The Prioress’ prologue aptly fits the Prioress’ character and position. She is a nun whose order relies heavily upon the patronage of the Virgin Mary. Furthermore, her hymn to the Virgin Mary acts as a preview to the tale itself, which concerns the same type of hymn of praise, O Alma Redemptoris. The prologue also functions as an invocation — very similar to the style of invocation found in the great classic epics — in which the Prioress prays for help in narrating the greatness of the “blissful Queen” (the Virgin Mary).
The Prioress’ Tale shows the power of the meek and the poor who trust in Christ. The Prioress is a devoted and meek Christian lady (at least as she understands herself), and she begins by offering a prayer to Christ and especially to the Virgin Mary, the gist of which is that, because the Prioress is herself like a child, the Virgin must help her with this story in her honor.
To fully understand The Prioress’ Tale, one must first understand the background for tales such as these. In medieval England, the Christian hatred of Jews took the form of religious passion. This passion was periodically renewed by stories such as this one and passed along as true. This hatred has been expressed in such literary characters as Shylock (Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice), Rebeccah (Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe), and Fagin (Dickens’ Oliver Twist).
