The Hidden Meaning of the Nun's Priest's Tale It has been suggested that a "Chaucerian tale exploits the nature of its genre but also draws attention to prejudices and ideological exclusions inherent in the genre."2 In my opinion, The Nun's Priest's Tale is a wonderful example of Chaucer testing the limits of his chosen genre - in this case the beast fable. -is a fable of the beast? It is obviously a tale about animals, but in which “animals are used as incarnations or caricatures of human virtues, vices, prudence and follies… and of other qualities typical of humanity These are usually brief cautionary anecdotes that use the obvious similarities between man and animals to point out a moral or push a proverb in an entertaining way "3. Chaucer can be seen fully exploiting the nature of the beast fable in The Nun's Priest's Tale. It contains all the traditional elements mentioned above: the central characters are the hens Chauntecleer and Pertelote, and Russell the fox; the characters' guilt, gullibility, cunning, and boasting are examined; the tale is brief, around 650 lines; and several morals are proposed. The tale is also entertaining, but not only because of its caricatures of human traits. The tale contains many subgenres such as romance, rhetorical debate, and Christian misogyny, and it is the interaction of these subgenres with the beast fable that creates much of the humor. In The Nun's Priest's Tale, Chaucer shows some of the worst excesses of these medieval folk traditions by contextualizing them with his animal characters. The incongruity of a chicken participating in a debate about the meaning of dreams, for example, is inherently comical, but is not only...... middle of paper ......9), 251- 270. This from p. 266.8. F. Anne Payne, “Foreknowledge and Free Will: Three Theories in the Nun's Priest's Tale” The Chaucer Review 10 (1975), 201-219. This from p. 2089. Ian Bishop, “The Tale of the Priest-Nun and the Liberal Arts,” Review of English Studies NS30 (1979), 257-267. This from p. 17.10. Payne, p. 205.11. Walter Scheps, “Chaucer's Anti-fable: Reductio ad absurdum in the Nun's Priest's Tale,” Leeds Studies in English 4 (1970), 1-10. This from p. 7.12. Bishop, p. 266.13. Payne. p. 218.14. Payne. p. 210.15. Payne. p. 211.16. 0wen, p. 26717. Jill Mann, “The Speculum Stultorum and the Nun's Priest's Narrative,” The Chaucer Review 9 (1975), 262-282. This from p. 275.18. Friedman. p. 253.19. Oerlemans, p. 318.20. Scheps. p. 8.21. Payne, p. 214.22. Mann, p... 277.