The Canterbury Tales Test Review
Title: The Canterbury Tales
Author: Geoffrey Chaucer (The Father of English Poetry)
Written in: Middle English, iambic pentameter, rhyming couplets
FACTS:
 Chaucer only finished 24 of projected 120 tales
 31 people went on the trip: 29 pilgrims, narrator, host
 2 tales told on the way there and 2 on the way back
 available to all classes
 pilgrims start at Tabard Inn and go to Canterbury
 written as a frame story (Prologue is an introduction)
 Social commentary (criticism)
 Parson is the only clergy man to be considered “good”
 Includes:
o Direct Characterization: tells the audience what the personality
of the character is.
o Indirect Characterization: shows things that reveal the
personality of a character through speech, thoughts, effect on
others toward the character, actions or looks.
 Characters included:
o Knight- most moral, chivalrous, “always killed his man”
o Squire- Knight’s son, 20 yrs. old, sang, danced, wrote poetry,
loved women
o Yeoman- green coat and hood, servant of the Squire, forester
o Prioress- nun, dainty, wanted to be a lady of the court, overly
emotional
o Monk- fat, hunted, wears expensive clothing
o Friar- beggar, clergyman
 “claimed to have license from Pope to hear confessions”
 “knew taverns and barmaids well”
o Merchant- was in debt but no one knew it
o Oxford Cleric- student, read Aristotle, skinny and poorly dressed
 “would gladly learn, and gladly teach”
o Sergeant at the Law- lawyer, good grammar, pretended to be
busy
 “knew every statute off by rote”
o Franklin- wealthy landowner, sheriff, had parties often
 “He was a model among land gentry”
o The Guild- Haberdasher, Dyer, Carpenter, Weaver, and CarpetMaker, money hungry, their wives want to rise in social class
o Cook- ulcer on his knee


 “could distinguish London ale by flavor”
o Skipper- commander of a vessel (Maudelayne), ruthless to
prisoners, dishonest
 “nicer rules of conscience he ignored”
o Doctor- grounded in astronomy, did not read the bible
 “All his apothecaries in a tribe…each made money from the
other’s guile”
 “special love of gold”
 four humors: hot and moist, hot and dry, cold and moist,
cold and dry
o Wife of Bath- red clothing, gap-teeth (symbolizes promiscuity), 5
husbands, large hips, partially deaf, too confident
 “knew the remedies for love’s mischances”
o Parson- poor, very religious, devout, served the poor, Shepard
that practiced what he preached
 “if gold shall rust, what shall iron do?”
o Plowman- parson’s brother, honest hardworking, helped poor,
paid his tithes (unlike his brother)
o Miller- big fellow, strong, red beard (fox, sow), hairy wart on his
nose, told filthy tavern stories
 “stole” grain with his “thumb of gold”
o Manciple- buyer of food, illiterate but wise, got the best deals at
the market
o Reeve- manager of manor, carpenter, made bargains
 “feared like the plague he was”
o Summoner- pimpled face, garlic smell, spoke in Latin when
drunk, bribed people and threatened excommunication
 “knew their secrets”
 “children were afraid…”
o Pardoner- with Summoner, sells indulgences, yellow hair,
compared to a gelding, carried (fake?) relics
 “rat’s tail” (simile)
 sang “merrily and loud”
o Narrator- reports every detail of the stories
 will speak “plainly and honestly” of all the pilgrims
o Host- hospitable, host of Tabard Inn, comes up with the taletelling contest (winner gets a dinner paid by all), judge of the
tales, goes on the pilgrimage too
 “man who draws shortest straw shall start”
 winner tells tale of “good morality and “general pleasure”
Allusion- an expression designed to call something to mind without
mentioning it explicitly; an indirect or passing reference
Simile- a comparison between two seemingly unlike things using like
or as