The Wife of Bath's Tale Packet
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1 Name: Teacher: Period: Date: Literary Terms Metaphor The Canterbury Tales: “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” Vocabulary Cuckhold Incubus Big Questions 1. How are women and men portrayed in literature? Schedule Week 20 Date Thur Jan 22 Fri Jan 23 Class *Miller’s Tale Test *Packet due Start “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” Vocabulary Unit 11 Quiz Start Unit 12 words Week 21: CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK Date Class Mon Vocabulary Jan 26 Grade Unit 12 bookwork Finish Unit 12 words Tue The Wife of Bath Jan 27 Marriage and virginity Reread beginning Questions #1-6 Wed The Wife of Bath Jan 28 Manipulation Discuss reading and questions Thur Vocabulary Jan 29 Unit 12 Quiz Work time Fri TBD Jan 30 EARLY RELEASE Homework Read p. 283-299 (introduction and lines 1-163) Unit 12 bookwork due Mon Homework Unit 12 sentences Read lines 164-450 Questions #7-9 Read lines 451-856 Questions #10-12 Review Units 10-12 Cumulative Review III TBD 2 Week 21 Date Mon Feb 2 Tue Feb 3 Wed Feb 4 Thur Feb 5 Fri Feb 6 Week 22 Date Mon Feb 16 Tue Feb 10 Wed Feb 11 Class Vocabulary Grade bookwork Review/work time The Wife of Bath What do women desire most? Discuss reading and questions The Wife of Bath Depictions of men and women Discuss reading and questions Essay assignment The Canterbury Tales Final discussion: themes Which tale should win the contest? Vocabulary Units 1-12 Quiz Start Unit 13 words Homework Read lines The Wife of Bath’s Tale lines 1-216 Questions #13-15 Read lines 217-408 Questions #16-20 Class Vocabulary Grade bookwork Finish Unit 13 words The Canterbury Tales Jeopardy *The Canterbury Tales Test *Wife of Bath Packet due Homework Sentences due Tue Begin working on essay (optional outline and draft deadlines) Unit 13 bookwork due Mon 3 “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” Questions Introduction 1. What sources did Chaucer use for the Wife of Bath’s Prologue? Why was he familiar with these sources? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 2. What sources did Chaucer use for the Wife of Bath’s Tale? What is one notable difference between Chaucer’s version of the story and these sources? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ The Wife of Bath’s Prologue 3. How does the story of Jesus at the wedding in Cana relate to the Wife of Bath’s argument? Do you agree with the interpretation of the story that she describes? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 4. What biblical examples does the Wife of Bath give to support her point? Provide the specific examples and explain how they support her argument. In your opinion, how convincing are these examples? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 4 ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 5. According to the Wife of Bath, which is preferable: virginity/maidenhood or marriage? How does this relate to Christ’s teaching about giving to the poor? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 6. Explain the metaphor in the following lines: “I won’t envy them virginity: / let them be white bread of finest wheat, / and let us wives be called barley bread; / and yet, with barley bread, as Mark tells us, / Our Lord Jesus refreshed many a man” (142-145). ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 5 7. Explain what the Wife of Bath means when she says “Whoever comes first to the mill, grinds first; / I complained first, and so our fight was ended” (389-390). How does the Wife of Bath manipulate her husbands to give her fine clothes and freedom? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 8. What does the Wife of Bath mean when she says “you cannot lure a hawk with an empty hand” (415)? Aside from lying, how else does she manipulate her husbands? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 9. What myth does the Wife of Bath allude to? Explain how it makes sense in the context of her story. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 6 10. Explain the metaphor in the following lines: “I hold that a mouse that has but one hole / to run to has a heart not worth a leek; / for if that should fail, then all is finished” (571-574)? How does it apply to the Wife of Bath’s situation? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 11. How does the Wife of Bath’s fifth husband (Jankin) treat her? Do you feel sympathy for her? Why or why not? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ 12. According to the Wife of Bath, how are the books that her husband read depict women? How does she say this would change if “women had written stories” (693)? In your experience, is the Wife of Bath’s depiction of literature accurate? Provide examples to defend your point. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 7 ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ The Wife of Bath’s Tale 13. What crime does the knight commit? What question must he answer in order to be pardoned for his crime? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 14. What answers does the knight find to this question? How would you respond to this question? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 15. What answer does the knight ultimately give to this question? How does this relate to the Wife of Bath’s Prologue? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 8 16. What does the old woman tell the knight about nobility? Why do you think Chaucer would chose to include this dialogue in the Canterbury Tales? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 17. What choice does the old woman give to the knight? How does the knight respond? How does the old woman respond? ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 18. In your opinion, who has the power at the end of the tale: the knight or the old woman? Explain and defend your answer. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 9 19. Overall, does the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale depict women positively or negatively? Consider her depiction in comparison to the depiction of women in the Knight’s Tale and the Miller’s Tale. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 20. Overall, does the Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale depict men positively or negatively? Consider her depiction in comparison to the depiction of men in the Knight’s Tale and the Miller’s Tale. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________
