Friday, June 20, 2014

What are some comical satirical points made in "The Nun's Priest's Tale"?

The main point, or moral, of this beast fable is to beware
of empty flattery.  Chanticleer, to please his wife, goes into the barnyard and listens
to the fox's flattering words.  The fox grabs Chanitcleer and is about to make a clean
get-away when Chanticleer reverses the flattery role and is able then to escape from the
fox.  Some of the satire comes into play when Chanticleer's wife, Pertlet, dismisses
Chanticleer's dream.  His dream was a clear predictor of what happened when the fox
grabbed him, but Pertlet says it is just indigestion causing a bad night's sleep and he
should simply purge his system.  She goes on to ridicule him for even thinking there
might be something to the dream.  There is some satire, too, in another moral that might
be taken from this story and that is to think for oneself rather than be tempted to go
against one's better judgement.  Chanticleer lets his love of Pertlet guide him and
squelches his instinct to stay away from the fox when he should have followed that
instinct.

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