I n creating the Knight, the Squire, and the Yeoman, Chaucer is working with stereotypes. This Knight is much like other knights, and the Squire and Yeoman
are typical of their respective social classes and occupational categories, their estats.1 Chaucer creates other characters in much this same way: the Physician, the Franklin, and the Miller are representatives of their social groups. But some characters differ dramatically from the stereotype and mark Chaucer’s
accomplishment of a literary feat unusual for his historical period: the creation of a highly individualized character.
Chaucer’s Prioress, Madame Eglentyne, is the first of
these. The Prioress is also the first of Chaucer’s characters to be given a name of her own; she is not just a generic nun but a unique woman. To understand Madame Eglentyne, it is necessary to take a brief excursion into the topic of convent life in the Middle Ages.