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Summary and Analysis of The Second Nun's Tale
Fragment VIII Prologue to the Second Nun's Tale: The Host praises the Nun's Priest for his tale, but notes that, if the Nun's Priest were not in the clergy he would be a lewd man. He says that the Nun's Priest, a muscular man with a hawk's fierceness in his eye, would have trouble fending off women, if not for his profession. The Second Nun prepares to tell the next tale, warning against sin and idleness. She says that she will tell the tale of the noble maid Cecilia. AnalysisThe Host's description of the Nun's Priest highlights the disparity between traditional conceptions of the clergy and their actual roles and personalities. The Nun's Priest is, as dictated by his profession, celibate, but the Host serves to remind the reader of his sexual persona. The Second Nun's Tale: Saint Cecilia was by birth a Roman and tutored in the ways of Christ. She dreaded the day in which she must marry and give up her virginity. However, she came to be engaged to Valerian. On the day of their wedding she wore a hairshirt, praying to God to remain unspoiled. On their wedding night she told a secret to Valerian: she had an angel lover who, if he believes that Valerian touches her vulgarly, will slay him. He asks to see this angel, and she tells him to go to the Via Appia and find Pope Urban among the poor people. Once Urban purges him of his sins, Valerian will be able to see the angel. When he reached Via Appia, Urban suddenly appeared to Valerian and read from the Bible. He baptized Valerian and sent him back home, where he found the angel with Cecilia. He has brought a crown of flowers from Paradise that will never wilt, and gives it to Cecilia. The angel claims that only the pure and chaste shall be able to see this crown. Cecilia asks for the angel to bless her brother and make him pure. This brother, Tibertius, enters and can detect the flowers. The angel gives crowns to Valerian and Tibertius, and advises Tibertius to give up false idols. They plan to visit Pope Urban, and Tibertius asks Cecilia how she can worship three gods. She says that each divinity represents part of God. But after both Valerian and Tibertius were christened, Roman sergeants brought them to Almachius the prefect, who ordered their death. During their execution, one of the sergeants, Maximus, claims that he saw the spirits of Valerian and Tibertius ascend to heaven. Upon hearing this, many of the witnesses converted to Christianity. For this Almachius had him beaten to the death, so Cecilia had him buried with Valerian and Tibertius. For this Almachius summoned Cecilia, but she refuses to appear frightened of him. She refuses to admit her guilt and condemns him for praising false idols. He ordered that she be boiled to death, but she suffered not a burn. When he ordered that she be decapitated by a sword, she is struck three times but does not die. The executioner did no more, but left her to die. The other Christians attempted to save her, but she only lingered for a few more days, during which time she ordered that all her property be distributed among the poor. Pope Urban had her buried secretly, and praised her as a saint. Analysis: The Second Nun's Tale is an entirely conventional religious biography. The Second Nun tells the story of Saint Cecilia in a dry, sanctimonious fashion that exalts her suffering and patient adherence to her faith. The tale contains few moments of character development and equally few rounded characters. Only Cecilia has some dimension, and even this is relatively simplistic. However, the Second Nun's Tale does contain some notable ideas pertaining to Christian belief. The angelic gift of the flowers that only a Christian can see are a physical manifestation of the idea that Christians belong to a City of God, a distinct community with shared values that nevertheless exists within a secular and often hostile environment. Also, the tale does give impression of larger psychological insights into Cecilia with the description of her aversion to sex. Her intense displeasure concerning losing her virginity leads her to masochistic behavior, and she channels her sexual impulses into her spiritual beliefs, telling her husband that an angel is her 'lover.' The rest of the story contains more traditional elements. There are moments of spontaneous conversion to Christianity, randomly performed miracles, and portrayals of Roman persecution of early Christians. Chaucer does insert one moment that diverges from the strict Christian propaganda that this story represents, allowing moments of legitimate discussion of the Trinity. This discussion admits that the tripartite division of God is problematic, and Cecilia attempts to resolve this dilemma.
ClassicNote on The Canterbury Tales
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