Charles Watkins, "Chaucer's Sweete Preest."

Watkins, Charles A. “Chaucer’s Sweete Preest.” ELH, Vol. 36, No. 3. (Sep., 1969), pp. 455-469

Charles A. Watkins is concerned with addressing various critics’ characterizations of the Nun’s Priest. Watkins recognizes that the rooster is “a conventional symbol of a priest,” yet the theory he puts forth – which relies upon the external characteristics and physiognomic notions of Chaucer’s day – aligns the humble widow with the Priest, and antithetically, the rooster with the host. Watkins also describes the Priest as a morally “aloof” narrator, who tells a tale with non-human characters in an attempt to address the Pilgrim’s behaviors without explicitly criticizing individuals. Perhaps the most compelling argument put forth by Watkins is that the Priest’s occasional departures from his position of aloofness reveal the Priest’s suppressed misogynistic views as well as his true opinions regarding free will. Ultimately, Watkins’ various descriptions help to explain the Priest and his tale, but his article may be more enlightening if one were to have been familiar with the critics and criticisms that he sought to address.

– Available on JSTOR
Lisa Goetz