Pastiche as Irony in the Prioress’s Prologue and Tale.

The definition of charity offered to Will by Anima (Skeat, B. 15.145746) helps to define the Prioress’s “child-like rapture,” which is intended as a measure of her fauntelte rather than her fre liberal wille. Besides Matt. 18:3-4 and Luke 18:16-17, Langland’s formulation draws on I Cor. 13:10-11, 14:20, and Isaiah 65:20, which define the vices of adults acting foolishly as children.