The epic or heroic tale was a popular literary form during the Middle Ages. A heroic tale is a long narrative poem written in an elated and dignified style. The main character of a heroic tale is a hero. The hero in a heroic tale is brave, strong, and intelligent and is depicted with superhuman qualities. The characters and events have universal qualities. The heroic tale is written in a long narrative poem in an elated and dignified manner. These characteristics apply to both Beowulf and the Nun’s Priest’s Tale, which was written by Geoffrey Chaucer; however, the Nun’s Priest’s Tale is a mock-heroic. A mock-heroic can be defined as a literary work that mocks the heroic tale form of literature. Chaucer’s “the Nun’s Priest’s Tale” contains many characteristics of a heroic tale and mocks the heroic tale through imitation and farce characters. This relationship can be demonstrated through the comparison of Beowulf and “the Nun’s Priest’s Tale.” The introduction of Beowulf is rather lengthy and…show more content… One element is the “stories-within-stories” technique. Between the lines 164 and 290, Chanticleer tells two stories to prove his belief that dreams should be treated seriously. The reason for this argument between Chanticleer and his wife is the dream that Chanticleer dreamt the previous night about being eaten by a fox. Chaucer’s humor is again shown through the seemingly insignificant characters of his mock-heroic. “The Nun’s Priest’s Tale” has clear morals that it wants to teach the reader. The main moral of the tale is to not be proud. Both Chanticleer and the fox show the characteristic of pride in the tale. The fox is proud and confident in his abilities to deceive and capture Chanticleer. Chanticleer is proud in his ability to sing. The fox tricks Chanticleer into singing through flattery and captures him as a result, but Chanticleer escapes using the same trickery of the
