Lit201 - Wk4 - Lect2

The nun is an interesting character - basically a good woman but a bit vain - the worst thing she has ever said was using the name of a saint when they are exasperated. She sings the divine praises... but through her nose - ethereal, disembodied type singing. She speaks French well. She is very prim and proper, clean and well mannered. Charitable, pitiful and so merciful she would weep if she saw a mouse in a trap. She has hounds, dogs, a sign of wealth, she feeds them with roasted flesh, in other words, really good food. She is wealthy. She is worldly. She is a little bit precious. She's not 'undergrown'. Her motto is love conquers all, or romantic love conquers all, so it almost has double and contradictory meanings to it.

The monk has a bridle, and a bell that jingles, for the monk this bell should be a symbol of his monkish life. But as he is riding along people here his bell and know he is out riding - enjoying a wealthy past time. He had grey-hounds. He loved above all else, riding and hunting for hares. And he wouldn't spare any cost on these pleasures. He had beautiful fur-lined sleeves, the finest in the land. Here is a monk, taking a vow of poverty, yet he lives the life of a squire. It was no more scandalous for them to see this, then it is for us to see bishops driving around in limousines.