The Prologue
Use exact lines from the text to answer.
1. What is the most popular time of year for
pilgrimages?
2. Where do most pilgrims in England choose to go
on pilgrimages?
3. Where does the narrator meet the pilgrims?
4. Why is the narrator there?
5. How many people does he meet?
6. What shall the narrator discuss before the
journey begins?
The Knight
Use exact lines from the text to answer.
1.
2.
3.
4.
What qualities does the knight possess?
Has he seen battle?
What is the narrator’s opinion of him?
Why are his “fine horses” important for a
knight?
5. Describe his physical appearance and
equipment.
6. Why is he going on the pilgrimage?
7. Who rides with him?
The Squire
Use exact lines from the text to answer.
1. What does the squire have in common with
most young men his age?
2. Where has he served and with what “military”
branch?
3. What details about him show his vanity?
4. What skills does he possess?
5. What does the narrator think of the squire?
6. How is the squire different than his father?
7. Who rides with the knight and the squire?
The Yeoman
1. What is the yeoman’s job?
2. Describe his physical appearance.
3. What about his physical appearance tells the
narrator that the yeoman is a “proper
forester”?
4. Do you think the yeoman talked to the
narrator? Why or why not?
The Nun
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
What is a prioress?
What are the qualities/images we usually associate with a nun?
What qualities does the name “Madam Eglantyne” suggest?
What is the demeanor of the nun?
What does the nun “counterfeit” or pretend she has?
How does she feel about animals?
Describe her physical appearance.
What does her pin say? Why does this seem unusual for a nun?
Does the narrator like her? Why or why not?
Who travels with her?
The Monk
1. What are the qualities we usually associate
with a monk?
2. What does this monk enjoy most in life?
3. What does the narrator say about the monk’s
horse? Why would this be unusual for a
monk?
4. How do the monk’s beliefs about the
monastic life differ with the Church’s beliefs?
5. Describe his appearance.
The Friar
*A friar differs from a monk by going out and helping the needy, not
staying cloistered within a monastery.
*This friar is a “Limiter” (213), a beggar who collects money for the
Church in a certain area, and he’s apparently “the finest beggar of his
batch” (256).
1. What extra work does he perform?
2. How does he “make a decent living” (228)?
3. With what types of people does the friar like to
spend his time?
4. What is his attitude toward the poor?
Merchant
1. Describe the merchant’s physical appearance
and clothing.
2. He acts as if rich, but in fact, how is he
financially?
*The narrator doesn’t know his name perhaps because the
merchant is hiding his identity so that his creditors can’t find him.
Oxford Cleric
*A cleric is someone who is part of the Church. This one is a
student, at Oxford, studying to enter the Church.
1. Describe his and his horse’s appearance.
2. Where does all his money go?
3. How does he repay his friends?
The Lawyer
*A sergeant at the law was a high-ranking judge who had practiced
the law with distinction for at least sixteen years.
1. What type of man does he appear to be?
2. How well does he know the law?
*According to E.T. Donaldson about the Middle Ages, “land was the
safest and most profitable of all investments, but its transfer from one
owner to another often involved the most tortuous legal complexities.”
*Key line: “Though there was nowhere one so busy as he, / He was less
busy than he seemed to be” (331-32).
Franklin
*A franklin is a country landowner.
1. Describe his appearance.
2. What type of life does the franklin like to
live?
*Epicurus was a Greek philosopher who believed life’s goal was
to be happy.
The Guildsmen
*The guildsmen include a “Haberdasher, a Dyer, a Carpenter, / A
Weaver, and a Carpet-maker” (371-72).
*Guilds were organizations of craftsmen and tradesmen who taught
their skills to apprentices.
1. Why does the narrator point out that “their gear
would pass / For new” (375-76)?
2. What do their wives want?
*Tradesmen were new to the middle/merchant class of the Middle
Ages.
The Cook
1. What is the cook’s reputation?
2. What about his description is so in contrast
with the image of a cook?
The Skipper
*He rides a horse “as best he could” (400) because he’s used to
sailing.
1. Describe his appearance.
2. How has he treated wine merchants?
Key lines: “The nicer rules of conscience he ignored. / If, when he
fought, the enemy vessel sank, / He sent his prisoners home; they
walked the plank” (408-10).
The Doctor
*The doctor bases his treatments from astrology and the four
humors, which was common in the Middle Ages.
*“Pestilences” (452) refers to the bubonic plague, or The Black
Death.
1. How does he gain money?
2. What does he especially love?
The Wife of Bath
*She is a weaver who lives in Bath, a town in southern
England.
*She’s somewhat deaf.
1. Describe her appearance.
2. What is her personality like?
3. How many times has she been married?
The Parson
*He is a village priest.
*Key line: “Yet he was rich in holy thought and work” (489).
1. What qualities of the parson does the narrator point
out?
2. How does the narrator feel about him?
*Another key line: “That if gold rust, what then will iron do?
/ For if a priest be foul in whom we trust / No wonder that a
common man should rust” (510-12).
*Be sure to compare the parson to the monk and friar.
The Plowman
*He is the brother of the parson.
1. What are some of his qualities?
2. What does he spend his time doing?
3. What does the narrator think of him?
*Note that the narrator doesn’t say much of the plowman’s
appearance, as if the outside is of little importance, but
instead the man’s personality and inner self are what make
him outstanding.
The Miller
1. Describe his appearance.
2. How strong is he?
3. What’s his secret to making money off grain?
*Note how the descriptions of the miller are physical, unlike the
plowman; think of the differences in spirituality because of this.
The Manciple
*A manciple is a purchasing agent; this particular one buys food
for the Inns of Court, a law school.
1. Why is his success suspicious?
The Reeve
*A reeve is a manager of an estate.
1. Describe his appearance.
2. What line shows the reeve is financially
cheating his lord?
3. What does he further do to his lord?
The Summoner
*A summoner delivers summonses that call people to appear in
church courts.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Describe his appearance.
What does he enjoy eating?
Why does he only know a little Latin?
He ignores the legal issue of adultery if given
what?
The Pardoner
*A pardoner pardoned the sins of those who were truly sorry; this particular
one sells his pardons as well as fake religious relics.
1. What is significant about the pardoner traveling with the
summoner?
2. Describe his appearance and traits. What do some of them
imply?
3. Why is the pardoner successful in selling his “relics?”
*This pardoner carries—as “relics”—a pillowcase that he claims is Mary’s veil,
a piece of cloth he says came from St. Peter’s boat’s sail, a metal cross, and
pigs’ bones that he says are the bones of Jesus and saints.
*Compare the pardoner with the monk and friar; contrast him with the parson
and plowman.
The Host
1. Describe the host’s appearance.
2. What does the host propose they can do on the way
there and back?
3. What is the reward for the story with the “fullest
measure / Of good morality and general pleasure”
(817-18)?
4. Who will judge which story is best?
5. If someone refuses, what is the consequence?
6. How do the pilgrims decide who will start?
*The character of the host sets The Canterbury Tales as a
frame story, a literary device that binds together several
different narratives; a story within a story.