4. The Prioress's Tale Genre of the Tale: The genre of the Prioress’s Tale is “a Miracle of the Virgin”, a common Christian genre of literature. It focuses on Christian devotion to the Virgin Mary, but at the same time has much anti-Semitism showing some corruption. Source of the Tale: The source of the Prioress’s Tale is William Herebert Contemporary Counterparts: Contemporary counterparts to the Prioress’s Tale would be a story of a miracle. It could also be a story relating to justice against an evil.