Textuality » 3A Interacting
The description of the Prioress and the Description of the Monaca di Monza were written in two different times; although they are similar.
I'm going to start from the description of the Prioress; she is one of the characters described in the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales, the Geoffrey Chaucer's masterpiece.
The first piece of information the poets gives the reader is about the prioress' social status: she occupies an important role into the monastery.
After that he start describing her behaviour: the way she smiles, the way she sings, her reputation and her manners. All these actions are affected, she wants to hide her real nature.
The poet insists in particular on a "French component" of the Prioress' life; at the time French was considered the most fashionable language, so Chaucer wants to underline that she looks and behaves more like a fashionable lady that than a nun, she pretends to be refined.
The wants to make a parody of her, she represent in fact the corruption of the clergy, which gave more importance at appearance than at the religion.
At the time, a lot of time daughters of important families which had lost their money and, as a result, they couldn't get married, went into monasteries without having faith. Probably it is the case of the Prioress.
The poet tells he reader also about her moral sense: he shows admiration for her accomplishments, but she is also object of irony in all the poem, especially when he makes the reader aware that her charity is mainly directed to her dogs instead to the people.
Moreover there is an other piece of information to give about her own dogs: she keeps them against church law which forbade nuns to keep dogs, she seems not to care of rules.
At last the poet describes her appearance: he uses lots of colours and at the end he focuses the attention on a particular Latin motto on her brooch saying "Amor vincit omnia", which does not seem to refer to spiritual love only.
The Monaca di Monza is describe in the most famous Manzoni's opera: The Promessi Sposi.
Manzoni gives the reader a description of her mainly about how she looks: he uses only two colours, black and white,(on the contrary Chaucer uses them ) which have a symbolic aspect.
He tells the reader also about her rank, she has an important role; moreover her future was decided before she was born because the father wants to give his heritage to the first son.
The reader can understand that she is very unhappy, she sounds angry and insecure.
Manzoni focuses besides the attention on a particular aspect of her appearance: a lock of hair comes out from her veil, against church law which forbade nuns to keep long hair, and on her difference from the other nuns, arousing the reader's curiosity.
The two characters have some aspects in common: both represent an upper rank, both are unhappy and both seem to not care about rules but there is a big difference: Chaucer wants to ridicule the Prioress, instead Manzoni has pity on The Monaca.