Stereotypes In Geoffrey Chaucer´s The Prioress's Tale

Why is it that throughout the many workings and periods of literature, stereotypes are generally portrayed? Is it because of the reportorial and consistent categorizations that occur through various time spans, or is it just a simple, innocent generalization? In Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Prioress’s Tale, this story constitutes many classical and positive Christian morals/lessons. In contradiction to this, the idea of negative stereotyping is the central view in which Jews are presented as being nasty, vicious and immoral people whom nobody desires to associate themselves with. The medieval times in which Chaucer lived in were full of stories exemplifying conflicts between Judaism and Christianity. During this time, there was a grown form of religious rivalries between the two. Chaucer utilizes The Prioress’s Tale as a commentary on the anti-Semitic culture of the churches through an allusion to a story about a Christian cleric. Through close …show more content…
He depicts the Jewish cultural society as living in poor conditions, such as the Ghetto, as well as inclining to befriending Satan. Jewish families living in Warsaw ghettos during the time of World War II experienced a great amount of hardships and difficulties. Diseases, starvations, and instances of unemployment were generally common throughout these communities. Selling of trades was the most efficient way to survive, along with smuggling food. Germans hoped to conform Jews and isolate them in these secret cities. Living conditions were unbearable. “The ghettos were segregated into 139,644 tiny rooms, giving a population density of 2.94 per room, rising to 3.29 people per room when the ghetto reached its peak population of 460,000 in March 1941” (Paulsson 116). Germans evidently stereotyped Jews as useless individuals, similar to