Chaucer's free notes
:The Nun’s Priest’s Tale:
Question: Write an essay on Chaucer’s use of dream in The Nun’s Priest’s Tale.
Answer:
Dream plays a vital role in Chaucer’s The Nun’s Priest’s Tale. Dream is a significant feature in medieval literature. Chaucer shows considerable individuality in employing dream in his tale. It is because of the use of dream that his The nun’s Priest’s Tale does not remain a mere beast fable, rather it becomes a story of human fate, predestination, contemporary philosophy and science. Moreover, Chaucer defines the husband-wife relationship in term of dream. Finally, introduction of dream in this tale shows Chaucer’s wide learning and his ability to make a story pregnant with enduring human interest.
First of all, Chaucer uses dream to show contemporary beliefs and interpretations regarding it. We see that Chaunticleer is much affected by his bad dream precisely because he believes in the veracity of dream. He groans in his throat like one who feels sorely troubled in his dream. Chaunticleer dreams that hi is attacked and killed by a hound. While Chaunticleer declares this, his wife Partelote condemns his fear. She laughs away the dream saying that dream has no significance and it is caused by overeating.
Pertelote gives a common-sense and practical interpretation of dream, which we may term as ‘scientific’ in the contemporary standard. She suggests the idea that dreams are generated from overeating. As she says:
Swevenes engendren of repleccions
And oft of fume and compleccions,
Thus ‘swevenes’ or dreams are caused either by overeating or vapours or the imbalance of humors. In Chaunticleer’s case, Pertelote diagnoses the excess of red bile. Such excess causes people to dread in their dream of red arrows, flames, animals etc. she then supports her points by citing Cato who said that dreams were of no importance.
Thus to Pertelote her husband’s dream provides an opportunity of not only showing her love for him, but also her up-to-date knowledge. Chaunticleer attempts to show that he is far more knowledgeable than Pertelote regarding the subject. He claims that there are many scholars with greater authority than Cato’s, who suggested that dreams are signs of troubles. In this connection, he presents stories from the book. Thus the story of the two friends, according to while sleeping in two different places, one friend dreamed that other friend was calling him for help to save his life. The friend ignores his dreams twice. Then he dreamt for the third time in which his friend told him that he was already killed and his body would be found in a cart full friend found his dream all true. In this story, dream is shown as not only being true, but it is used an instrument to reveal murder.
Again, Chaunticleer relates another story, in which two men were waiting on the harbour to cross the sea. One of them dreamt that if they start their journey the next day, they would be drowned. The man told his companion of his dream. But his companion took no heed and set out his journey. On the midway, the bottom to the boat split and the man went under water. Besides these two stories, Chauntecleer presents several other incidents supporting the idea that dream must be dreaded.
However , it is the irony of Chaunticleer’s fate that in spite of being so aware of the truthfulness of dream, he forgets the warning and indulges in lovemaking with his wife. This factor helps the narrator introduces the issue of the role of predestination and free will in human action. The narrator seems to say that Chaunticleer falls prey to the Colfox because he ignores his dream and accepts his wife’s suggestion to walk in the yard. In this way, his dream proves to be true.
In the Nun’s priest’s Tale, dream seems to play the role of fate in the sense that what is warned in the dream is actually realized. While Pertelote is quite practical in her attitude to dream, Chaunticleer shows his faith in superstition, imagination and authority of the past.
Question: Write an essay on Chaucer’s use of dream in The Nun’s Priest’s Tale.
Answer:
Dream plays a vital role in Chaucer’s The Nun’s Priest’s Tale. Dream is a significant feature in medieval literature. Chaucer shows considerable individuality in employing dream in his tale. It is because of the use of dream that his The nun’s Priest’s Tale does not remain a mere beast fable, rather it becomes a story of human fate, predestination, contemporary philosophy and science. Moreover, Chaucer defines the husband-wife relationship in term of dream. Finally, introduction of dream in this tale shows Chaucer’s wide learning and his ability to make a story pregnant with enduring human interest.
First of all, Chaucer uses dream to show contemporary beliefs and interpretations regarding it. We see that Chaunticleer is much affected by his bad dream precisely because he believes in the veracity of dream. He groans in his throat like one who feels sorely troubled in his dream. Chaunticleer dreams that hi is attacked and killed by a hound. While Chaunticleer declares this, his wife Partelote condemns his fear. She laughs away the dream saying that dream has no significance and it is caused by overeating.
Pertelote gives a common-sense and practical interpretation of dream, which we may term as ‘scientific’ in the contemporary standard. She suggests the idea that dreams are generated from overeating. As she says:
Swevenes engendren of repleccions
And oft of fume and compleccions,
Thus ‘swevenes’ or dreams are caused either by overeating or vapours or the imbalance of humors. In Chaunticleer’s case, Pertelote diagnoses the excess of red bile. Such excess causes people to dread in their dream of red arrows, flames, animals etc. she then supports her points by citing Cato who said that dreams were of no importance.
Thus to Pertelote her husband’s dream provides an opportunity of not only showing her love for him, but also her up-to-date knowledge. Chaunticleer attempts to show that he is far more knowledgeable than Pertelote regarding the subject. He claims that there are many scholars with greater authority than Cato’s, who suggested that dreams are signs of troubles. In this connection, he presents stories from the book. Thus the story of the two friends, according to while sleeping in two different places, one friend dreamed that other friend was calling him for help to save his life. The friend ignores his dreams twice. Then he dreamt for the third time in which his friend told him that he was already killed and his body would be found in a cart full friend found his dream all true. In this story, dream is shown as not only being true, but it is used an instrument to reveal murder.
Again, Chaunticleer relates another story, in which two men were waiting on the harbour to cross the sea. One of them dreamt that if they start their journey the next day, they would be drowned. The man told his companion of his dream. But his companion took no heed and set out his journey. On the midway, the bottom to the boat split and the man went under water. Besides these two stories, Chauntecleer presents several other incidents supporting the idea that dream must be dreaded.
However , it is the irony of Chaunticleer’s fate that in spite of being so aware of the truthfulness of dream, he forgets the warning and indulges in lovemaking with his wife. This factor helps the narrator introduces the issue of the role of predestination and free will in human action. The narrator seems to say that Chaunticleer falls prey to the Colfox because he ignores his dream and accepts his wife’s suggestion to walk in the yard. In this way, his dream proves to be true.
In the Nun’s priest’s Tale, dream seems to play the role of fate in the sense that what is warned in the dream is actually realized. While Pertelote is quite practical in her attitude to dream, Chaunticleer shows his faith in superstition, imagination and authority of the past.
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