Fdn. Soph. English
Review Guide
The Canterbury Tales
Who is Geoffrey Chaucer?
He wrote The Canterbury Tales sometime in the 1380’s in the form of a
poem.
The Canterbury Tales was Chaucer’s most impressive work and very
influential in the development of English as a literary language.
Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales in Middle English.
Chaucer died before he was able to complete the tales.
Framed story – is a story within a story. Chaucer used this model to tell the
Canterbury Tales.
Literary Terms:
Simile – a comparison of two unlike things using “like” or “as”.
Metaphor – a comparison of two unlike things which do not use “like” or
“as”.
The Canterbury Tales
Setting: In April, At the Tabard Inn, a tavern in Southwark, near London,
the narrator joins a company of twenty-nine pilgrims. The twenty-nine
pilgrims are traveling to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury,
England.
The Prologue: In the Prologue, Chaucer introduces us to the group of 29
pilgrims, including Chaucer, who are on a pilgrimage to visit a saint named
St. Thomas Becket at the Canterbury Cathedral. St. Thomas Becket was
murdered at this cathedral. (In the 14th century, it was customary for people
to travel to religious shrines to seek miraculous cures and to receive
absolution for their sins.
In the prologue, Chaucer brings together people of different backgrounds,
different social rank and occupations.
On the pilgrimage, the Host decides that each person will tell two stories on
the way to Canterbury and two on the way back. Whomever he judges to be
the best storyteller will receive a meal at Bailey’s Tavern. Each person
draws lots and determines that the Knight will tell the first tale.
Some characters on the Pilgrimage:
The Knight
The Squire
The Yeoman
The Prioress
The Monk
The Friar
The Merchant
The Parson
The Cook
The Plowman
The Miller
The Wife of Bath
The Reeve
The Summoner
The Pardoner
The Nun
The Physician
The Lawyer
The Host
Identify each character below by their description.
1. This character grinds flour with grinding stones. He is dishonest
and vulgar. He cheats his customers and tells dirty jokes. He has a hairy
wart on his nose and plays the bagpipes well. ____________________
2. This character is the brother of the Parson. He is a laborer and
works in the fields. He is a good man. He is one of the few honest
pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales.
_____________________.
3. He is corrupt and immoral. He sells fake relics to people. He also
sells indulgences or forgivenesses for the Church. His hair is like “rat’s
tails” and his voice is high and squeaky. _______________________
4. He is in charge of summoning people to go to court. Garlic and
onions are his specialty. He is ugly in physical appearance. He
has bushy eyebrows, pimples and cysts. He chases and harasses
women and children are afraid of him. ______________________
5. This character is handsome and merry. He serves a good meal to the
pilgrims and he came up with the storytelling contest.
___________________
6. He is a good, gentle and kind person. He lives by a Code of
Honor. He just returned from fighting in the Crusades and wants to
go to the Canterbury Cathedral to thank God he is alive.
______________________
7. She is a nun and the head of the nunnery. She is too interested
in “worldly pleasures” like wearing fancy clothes and jewelry. She
spends a lot of time and money on her little dogs, when she should be
giving everything to the poor. _______________________
8. He makes fake diagnosis’s and is in a scam with the druggist to sell
patients medicine they don’t need. He is corrupt, greedy and
dishonest. _______________________
9. She has been married five times. She has gaps between her teeth.
She is full of lust. _____________________
10. He is fat and dressed in a fur-lined robe and rides fancy horses. He
keeps hunting dogs and horses. He does not believe that monks should
be stuck in the monastery. _______________________
11. He is a pupil of the knight. He is very pretty and concerned with
his looks. He is very talented as he can sing, write and ride horses
well. _____________________
12. He wears a St. Christopher medal and is dressed in green. He is
supposed to be a Robin Hood figure. He is a servant to the knight and
a hunter. ___________________