation (1) • The ornament has implied meanings. • Evidence: engraving of “Amor Vincit Omnia”

  6. Origin Omnia vincit Amor: et nos cedamus Amori --- Eclogue ⅹ(line 69, in Latin，by Virgil) Virgil, (b.c.70-b.c 19)

  7. Understanding in Eclogue ⅹ • It is chanted to the deceased lover in a funeral procession. • Meaning: Love conquers all, and we yield to love too. • It is ode to romantic love

  8. The engraving of her ornament has a possible implication of the nun’s romantic love life and secular pursuit. • And this could be proved by the social settings in the late Medieval time.

  9. Social Background • Customs about love and marriage • Corruption and decline of the church

  10. Customs about love • After the Crusades（十字军东征）, the number of knights were large. • Knightly culture was idealized. • Knightly love romance was very popular.

  11. The corruption of the church • Vows of poverty, chastity and obedience were broke: • Wealth and land e.g. Selling “indulgences” （赎罪券） • Marriage or adultery

  12. Symbolism • “A” in Scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (adultery) • “A” (stands for amor) works as a symbol, (implying adultery)

  13. Conclusive Interpretation (1) • The brooch symbolizes her secular love. • So the description of the ornament works as the tip of the iceberg of the nun’s inner world: she is more than a one-dimensional character.

  14. Interpretation (2) • Another function of the ornament as an ending: • It also hides Chaucer’s voice of reflection of religion, of love and of life, as well as arouses the readers’ meditation.

  15. Chaucer’s world --- social state • He lived in the late middle ages: • Religiously: the decline and corruption of the church; • Politically: wars with French for 100 years; • Economically: new class the bourgeoisie;

  16. Chaucer’s world--- personal life • He wrote the book in his late years. • Ups and downs : nobility, travelling, being captured in war by the French, death of his wife, poverty once

  17. Reflections • Through his gentle mocking of the prioress, Chaucer began to question the ecclesiastic（教会的）authority. • Describing her brooch at the end of the portrait, Chaucer secretly expressed his subtle sympathetic feeling to the nun, which showed his interest in the emancipation of man（人性解放）from the tyranny of the church and religious dogmas.

  18. Humanism 人文主义

  19. Exercise • Great controversy lies in the implication of “Amor vincit omnia”. Some people hold that it signifies the nun’s celestial love for God but not her secular love. Please debate about it.

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