One critic has said "Chaucer has a certain frame of mind, a way of looking at the world, which in our time, we could use to our own great benefit if we could but grasp it. Chaucer teaches us how it is possible to take life and the world and one's self very seriously while at the same time seeing the transiency of life, the triviality of the world, and the ballooning potential for roosterhood in almost any self." .
This statement is valid because in the The Canterbury Tales: The Prologue Chaucer takes all of his characters very seriously but not too seriously. David Blaine once said "If people paid attention to the amount of pain that really existed in their lives, I think many more people would be walking around insane. That's why we distract ourselves, to hide from the pain So anytime everything becomes simple, it becomes mundane. That's why the easy life is sort of empty." Geoffrey Chaucer wrote about a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to Canterbury. The pilgrims come from all parts of society. If the story is read closely you can see that everything can be related to our time. For example, the Nun is a lady who is trapped. She is one of the unlucky ladies whom are forced to go into the convent because she couldn't marry. Because of this, she breaks the rules and she doesn't act like a proper nun. Many of us in our lives are forced to do things that we would rather not do, due to thing beyond our control like parents, money, or social status. It is a very serious matter because if you can't do what you want to do in life, how will you ever be truly happy? In The Prologue, Chaucer doesn't make the Nun seem like a sad person. In modern day time when were forced to take the path we haven't chose we get over it because that's life. I think Chaucer was showing us that even though we may not be doing what we enjoy we can still have some pleasure and happiness. The Nun has her pleasures.