EXPLANATION WITH REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT: THE PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY TALES BY CHAUCER

SAMPLE ANSWERS - POETRY

Explain the following extract with reference to the context.
That of hir smylyng was ful symple and coy;
Hire gretteste ooth was but by Seinte Loy;
And she was cleped Madame Eglentyne.

That of hir smylyng .......... cleped Madam Eglentyne.

REFERENCE
(i) Poem: The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales
(ii) Poet: Geoffrey Chaucer
CONTEXT
(i) Occurrence: The Prioress (Lines 119-121/858)
(ii) Content: It is the month of April in circa 1390. A group of twenty-nine pilgrims gathers at a tavern in Southwark called Tabard Inn. The goal of their journey is the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket in Canterbury. The narrator, Chaucer, encounters them there and becomes one of their company. The narrator seeks to describe their 'condition', 'array' and 'degree'. The Host at the Inn proposes the story-telling contest among the pilgrims.
EXPLANATION
     In these lines the poet has described three characteristics of Prioress; her smile, faith and nick name. The smile of the Prioress is very simple. It is easy to understand, presenting no difficulty. Her smile also makes a pretence of shyness and modesty which intends to be alluring. Thus she is a coquettish woman. Secondly, she has a firm faith in Saint Eloy who was the patron saint of goldsmiths, other metalworkers, and coin collectors. This saint worked for twenty years to convert the pagan population of Flanders to Christianity. Thirdly, she has a romantic name, Madam Eglantine. Eglantine is, in fact, a wild rose native to Eurasia having prickly stem, fragrant leaves, bright pink flowers, and scarlet hips. In Madam Eglantine, Chaucer depicts charm without substance. Thus Chaucer has described the nun in the opposite way to show us, how the nun Prioress had all the characteristics that a nun should not have.

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