The Prioress

By Geoffrey Chaucer
“The Prioress” by Geoffrey Chaucer is a social satire on the rampant corruption in the Church

during the medieval period and is a part of one of his most well-known works; The

Canterbury Tales. In this particular poem, we are introduced to Madame Eglentyne, the

prioress who is supposed to be a religious and devout lady but is soon revealed to be a two-

faced pretentious, and materialistic woman.

The poem starts by describing the prioress as a modest and coy woman who took an oath to

“Saint Eloy”, the patron saint of goldsmiths. The irony in this vow sets the satirical tone for

the rest of the poem as the prioress is committed to jewels and worldly items instead of being

devout to God and her duty as a nun. Chaucer continues to mock the Prioress by highlighting

her strange and hypocritical behavior which are affectations of the nobility, such as her

attempt at speaking French which just comes off as pretentious due to her terrible accent and

pronunciations, she weeps at the sight of a mouse caught in a trap yet she dines on fine meat

in a very refined courtly manner and feeds her dogs roasted flesh, fine bread, and milk while

the commoners struggle to get three square meals, The prioress who is supposed to be a

religious figure that practices piousness and modesty spends her time trying to raise her social

standing by adorning herself in fine clothes that draw attention to her sculpted features and

jewelry. Her brooch that reads ‘Amor Vincent Omnia’, ‘ Love conquers all’ further goes to

show her materialistic nature as her love is imprinted on the brooch rather than being

conveyed through her actions, even her rosary beads, meant to show her faith in God is made

with precious jaded stones.

The Prioress’ obsession with all things expensive is unraveled in a very artful and skilled

manner that by the end of the poem, the readers are well aware that her “charitable” nature

and “tender” heart are laced with corruption and avaricious temper for all things worldly
which draws the reader’s attention to the malpractices of The Church during the medieval

period and how the church misused it’s power to con the commoners into giving money to

support their own selfish interests.